The group I felt was hardest to say good-bye to was my collaborating student-teaching group. High-performing groups to me are hardest to leave because of hw well the communication is among the group. We bonded so well together, establishing great communication in getting to know each other during our first group session. I think we did a wonderful job forming our identity, establishing who the group leader would be and setting reachable goals. As professional educators we understood how important group communication is because in this profession there will be tons of collaboration moments among other educators as well as board members and families. For groups whose project or task come to an end, there is an adjourning stage (O’Hair
& Wiemann, 2012, pp. 257). The
groups I have encountered with in my master’s program adjourned by simply
saying thank you and good-bye as well as complimenting from great ideas. A simple thank you goes a long way for people
and establishes great partnership down the line.
Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it
establishes whether or not a team wants to reassemble. The group members reflect on their
accomplishments and failures as well as determine whether the group will
disassemble or take on another project (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, pp. 258). Depending on the distance between the group
members will determine how they can adjourn.
A nice barbeque or sit down dinner would be nice to reflect on how well
the group communicated, which can lead to bonding friendships and encores for
the future. If I feel the group was a
disaster, this is the time period to let it be known that this team should not
come together for another project.
Reference
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real Communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Chapter 9, "Communication in Groups" (pp. 251-279).
Hi Carlos,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that adjournment is essential to teamwork. It helps us reflect and decided if we want to work together again. A nice social function is an important part of this process as well, especially if there are positive feelings. For me, there have been times when I skipped social functions during the adjournment process because I did not feel like I had been included in the group or bonded with the other group members. After reading this week's articles, I can now say that this was not all my fault (though I do share in the responsibility). The other group members and the leader failed me in that they did not effectively give me a buy in to the group task. Thanks, Carlos!
BethAnn
Carlos,
ReplyDeleteNicely said, I agree with you that it is more difficult to say good bye to a good group of team mates than it is to a bad group which is more like good riddance. I too have formed some special bonds with people that I was originally in a group with working towards a common goal. Also I would like to say thank you to you for being in my Walden University classroom and sharing your experiences.-Jolene Hernandez-Romero
Hello Carlos
ReplyDeleteWhen you work with groups it is definitely so much better when the communication level is clear and everyone fully understands what the goals are. It has been hard for me to work with groups because of one bad group interaction. I eventually realized that they all are not that way. I tried to reach out to my teammates and got no response. This made me feel really bad, but now I have learned the different strategies about how to make groups assignments or activities work in positive ways and how to reach out to others as well as have them reach out to me.
Being on one accord in groups is essential to accomplishing goals as a collective body. Highly functioning groups will usually find a way to stay connected in order to secure future collaboration efforts. However, it is still sometimes difficult to say good bye, especially when you have formed great relational bonds with your group members. Fortunately in today's world of technology, people are able to maintain connections both near and far via internet, Skype, email, social media, cell phone, and more.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Carlos,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point in that in the education field communication will be very important in working with colleagues since there will be several opportunities where you will need to collaborate with your colleagues, I also think that reflecting on what you have accomplished as a group will be very necessary during the adjourning stage, it gives you opportunities to reflect and reminisce on what and how far you have come.