It has been my experience that groups in which are high-performing and have the clearest established norms are the ones that are the hardest to leave. When I am ambitious and passionate about a goal I am enthusiastic to reach the goal. The desire or enthusiasm pushes me to keep going and I enjoy working with people that are as passionate as I am about a subject. These groups offer me a purpose, a sense of belonging and the feeling that I am making a difference. In my past experiences, groups that are disorganized and lack passion for the purpose are easy to leave because they have nothing to offer me. I do not build relationships in these settings, therefore I can leave easily. The bonds formed in a well focused and organized group are those that will continue.
I really had not thought of the closing of a group as adjourning or considered the rituals of departing. But I suppose that the last meeting creates a need to ensure that we have future contact with those people we created bonds with.
I believe that working within our cohorts has allowed us to form friendships and professional relationships that will endure into the future. I am new to this group, so there is no bond to any particular persons as I had formed with my last group. But I am sure that in time I will find people that I have similar interests and experiences with and we will continue to be friends and conversate beyond this class. I imagine that we will feel the sense of loss, or lack of direction immediately after completing our coursework and we will probably find ourselves talking regularly. However, as we proceed with our professional lives, we will find other groups or interest to fill the time that we once spent discussing coursework.
Adjourning is important to teamwork because once we have invested time and energy into achieving a goal, we are invested emotionally. With any aspect of our lives that we have emotion invested in, there has to be a way to conclude that portion of our experiences so that we can proceed on our journey in life. When one door closes, another one opens and we must continue on our own path in life.
I would have to say that a lot of emotion goes into our work. Many of my life long friends have either been from school or places I have worked. I have tried being a stay at home wife/mother many times in my life and I always feel that something is missing when I do not have that daily interaction with peers.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI as well fell the it is difficult to adjourn from groups that are high performing with a clear purpose, direction, and which each individual hold the same passion to reach and accomplish a particular goal. There is a sense of emotional connection that is created when you become accustomed to meeting with people on a regular basis.