Friday, August 9, 2013

Stages of Group Development


When I was working on my bachelor’s degree we had groups for every class like we do here; however, the work load for our group assignments was much more involved. For three years I worked with people that came and went depending on the class. There were very few that I started and finished with over that three year period. After about a year into my program, there was a few that we noticed were a constant and we tried to make sure that we were in the same group class after class because we knew we did our work and we worked well together. Towards the end of our program we were at our most efficient and I would consider us a high performing group. I would say this was the group that was hardest to say good-bye to. I remember times when I was glad to see the group go because of lack of work, commitment, and communication. However, the final group that I had for the last year straight was a great team to be a part of and we all worked hard. We knew how the teams worked, we knew who was leader each week, and we knew our parts and did our work. If problems came up, we discussed possible solutions and we all helped to solve the issue; it never fell to one group member. We did call each other and say good-bye because this was on online school; however, if we were closer I would have loved to get together for a small celebration if we could have. We all worked extremely hard to finish and I believe we deserved some type of recognition for that work. I know that when we finish working on this master’s degree that some may post messages, some may send email and other may make phone calls; however, I do wish it could be more. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because members may “reflect on their accomplishments and failures as well as determine whether the group will disassemble or take on another project” (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 257-258).

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford. St. Martin's.

 

4 comments:

  1. Elizabeth,

    Your right, when we finish this class we all will write to say good-bye and most of us will say that in our blogs. At times I wish I could meet several of our classmates while doing this masters program. There is so many of us that are taking the same classes and forming a group with these classmates I feel would have been a high performance groups and very hard to say good-bye. Doing online course I feel make it easier to say good-bye because I don't feel there is a personal relationship with our classmates.

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  2. Hi Elizabeth,

    I know that working with groups that do not communicate well and where some members are not as committed as others is frustrating. It puts a strain on those that are committed because they have to take on an additional load to ensure the groups goal is successfully achieved. i imagine adjourning from such groups is a relief. As far as adjourning from this program, I wish that we could meet our colleagues at its completion. Maybe some will if they attend the graduation or don't live too far apart. I at least hope we will keep in touch by email and phone calls.

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  3. Elizabeth,
    I agree with you. Online courses can be very impersonal and even though you form a relationship with others it is not the same experience as meeting face to face. Saying good-bye feels more personal when you are able to share in a celebration together.

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  4. Garcia!

    I don't know but I felt that we got a little bit closer during this course (maybe its just me!). I guess that is because I know more about your background and your children and the cultural challenges you face.

    Well, I wanted to say thanks for all your support during this course, we are also done, and your contributions have impacted my life professionally and personally. Thanks for encouraging me to be my best, you may not know but you and Bronson, our my goals setters, I strive to reach your heights, thanks for everything!

    May God bless your journey with peace, happiness, and prosperity!

    Nadia.

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