Thinking about which aspects of the groups made for the
hardest good-bye.
The Bible Study was difficult to
leave, I knew this was the right thing to do and I knew that there would be
another study coming up in the next season.
The adjourning was not so difficult for this reason.
Leaving Africa was different, I did
not get to tell my African friends “goodbye”, my supervisor told the Africans I
would return. It was difficult to leave
the students, we were close; Jonathan would come to my house to do his homework
after class was over. The little ones
came over to play in my yard; we were together in some capacity almost every
day besides class. When I told them that I was leaving for the USA, Elizabeth
cried, Jonathan hung his head and would not talk. The little ones did not know how to respond.
Are high-performing groups hardest to leave?
I would say that this was high
preforming group in my life. The
students did not understand how sick I was; I never told them or took any time
off from teaching.
Groups with the clearest established norms?
The mission I was working with was
divided into teams by the country in which they worked. When joining this mission the understanding
was that, you are a team member following the guidelines that had been
established. Everyone joining the team
went through training, orientation, language training, and in country
orientation.
Which of the groups that you participated in was hardest to
leave? Why?
Africa was the hardest, I knew I was
not coming back and I knew I was sick but did not know it was life threatening. I consider the work I did in Africa was team
because we all had to work together, with one purpose. As a teacher, I was a support person. For one person, this did not make me a
missionary but if I were not there to teach her children, she would have had to
teach them or just let their education slide, which is what was happening. My organization objected to her saying that I
was not a missionary; my assumption is that she was not a good team member.
What sorts of closing
rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced?
The closing of my time in Africa
came quickly. There was an opportunity
for me to travel from the village I lived in to the capital city and it was
decided that this was the time. The family
I was going with came to my house, gave me a minute to tell my guard and his
wife goodbye, got in the vehicle for a thirteen-hour drive. Two days later, I flew to the USA.
I wanted time to tell my other
African friends goodbye and try to explain to them that I was going home.
I was told later that they all were told that I would be back in a year, knowing
that was not true. I wanted to have time to give them gifts to remember me. Gifts were the proper parting courtesy in
that village.
How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of
colleagues you have formed while working on your master’s degree in this
program?
This is difficult because the class
I started with is two classes ahead of me. I had to drop out for two sessions.
This was due to my having hip surgery and recovery. I have enjoyed working with
this group of ladies for the last three classes. I have learned so many new and refreshing
ideas for this group. I hope that we all
finish together as I have only three more classes but do not know where others are
in their educational journey. I know that I am a better person for having taking
these classes. I have waited for many
years to work on my Master’s Degree. I think that I will miss the contact with
the other students. Because this is on line learning, there will not be any
going out to dinner or any of the other ways that are done for adjourning. Adjourning
is moving from one place to another, that is the purpose of this journey. It will end and we all will move on in our
lives.
Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork?
Adjourning is a form of closure. At times, it will be ending association
having finished the project and at other times, it is a closure of the project
and going forth to another. This has
great meaning for the individuals; the team separates at least for a time. This will have a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. For those who will be separating after
finishing a project and moving on to another place, it can be satisfaction but
also a sense of sadness. When a team has
worked together, going through the process of forming, storming, norming,
performing and adjourning separating can be stressful. I would assume the adjourning would be more
difficult if the project is long and involved than it is when the project is a
short time.
Since I have been out of work, I
have not had opportunities to be involved with team work so I have to look back
to earlier times. Recovery from surgery
has been long, then the process of searching for a job as the preschool where I
was teaching closed, then waiting for the school to finish construction. Now Monday the process starts and I get to go
back to work, “playing with the children in a learning setting”.
