Team Development: The Adjourning Stage

I imagine that I will have adjourned from the many groups of colleagues while working on my master’s degree in this program. We all have come together to understand an important component and contributor to the field of early childhood education. We have shared our different paradigms and have further shaped our own. We have also opened doors to future communication past this course, if desired. Effective communication is what is needed to be able to become responsive to the needs of diverse children and their families. I feel that adjourning is an essential stage when working in teams because every member has the chance to elaborate on their part in completing the task. I have grouped with many people when completing tasks and have experienced that the adjourning stage allows people to open up and express their social identities past the task at hand. I have built relationships with people that I have been assigned to work with. I met my husband during the adjourning stage. I visited a church in Lagos, Nigeria with missionaries from the States in 2012. After the events were over, we had the opportunity to reflect on what occurred that day and we began to enjoy each other’s conversation. Yes, it was hard to leave, but I am thankful for this stage of development. I think that it is important to implement the five stages of team development when collaborating with others. It gives everyone the opportunity to come together and communicate towards a positive cause and could possibly build relationships. Reference: O'Hair & Wiemann. (2012). Real Communication: An Introduction