This assignment reminded
me when I was asked to head the project at our church while we were in the
process of opening a license center. I was chosen because I was more familiar with
state childcare regulations, health and safety regulations and other aspects of
the division of childcare and the rating scale.
I think we moved through the stages quickly
because the three of us knew each other well, attended the church and had the
same agenda. We were all committed to the project and experienced an honest, positive,
supportive working relationship (Abudi, 2009). Initially, we functioned at the
clearest established standards through our strong commitment in making this
happen for our church. The team quickly turned to a high-performing group
because the project of getting our family life center in compliance was
organized and executed fairly rapidly. It was hard leave the team because of a
deeper connection formed by working closely on something we were passionate
about, and I had no doubts of its success when I stepped away.
The closing ritual experienced was having
dinner at a local restaurant to commemorate and celebrate our outcome.
When adjourning from
the master’s degree program, I imagine a feeling of sadness at the prospect of
not having future opportunities to learn and share different prospective from my
colleagues that I have grown accustomed to; from some the entire cohort. At the
same time, I imagine a sense of connection and empowerment through knowledge
obtained from them that I will carry that has broadened my understanding of
aspects of early childhood in improving my professional development. The adjourning
process is essential for a team because it allows evaluation of goals and
reflection on skills learned or those that might need enhancing for future
projects.
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
Audrey,
ReplyDeleteI know of some in the church who have worked on a project and it didn't not go well, there were many disagreements and attitudes. Your experience is how it should be between women of God. I am glad to hear you experienced a warm project atmosphere and accomplished your goals. Thank you for sharing.
Audrey, you're right! We have been together through the entire program. It was your words of wisdom that helped me get through the research course we took. Oh, my goodness did that stress me out! LOL I am going to miss sharing the thoughts and ideas of people in the early childhood field that come from different areas of the country. It's been fun to get perspectives of others outside of Maryland. I enjoyed reading your post and I glad it was successful.
ReplyDeleteAudrey,
ReplyDeleteI will also miss having the opportunity to share with fellow colleagues. I think it is more difficult when you have a successful team in which there is respect and admiration which I do have for my classmates. I believe that the opinions and insights of our fellow colleagues are valued and it is evident in the interactions and exchanges. I am glad you had a good experience in working on your church project and your goal was achieved.
I too will miss the regular checking in and sharing of experiences with my colleagues throughout this degree. I will be excited to move on and utilize my skills. However, this has been my network and connection to other professionals for a long time so I will struggle with finding a new network.
ReplyDeleteAudrey,
ReplyDeleteIt has been a great experience collaboration thoughts, experiences, and resources with one another. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your experiences related to communication and have taken from your experiences ways in which I can improve my own experiences! I wish you the very best in your graduate studies program and look forward to crossing paths with you again soon!
Shawna Kushner