Yes, high-performing groups are the hardest to leave because you learn so much from these groups. Groups with the clearest established norms are easier to accomplish the given goals. I feel that once the goals have been met, it is hard to break from such a productive environment.
I was in a work group at my previous job and this group was one of the hardest to leave. This was my very first job, besides a summer job, that I obtained on my own and absolutely loved. I worked at Sears in the women’s section. This department was made up of high school girls from different schools. Everyone had good grades ( a requirement for employment) and were very similar but different in many ways. I enjoyed working with this group a lot because I was a very quiet person growing up. This job helped be to open up to other co-workers and customers. I learned my sense of fashion style, what looks were appropriate for different occasions, how to interact with complete strangers, how to express myself; most importantly, how to be considerate of other people I worked with. Many of the other groups/departments had a very high turn-over rate and many of the employee’s felt that they weren’t valued and the leadership had failed them. In the women’s department, this was far from the case. My manager was excellent at recognizing when something wasn’t right with her employees and she was very relatable. I stayed at this job for over 6 years all throughout high school and early college. I eventually had to leave because I was expecting my first child and needed to obtain a better income. I always wanted to come back part time or anything just to be around the environment which had become an extended family. However, that dream eventually seemed out of touch because I had a family and realistically, could not live off of that salary.
I really haven’t experienced any closing rituals amongst groups except once. This was when I took a certification course in Early Childhood. I remember the last day of class, everyone brought in a dish to celebrate the end of our journey. We ate, looked back on projects and shared experiences. At the end, we all promised to keep in touch. However, I never reached out to anyone and no one has reached out to me. However, if I saw them now, I would probably find out how their career was going since leaving the course. Many times, either the group’s goal is met or the group just disseminated. In learning environments, the closing rituals are normally followed with a graduation ceremony.
I feel that my colleagues established here at Walden University will be hard to leave. While I’m on break in between courses, I feel the need to keep checking the discussion board for more posts. I absolutely love the environment and the experience here at Walden. I have had great communications with all of my group colleagues and I value everyone’s input, suggestions, and experiences. Therefore, parting will be difficult. I have already begun to look ahead at continuing education in some way or another. I’m not sure if I will attend the commencement ceremony in person or via the internet but I am trying to come in person to meet the people who have inspired me so much. I also hope that everyone can keep in touch maybe through our blogs. If anyone is in the Maryland or D.C area, maybe we could meet for lunch from time to time. I think it would be awesome to continue networking and influencing each other on this quest for excellence in the education field.
Adjourning is essential to me because it signals closure and allows people to recognize the good and bad things that happened in order to improve group communication in other groups to come. It also gives people the opportunity to “reflect on their accomplishments and failures as well as determine whether the group will disassemble or take on another project.”(O’Hair & Wiemann, 2009, p 235)
O'Hair, D. & Wiemann, M. p.235 (2009) Real communication an introduction. Boson, MA 02116
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