Saturday, October 11, 2014
Groups
It is usually hardest for me to leave social groups. I feel most connected to the individuals in these groups and knowing that we will not be meeting or seeing each other regularly usually makes me sad. In these groups we have already gone through the forming, storming, norming and performing stage. Knowing that we will not be doing things together anymore makes adjourning hard. The hardest group for me to leave were my friends in college. We were all international students and a great support for each other. In time, we came to realize that we had a lot in common even though we were from different countries. The similarities in our cultures were amazing. We often ate together and had discussions about several issues that concerned us. We tried to help each other as best we could in every aspect of our lives. Of course there were disagreements sometimes but we always worked them out. We had a closing ritual of sorts after our graduation. Our friends and family all gathered together and some of them prayed for us, we celebrated completing four years of college with speeches and a cake. Afterwards we all went out to a restaurant and had a meal which served as a celebratory and farewell dinner. I also gave everyone in the group a personalized letter of appreciation which I had written to them. I imagine I will probably adjourn from this group by thanking individuals for their contributions. Everyone has helped to make this experience a more enriching one with their contributions and advice. Adjourning is important because it helps to bring closure and sometimes helps you to look to the future and the next thing instead of living in the past. Adjourning also gives you a chance to look at your successes and failures as a group and possibly how you can improve next time (O'- Hair & Wiemann, 2012).
Reference:
O'- Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
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Karina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and believe social groups are the hardest to leave. In my experience, all of the social groups I have been apart of have been able to pick our group members. Many class projects in school, our groups members were chosen for us. I found it easier to come to an end with those groups because often times we didn't have great connections. In social groups where we get to pick the members, I found those hard to leave because usually I have created a great working relationship with these members.
Realizing you have a lot in common and spending time bonding outside of group work is a great way to build team relationships. You stated you would go out for lunch together, which allows the group members to connect on a more personal level, outside of group work.