Deck 9: The Final Stage

Question 1

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
What are the leader's responsibilities when bringing a group to an end?

Answer 1

The last stage of group development is called adjourning stage. This stage is reached when the group successfully meets the goal and the members are moving into different group or role. The members will have mixed feelings. They will be happy and satisfied because the purpose is fulfilled and sad because they will be insecure in moving out of the group.
The leader plays key role at the adjourning stage.
• The leader needs to ensure that the team should celebrate their success of the task.
• The leader needs to motivate the members to use the best practices that they have learned from the task and implement those in their future role.
• If the goal in not met and the team is adjourning, the leader should discuss what went wrong and what the members need to do in their future roles.
• The leader should give opportunity to members to express their feelings and experience of working together.
• The leader should help the members to identify what they did right and their area of development.
• The leader should make them understand how the members reacted to change and how they accepted each other for the success of the task.
• The leader should give opportunities to the members to pass constructive feedback to one another.
• The leader should ensure that members have learned how they need to deal with change in the future and how to utilize their skill to cope up with the change.
• The leader should help the members to summarize the entire project, their role, contribution and the leadership skills that they have achieved out of this project.

Question 2

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
How might you handle an individual's leaving in an open group? How would you introduce a new member into the group?

Answer 2

The leader needs to handle the situation effectively if an individual is leaving an open group. An open group is not bound by time and consists of people with different skills, knowledge and abilities. The leader should play important role in building cohesion in an open group. If a member is leaving the group, the leader should use his or her ability to understand the problem, provide support and assistance and give assurance to resolve the matter. The leader needs to understand the problem that the individual is facing and resolve it appropriately.
In an open group, members may face issues like conflict, unequal participation, different working style, lack of communication or interaction, competition, underperformance, lack of motivation, underperformance etc. By identifying the issue faced by an individual and appropriate action taken by the leader will motivate the individual to overcome the obstacle faced. However, these are few points that the leader needs to follow to avoid such situation.
• The leader should encourage the group members to find common ground when performing a task.
• The leader should be supportive and empathize with the members.
• The leader should make each member believe that their role is important for the success of the group. Once the individual will build the level of acceptance in the group, he will be ready to work together.
• It is very important for a leader to establish trust, respect and confidence among its members.
• The leader should set expectation from all the team members and should control their activities effectively in order to avoid or eliminate conflict situation.
• The leader should encourage group members to meet the targets by working collaboratively.
• Leader should encourage questions, conduct team meetings regularly, and resolve conflicts appropriately.
• Leader should assign the roles and responsibility to each person in a group and keep a track of it effectively.
• The leader should give feedback in timely manner with respect to the goals and objectives and progress of the group.
The role of leader is very important in increasing the cohesion in an open group. The leader should take responsibility to make the members comfortable with each other. A new member should be introduced to the existing members in such a way that will make everyone comfortable to the changing situation. The leader should make the new member acceptable in the group environment and should encourage the old members to understand and build trust. The leader should set expectation from all the team members and should control their activities effectively in order to avoid or eliminate conflict situation. It is very important for a leader to establish trust, respect and confidence among its members in order to make them work collaboratively, give highest level of performance and meet the goal.

Question 3

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
What personal characteristics of yours could get in the way of helping members in your groups deal with separation and termination issues?

Answer 3

The last stage of group development is called adjourning stage. This stage is reached when the group successfully meets the goal and the members are moving into different group or role. The members will have mixed feelings. They will be happy and satisfied because the purpose is fulfilled and sad because they will be insecure in moving out of the group.
The following characteristics of members could help other members in groups deal with separation and termination issues.
• Members should share feelings at adjourning stage which would help them to stay connected to the group in future.
• Members should understand and evaluate their learning so that they will utilize those in future and could work effectively in a group.
• Members should resolve issues or conflict situation that are present in the group or with individuals to maintain a good relationship in future.
• Members should understand the importance of group work and get ready to face the change as a result of separation or termination.
• Member should take proper decisions on the changes they want to make or face.
The members should use the best practices that they have learned from the task and implement those in their future role.
• They should use the learning in their next there next role without the support of other members.
• They should improve their behavior by attending self-awareness program and how they can adapt to change.

Question 4

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
What assessment techniques might you use at both the beginning and the end of a group?

Question 5

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
How can you build evaluation research into your group design? Do you see any value in combining research and practice in group work?

Question 6

Here are a few questions for exploration in a discussion group in class:
What issues would you think of exploring with your coleader after a group terminates?