This week’s topic surrounds communication which is necessary
for groups. There are five stages in group development: forming, storming,
norming, performing, and adjourning (O’Hair & Weimann, 2015). The names
forming, performing, and adjourning are self-explanatory as to what happens in
these stages. The term storming refers to stage in which team members begin to
disagree and experience conflict. The term norming refers to the stage in which
the participants have moved past their conflicts and established a pattern of
usual, or normal, behavior. The stage this blog will address is the adjourning
stage, the point at which the project has come to an end and the team disassembles.
I think that the groups that are the most difficult to
adjourn are those that combine a fairly long period of time with a successful
achievement of stated goals. This type of group typically has reached a level
of intimacy that makes it harder to say goodbye once the goal has been
achieved. I believe that, in groups like this, it is important to have some
sort of termination process in order for them to be able to fully commit to the
next group project.
In my own experience, I have participated in a couple of
different termination processes. One of them employed a survey of all of the
participants about the various aspects of the process and what each deemed as positives
and negatives. Another termination ritual involved a social gathering of all the
participants. Each of these rituals served different purposes; the first
allowed the participants to learn from their problems and successes, while the
second process allowed the participants a chance to interact on a purely social
level – without any discussion of the actual project that had been completed.
The self-evaluation process allows the participants to revisit the process of
the project and think about what lessons learned will be useful in their next
group endeavor. The social gathering, on the other hand, allows participants to
just enjoy each other’s company without the pressure of a looming goal. I
believe that when a group has developed a bond throughout the process, this
ritual has more closure.
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.
(2015). Real communication (3rd.
ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Anita,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree that once a level of intimacy and time has been reached in a group it is harder to leave. In a group that has worked well together, bonds and friendships could form causing it even more of a challenge to adjourn from the group.
Traci Stewart
Hi Anita
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post on “Adjourning”. You mention “when success and achievement is conquered it’s hard to leave the group”. The reason I say it’s hard is because, one had an awesome leader which, help care the group, the group established trust, respect, stayed committed, and communicated with one another, and this to can make it difficult to “Adjourn” from one another.
Great Posting!
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! I agree with your point that, it could be difficult to adjourn for the group which has a long term of cooperation and achieved some goals. People are hard to say goodbye as the rapport has been built and they are having a sort of ‘fear’ of knowing and working with people who are unknown. From your sharing experience, I like both the styles of termination processes. One is for the team to review and reflect what they have achieved and the limitations they can improve in the future, the other one gives the chance for the team to be able to open up and mingle with each other. Thanks for sharing!
Vivian Lou