One aspect of organizational work groups has been ignored by both group and organizational communication researchers. The concluding period or termination of an organizational work group is disregarded while research focuses on the assignment, development, and maintenance of groups. In the organizational context, how work groups process the conclusion of their task and the personal and professional relationships developed in the group are important to examine and understand. Given that an organization's members are continually assigned and recycled to various work groups, task forces, and production teams, lessons learned in one group can be passed on to the next. In addition, organizational members leaving a group context must operate within the closely defined sphere of the organization, and may have to work again with the other group members or with people who know them. Dissolving groups should have the opportunity to reflect both upon the work they have achieved and the relationships that may have developed within the group. Future research should examine how a work group communicates in the termination phase and how the group termination affects its members and the overall organization. (Thirty-nine references are attached.) (Author/SG)