Teamwork & Team Building Experiences

In week 6 of our Communication course, we have been discussing the concept of teamwork, team building, and leadership. Each of these three concepts work together to create a whole: a team or group of people working together to accomplish a vision, task, goal, etc. Successful teamwork does not develop or take place over night; rather it takes commitment, dedication, trust, respect, focus, and determination to work together to accomplish a goal to complete a vision. Team building and development takes place through five stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.


From this week's learning, it became evident that the foundation of teamwork is mutual trust and respect. Without this as the foundation, a team will never be able to bond and be successful. A team needs to build a strong foundation of trust so they know it is safe for them to commit to the cause and know that they will be supported through the journey by their teammates. Each stage of the development of a team has it's own important milestones and markers, but the final stage can sometimes be the most important. The final stage is called adjourning or adjournment, which means "the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions," (Abudi, 2010, p. 3).


This week we needed to consider our own experiences with the stages of team development and team building, focusing on our experiences with the final stage mentioned previously and answer the following questions: When was it hardest to leave a team at this stage? Why? What closing rituals and goodbyes have you shared with your team? How do you imagine you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master's degree program? Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork?


In my opinion from my own personal experiences with teamwork, I think it is hardest to leave a team that is successful and formed a close bond. When you build a team, you must learn to trust one another and support one another - this becomes a major support system in your life - whether it is a team of family or friends, a sports team, a work team, etc. Once you build a strong foundation based on trust and respect, you build strong and powerful relationships and possibly friendships with the other team members. Therefore, a successful, supportive and well bonded team will be most difficult to adjourn from at the completion of the task at hand. From my own experiences with adjournment from a team, closing rituals have ranged from celebrations to handshakes to hugs and tears. Depending on the context and relationships of the team will depend upon the closing ritual utilized. For example, I played softball for 12 years of my life and some of my fondest memories are the end of the season celebrations we shared together in adjournment. Someone was always moving on to a new age group or team or college so it was always time for someone to adjourn to a new team, which was bittersweet. However, celebrating together with a pool party, yummy BBQ food, and games with friends was a great way to commemorate superb teamwork.


As our seventh class begins drawing to a close over the next two weeks, it is interesting to consider how I imagine my adjournment from this program and my new colleagues will be in just a few months. I once again was filled with bittersweet feelings of appreciation, gratitude, excitement, and sadness. I am so thankful to have met and learned from each of my colleagues in each of my courses thus far. I feel as though I have learned something special and been encouraged by every single one of you and for that I am thankful. I feel excited in anticipation of meeting each of you at graduation next summer! I think it would be lovely to celebrate our conclusion next summer at graduation together over lunch or dinner or a drink as we have all worked so hard and grown so much through this experience together as a team. I am also feeling sad to think that I will not be able to speak with each of you so frequently yet hopeful we can remain colleagues and contacts both professionally and personally after the adjournment from this team in a few months. :)


Lastly, I think adjournment is a very important stage of the team development process in that it provides conclusion and closure to a chapter of your life and the completion of a journey. I think it helps us to celebrate our victories and achievements while reflecting on our mistakes, failures, and challenges overcome. This stage can be a relief for some if the team was not successful or compatible but a dread for others who have grown close with their teammates. Either way, adjournment helps us to memorialize a special experience in our lives in which we have learned and grown greatly for the next step of our journeys in life - personally and professionally.




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

Conflict and Communication

This past week in class we have been discussing the influence and impact of conflict and negative communication skills on the effectiveness of communication between individuals. We learned about the 3 R's created by Magda Gerber, which include respectful, reciprocal, and responsive interactions. We also learned about Nonviolent Communication (NVC), which provides strategies and principles for avoiding or overcoming negative conflict. After reading and discussing such issues with communication, we needed to consider and examine our own experiences with conflict either in our personal or professional lives. How did this conflict impact the communication? More importantly, what are two strategies learned that could help manage or resolve the conflict more effectively and productively? Why and/or how are they effective?


Considering the topic at hand, I recollect an issue with a colleague from this past school year. This colleague is an individual who is very loud and likes to be heard by all, very frequently interrupting or speaking over others to get her point across or share what is on her mind - whether related to what is being discussed or not. She believes that she has the right to speak her mind to anyone, including administrators, as she often yells at them to get what she wants. She claims that she is "defending the children" in her classroom, yet she admits that she "enjoys making waves" to see what can come of it. While we work in different grade levels as this individual is a preschool self contained teacher and I am a fourth grade teacher, we are in the same building and have the same lunch period in the faculty room. During the lunch time, I would see this individual daily for 20-30 minutes. Almost daily she would interrupt my conversations or questions, along with any other individuals in the faculty room. On one particular day, I had posed a question to my colleagues regarding something my cousin who was in 1st grade in another district was experiencing. In New Jersey, we now have HIB laws against bullying. HIB stands for Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying and is taken very seriously within the schools in our state. My cousin had been encountering several instances of being bullied by two other students - one in her grade and class and the boy's older sister who was in 5th grade. I had asked my colleagues about the HIB laws just to confirm that I had the correct information before helping my Aunt and Uncle who asked for my advice on how to handle the situation with the principal since nothing had been done thus far, despite their requests. During this conversation, my colleague described previously, interrupted and began to practically yell at me about how to handle the situation. When I reminded her that I was inquiring to confirm I had the correct information and that it was not my own child, she still reprimanded me for how I was handling the situation and how her school was handling the situation. Once again I reminded her that I was attempting to help my Aunt and Uncle prepare to handle it appropriately to which she completely became angry and started to yell that I should not allow a child to be treated that way. This became an infuriating experience very quickly during a time of day in which I like to rest and recharge my batteries for the afternoon with my students. While I wanted to simply lose my cool and say things I should not say, I instead took a few deep breaths and allowed her to finish her rant before finally responding to say, "Thank you for your thoughts on the matter. Again I was just inquiring about the policies. I appreciate your passion and concern about the issue and I will help my Aunt and Uncle to handle it appropriately." After that I turned to another colleague and began discussing something from our fourth grade classes that we needed to finish that week in order to move on from the conflict.


Reflecting back on the scenario, I feel as though neither of us were being appropriate or effective communicators. Strategies that I have now learned in hindsight that could have helped could be to use questioning techniques and nonverbal cues to show I understand and care yet am curious why she is so worked up over the issue; and be willing to talk through and hear her side to compromise and take advice from her, as well. During both strategies, I could remind her to take a deep breath to help her remain calm, as well. I think both of these strategies could help both of us to be more effective communicators because it is allowing us to be more aware of the other individual's emotions and thoughts on the matter, utilizing empathy. Additionally, it would help us to utilize and perfect our listening skills to communicate more clearly and effectively with one another and later on with our children and families, as well. I think the principles of NVC and the 3 R's are helpful information that I now have as a resource in case an issue such as this were to take place again in the coming school year.