Adjourning
I find it a bit challenging to think back to recall any one
earlier experience of group team work that I was involved in that I find hard
to adjourn from. Many of them I have forgotten, and sadly, as time goes on we
will all forget unless something special or significant was presented that
marks the experience.
I believe that gaining trust and learning to communicate
respectfully through team work is essential for success in any project. As that
trust is formed into friendships, this is what makes it hard to say good bye
after completing our uniformed assignment.
As I understand it, a high performing group isn’t
necessarily harder to leave if the level of a warm trusting friendship isn’t
established. In most cases a high performing group’s focus isn’t on creating
trust and friendships, their main focus is perfection of the project they’re
working on which then leads into high performance perfection.
Although my colleagues in the study of our MS degrees are on
line and we know one another by name, tone and style of our work, and some may
have a photo and some do not, I that adjourning from this group work will be
the hardest for me. With each of our discussion post, blog post, and our
questions and comments that we share as we learn from one another we have
always preformed with respect and acceptance. This will be the most memorable
experience and the hardest for me to say good bye to. This journey has been the
best towards earning my second degree and I will cherish it and will surly
never forget it because this journey marks a special and significant experience.
I think it would be a very special closing ritual if we
could meet all our colleagues either in person at a really nice banquet
provided by the school, or at least by skype so that we can all meet and talk
about our study experiences. I understand that there is a possibility during
graduation, but that isn’t realistic, or good enough because some of us will
graduate at different times and some will not make it to graduation in person.
I believe that I will adjourn from this group of team work
colleagues by writing them a farewell note that expresses my appreciation for
their comments and questions from our discussion sessions and our blog post,
and mostly for their respect and acceptance as each of us presented our
thoughts and feelings even if they were different from some colleagues thoughts
and feelings.
Adjourning is an
essential part of team work because it is the final agreement to all that we
have been studying and working on as we close out our team work session. This
is often a bitter sweet activity.
