Individual Critical Reflection Essay

Individual Critical Reflection Essay Kudriavtceva Kseniia 8645597 SOC71500-19F-Sec16-Group Dynamics Rachel Schultz September 11, 2019 Undoubtedly, the ability to work individually and achieve set goals is essential. However, in today's world, the ability to collaborate and work in tandem to solve complex problems becomes paramount. The rapid development of the economy is possible, first of all, due to high technologies and the superfast process of accumulation, analysis and transfer of information. This leads to the fact that the requirement for successful professional activity is the ability to teamwork, to solve complex problems that cannot be determined alone, and the talent to organize the interaction of several teams. I would like to highlight my experience, which demonstrates that cooperation is tricky. As an active member of my city's life, I have faced such problems as social loafing, freeriding, bypassing and many others (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.347). However, this course helped me to understand that this was a deviant behavior, and it was not appropriate because before I had characterized it as a personality trait of my groupmates. In this essay, I will seek to show my way through the course, to identify my strengths that have helped my team succeed, and to recognize the individual attributes that can be enhanced. Nowadays, during the rapid development of information technologies, expansion of communication space, socialization, society needs a perfect new personality. The personality is active, sociable, ready to make difficult decisions, to overcome difficulties that time brings. Unfortunately, not always a contemporary school graduate meets all these requirements. That is why the paradox turns out to be: it seems that a student, who has time for all subjects at school well, is "lost" outside the school walls, cannot find his way, to realize his potential, to take a worthy place in society. A classical school teaches you how to solve tests, quizzes or paperwork — something completed in solitude, with distinct individual answerability, while higher education and work require people to not just work with, but cooperate with peers to respond to an assignment (Pahomov, 2018, p.34). My first day on this subject was striking but tangled. I was confused after the boat building because that day I wore a dress that was too long and I sometimes stumbled over the hem. Moreover, on the first day, I had trouble getting my schedule and besides, I spilled the soup in my bag. I came to my first lesson in this state where I didn't recognize anybody. The lesson process calmed me down a little bit, but I didn't have a clear purpose and didn't understand the organization of the subsequent lessons, so the end of the first lesson only generated more questions than answers (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.328). The second lesson was even more tangled. After dividing into teams, I realized that people with whom I have common interests remained in other teams, and my new teammates have nothing in common with me. After the first meeting, it seemed to me that some members of the team do not want to cooperate with me, which was an internal obstacle towards group work for me during the first three days. I tried to be friendly, but I always felt primary tension (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.121). The next few days were a disaster. We were a teaching team, and I was its leader. I'm pretty sure that it was the worst rotation that ever happened. Apart from the problems with our main task, we faced with a secondary tension (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.122). We wanted the best way to teach the information from the textbook, but everyone wanted to make sure it was his or her idea that was accepted as the main one, although everyone was afraid to take responsibility for the final decision. As a leader for the first rotation, I assumed this responsibility and distributed certain subchapters among the team members. Probably it was not a great decision, because ultimately, we got two tiresome lectures. Now I understand that it would be better to have a roundtable activity, where each member could reflect on the group’s work (Frey et al., 2009, p.89). Involving all students on the same topic is a great idea to enhance the ties between team members. The subsequent difficulty for the team was a low grade. The gentlemen blamed the evaluating criteria, while I was sure that our main problems were metacognition and group cohesiveness (Frey et al., 2009, p.85). However, further development of teamwork was successful. The team has imperceptibly overcome an extraordinary stage and started to develop fully (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.251). I believe that every member of the N.N. K.B. has done much to improve the situation. Braxton's help in the development of the team is invaluable. He supported every member of the team through WhatsApp, performed his tasks ahead of time and organized most of the team meetings online. Neil tried to relieve the tension between team members through jokes and informal communication. He was the first to share personal experiences virtually, which helped the team to overcome the barrier. Namoshi was some kind of opinion giver because he proposed feelings or assumptions about the ideas under consideration (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.106). The support of the other team members was essential for me because at first, I was struggling with the language barrier. It was my first regular teamwork experience with people who do not understand my native language at all. In my opinion, this action was the key to unity growth. If I could give myself some advice at the beginning of this course, I would say to myself not to judge what was going on right away and be calmer about other people's actions. The development during this course has become an indication that honesty and openness among the team members are crucial. The effectiveness of a team depends to a large extent on the personal qualities of its members. From this perspective, it is necessary to define a level of competence that includes experience, intelligence, abilities and individual characteristics that team members should possess. Each team member should be prepared to direct their abilities and knowledge to the team task. Course teamwork has shown me that I have certain positive qualities that have helped my team to succeed. I think my main strength during this course was the high capacity for executive function (Frey et al., 2009, p.85). My abilities to plan ongoing activities according to the overall objective, to modify the response according to the context and to selectively focus on the right incentives generated have created a favorable environment for the other team members' performance. Executive functions play a crucial role in the learning process. They allow us to control our attention and maintain our focus on the classroom, or help us organize our exam preparation. In other words, this is close to the initiator-contributor group task role (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.106). As Braxton has noticed in his participant-analyst report, I always try my best to bring innovative ideas to the team's performances. I think this talent originates in the diversity of my previous experience, as I have worked many times as a camp counsellor, volunteer at city events, class headmaster, responsible for the school. During this course, it brought a lot of positive consequences for my team. I was able to react quickly to changes in team roles and responsibilities. Braxton, Neil and Namoshi struggle with making decisions. However, I always helped them because we have to support our fellows. The intelligence to perform executive functions will be crucial in my future career, as modern world trends prescribe us incredibly tight deadlines and constantly changing circumstances that require adjustment in a short time. My other strength is my talent for evaluating the solutions (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.285). I could make decisions and solve problems effectively. It is straightforward for me to assess what is going on in the short term and find several best options for solving a difficult situation. During the second rotation, we were Energizer Team. I soberly evaluated the actions of the previous teams and was able to immediately find the best activities for the lessons. During the third rotation, I created two thematic presentations for each lesson, which were appreciated by the participants. In general, my basic ideas were always accepted as the main ideas and only partially improved by the rest of the team. Evaluating-solution skills will be indispensable in my future groups, as it is always necessary to see the pros and cons and to edit the decision making in a short time. My third power is the ability to see the shortcomings. At the beginning of the first rotation, I resorted to the opening confession (Pahomov, 2018, p.36). In this case, I believe that the sober assessment of each member is the key to the success of the team as a whole. I immediately explained to my teammates that English is not my native language. Moreover, I had been using this language for only two months, so I needed to use more time than other team members for the same needs. After I said that to my teammates, we were able to schedule the meetings correctly. I believe that honesty with yourself is one of the main qualities of a successful person because only by soberly assessing your qualities is it possible to understand the actions of others. Being able to see the drawbacks combined with an eagerness to perform will help me improve my skills and results. In general, I think I did a lot for my team's needs and was a productive team member. As mentioned above, a reasonable assessment of personal shortcomings is key to team success. Next, I will conduct an in-depth analysis of the areas for improvement areas and try to find a specific and measurable goal. First of all, my main flaw is that I'm the Type-A Micromanager (Pahomov, 2018, p.36). I used to the unwritten regulations of my previous environment that it is merely your responsibility if team results are not sufficient. I thought that our team has no weak spots in group work. However, even a perfect mechanism could have some disadvantages. Having the opinion that everything is perfect all the time can cause a remarkable issue for team productivity. Understanding team blemishes could become a stable basis for development and growth. If I would be less concerned about the perfectness of team image in the beginning, then our first rotation perhaps would not be so disastrous. In this case, my goal is to eliminate this characteristic because I damage myself by doing this. I have decided to keep every day a log to avoid this problem in the future (Frey et al., 2009, p.88). Now I evaluate existing pros and cons and make deductions merely based on the data. By doing this, I will have a fair estimation of each action and could prevent several obstacles. My second area for improvement is self-dependence. It could sound confusing, but that is true. I have noticed that in order to avoid group disputes, I got used to reliance on my strengths rather than on others. Being in solitude and make decisions that could damage just myself had become my habit. However, education attainment and my future work life could not exist without other people. I have to develop teamwork skills as it is much easier to perform as a team member rather than doing everything on my own. No individual member of the team has the same level of knowledge and experience as the team as a whole. As my schoolwork has already started, I explicitly developed and discussed roles and responsibilities in my new groups (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.9). We've documented in a team contract to direct the actions of each team member effective (Pahomov, 2018, p.36). I have found this development serviceable and will try to keep using it. Managing the efforts of each member could help to organize the appropriate agenda and achieve the goal faster. My third area for development is becoming other-oriented (Beebe & Masterson, 2016, p.208). Namoshi and Neil have noticed several times in their reports that sometimes I could become too impulsive to protect my idea. Honestly, this flaw disturbs me throughout all my conscious life. I did this during the school process because otherwise some peers literally didn't pay attention to my opinion. Even though I try to work on this, I keep doing this all the time. I absolutely understand that this action is causing disputes which destroy group cohesiveness. After the beginning of this course, I set hourly notifications to hint about the new habit of trying to be other-oriented. Moreover, I keep tracking all of my responses to reduce the risk of impulsiveness. The successful worker should be flexible and forward-thinking to get the best job title and career growth without hurting the feelings and expectations of others. When I overcome this obstacle, I will get more opportunities for personal growth and self-development. To sum up, everyone has some shortcomings and this natural. Nevertheless, it is essential to accept the fact every day you should keep overcoming them. Summing up the above, I would like to emphasize that this course, despite its complexity and strangeness, has had a positive impact on my personal development. In teamwork, not everything should be limited to the execution of the work. Team members who can spend their free time with each other will also work better to achieve the company's goals (Pahomov, 2018, p.37). My experience during this course has proven it. Our informal communication through WhatsApp has helped to establish contact and develop personal relationships. My beneficial skills have indeed provided a great advantage to the team, but it is clear to me that I have to work with my shortcomings. It is now clear to me that teamwork is a complex process of working on myself because I have to think not only about my interests and goals but about many people at once. I believe that the information provided during the course has opened up new opportunities for me to work on myself. Personal growth and work on myself in these areas will help me to work in future teams. At the beginning of my college education, I understand that my future career will be directly related to communication with people, so I need to develop my teamwork skills. The engineer of the future must be able to interact with clients and involved coworkers. The conclusion is simple - everyone who wants to succeed should become a lifelong student, continuously improve themselves, expand their knowledge and want to learn. References List: Beebe, S., & Masterson T. (2015). Revel Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices (11th ed.). Retrieved September 10, 2019, from https://console.pearson.com/enrollment/u6gug2 Frey, N., Everlove, S.& Fisher, D. (2009). Incorporating Group Processing. Productive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding, 25(1), 84-97. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.224421731&site=eds-live&scope=site Pahomov, L. (2018). Inventories, Confessionals, and Contracts: Strategies for Effective Group Work. Turn group work from a classroom management headache into a productive—and even joyful—experience. Educational, 76(1), 34-38. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rch&AN=131744391&site=eds-live&scope=site.