Adjourning groups

             I can recall the very first group I joined was the basketball team as a middle school student and continued on as a high school student. The team represented my school to compete with other schools in our county. I was on the team for years. I left the team after I graduated from the school. Other teams I had joined were a volleyball team in my department of the university, a study team during my BS thesis research in the university, a basketball team in my first workplace, a short-term weather forecast team in my first workplace, a long-term weather analysis team in my first workplace, several teams on very research projects in my first workplace and second workplace, a leader team in the department of my second workplace, a teacher group in my third workplace, and many teams in my fourth workplace as a support teacher, a safety committee team in my fourth workplace, many courses projects in my first graduate school, teams in courses study for the master degree program at Walden university, and various fellowship teams in different churches. I could identify the 5 stages (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning) in these teams/groups that I have participated and I am participating.

The forming stage takes place when the team first meets each other. The storming stage takes place when the team members compete with each other for status and/or for acceptance of their ideas. Competing with each other for status in the team did not happen in most groups/teams that I had participated. Member’s status were assigned due to the vision and goal of the project. The norming stage takes place when the team members are beginning to work more effectively as a team. Leader in the stage might act as a coach to the members of the team. The performing stage takes place when teams are functioning at a very high level. The adjourning stage takes place when the team/group members depart from the team/group and are moving off into different directions.” (Abudi, 2010).I have experienced many adjourning process and will face the adjourning in the end of my MS program study.

I felt the high-performing groups are the hardest to leave. The members in the norming stage would understand the goal and the expectation and work independently. Members of the team respect each other. Each member's input is valued. Each member understands (s)he is important within the group. The team then moves to the performing stage. At the perfuming stage, members in the group would work interdependent. The team is highly motivated to get the job done without oversight. Not every team makes it to this level. (Abudi, 2010). I had experienced high-performing groups. Many research teams I had participated were the high-performing group. The very last high-performing team I participated as a team member represented my third workplace started in 1998 was the project China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS ). I left the team in 2002.

The first team I joined

I am imaging the time when I will adjourn from the group of colleagues in working on my master's degree program. We would meet in person and exchange our personal contact information. We, as professionals, will maintain the friendship and continue supporting each other in the future working at the early childhood education field.

References
Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html