Team Adjourned

Leaving a group project can either be the worst or best thing. Most of the time, ending a big project is satisfying and even if not working with the people anymore, you at least can find peace knowing you did a good job. I've never really been part of groups outside of school but I would say that it's a similar concept. Most of us don't see each other again after certain classes because we're either taking our geneds or we may not have the same availability or didn't connect enough to warrant contact after the project ends. However, I would say that the ones that are hardest to leave, even with a job well done, are the ones where the group has worked together the most cohesively and has worked the hardest. The ones where everyone has given it their all and done their best to really bring their a-game to the work. The group I had that was like that was in college where the class I had worked on a blog about masculinity in Disney films and how it set up certain standards to follow from a young age. We got together one day every week to work on discussing how the blog was going, how our posts were being seen, and so on. And then after the work was done, we'd often just hang out for a bit before going our separate ways for the day. That was by far the hardest group to leave and the people I wish I had stayed in contact with after the class had ended because they were a lot of fun.

I wish I could be part of a group where we were able to celebrate our success and maybe plan further things. I think it'd be fun to have a group where that was the closing ritual that we were able to have. But with school projects everyone moves on to the holidays and that is their celebration. Having a group project where the celebration is as the group would be phenomenal and I'd love to experience it one day.

I think for most of us, once we finish this masters program, we're going to end up parting ways and likely not seeing each other again for the most part. Most of us don't live near one another and I think that it's difficult to really form bonds over online classes the same way it is when we work together in an actual classroom. Some of us will stay in contact and some of us may reconnect years down the road by chance, but overall, most of us will not see each other again outside of these courses.

Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it rounds out all of the work you've done. It's a good way to see how your group has grown from your first meeting. And since most people don't like moving on to work solo again after working with a really good group, it helps establish a group of people willing to work together on other projects as they go down the line whether in their careers or in their communities. It's a good way to see how the group dynamic has developed over the time that they are together and how it will continue to morph as they move forward.