Adjourning

I have worked with a lot of teams in the past. Some of the groups haven’t necessarily been established as teams since the organization and development wasn’t there. I believe you have to actually have five stages of development for a team to be established in order for it to be considered a team instead of an unorganized group. “Every team goes through the five stages of team development” (Abudi, Gina, 2010, p. 1). I have been on quite a few teams and the one that I wrote about in my first discussion board was about my elected duty as an ombudsmen. That team adjourned by first losing the other committee members because of their irreconcilable differences. The new elected officials and I worked well together but I am not sure we were a team that had a connection. We met and engaged in conversations that helped us build a vision and strategies to focus on for the deployment period. I delegated duties and we established jobs for each team member. Their contributions and efforts were positive since I based their duties on their strengths. We were a successful group but when we adjourned or I should say when I decided not to take on the ombudsmen position again we easily departed. I had no hard feelings towards anyone but I was not sad or disappointed to give back my position. The adjourning stage is when the “project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions” (Abudi, Gina, 2010. P. 3). I was definitely moving in a different direction and I wished the other team members well in their vision and strategies to making the meetings a success. We all can be leaders, but if we find ourselves more frustrated and irritated with the process and organization then we need to understand that the group would be better run under another person. I do not have a passive personality and I do not tell people what they want to hear so it makes them feel better. I tell the truth and help them understand why and how we approach issues and concerns so that we can work through them as individuals. The group of spouses that I was leading did not want to be lead they wanted to be pacified. I could not do that. So adjourning the team for me was a blessing. I had made some friends and I did keep in contact with them. I did feel we accomplished a lot during my time as the team leader and ombudsmen but I was not sad to leave the position. One thing that really surprised a lot of people was that I no longer attended the meetings either. I was and still am a military spouse. However, I have not and will not ever attend a meeting that focuses on my husband’s ship or command. As the ombudsmen I wanted to help women/spouses find their strengths and to build upon them. Instead I found a group that wanted me to comfort them instead of empowering them. References Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html