The Gibbs Reflective Learning Cycle
Reflection helps in providing a critical assessment of one which allows the understanding of relevant learning theories and concepts. Reflection helps in analysing the competencies and deficiencies of individuals so that they can adopt strategies and actions in order to enhance and address them. This report focuses on the self-reflection associated with a task which was provided to a group of students. As stated by Turner et al.(2018) self-reflection is considered as a very vital element in order to understand the learning which took place from specific activities and tasks.
The task is being analysed through Gibbs reflective cycle. The Gibbs reflective style will be used in this case in order to learn from the experiences which were associated with performing a group activity of building a jetty. The situations and feelings which were encountered during the task will be analysed by using the five stages present in the model and accordingly learning will take place through the analysis of experience. My personal test data will be reflected through the responses of the personality test questions which I undertook online in order to analyse my personality and traits. The Gibbs reflective learning cycle is considered as an effective process which can be followed in order to facilitate learning from a process or experience. The various processes which are involved in the Gibbs learning cycle are description, feeling, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The Gibbs reflective in context of the activity which is building the jetty is as follows:
Description- As opined by Allen et al. (2016) the scope of self-reflection in the current activity revolves around the learning from the specific activity. During the course of the activity, I and my teams had to sell ropes to the barrel group in order to buy the other items in order to build a jetty. At the onset of the task I was a little confused regarding my roles and responsibility in the group as I was not briefed about my exact responsibility regarding the task. Therefore I was unable to perform any specific task and mostly accompanied my other teams members in whatever task they were performing and did not contribute much to the group task. My behaviour created a negative behaviour among the team members as they perceived me as the most underperforming member of the team and they were trying to accuse me regarding the failure and under-performance of my team but as soon as the task progress, I started performing my tasks by seeing the team members of the other group which matches with my test results which reflect that I am a quick learner.
Feelings- As opined by Clinton and Insch (2018) all my group members including me experienced a lot of anxiety and stress while carrying out the tasks as not a single member from our group has the past experience regarding the activity The experience while carrying out the task assigned to us made me feel that many of the members of our group had a very limited understanding regarding how effective team collaboration works. Before the beginning of the task I did not possess any practical knowledge regarding working collectively in a team and therefore I had no idea what needs to be done and undertaken in order to work effectively as a team. Besides me, there were other team members of my team also who had no prior experience regarding team work and therefore when we started to work as a team, we had no idea what we were going to do and how to support each other in achieving the objective of the team. I had very negative experiences of team work while performing the activities as I felt that each team member were acting as a barrier to the other members which is evident from the fact that when I was negotiating with the other group regarding the price of the barrel, all of a sudden another team member of mine, interrupted the process and took over the charge of the process which resulted in failure of the negotiation. Due to the occurrence of this particular incident, I felt very irritated which could be evident from the fact that I got in a hot interaction with my other team members and also threatened to leave the task in the middle of the activity.
Discussion
From my personal point of view I can state that the portion of anxiety did not get any idea what to do next but it generally seemed fun and interesting regarding working as a group in order to achieve common goals. As there is evidence of anxiety in my test data, therefore I fully realized that I have become a victim of anxiety while carrying out the activity. As opined by Canals (2014) after undertaking the various activities of the group, I develop a feeling that our group lacked an experienced leader who would guide all the team members in an effective way, though I felt that I had leadership skills and qualities but due to lack of experience I could not demonstrate it. I could not demonstrate my leadership skills during my activity as my test data reflects that though I possess knowledge regarding leadership and its various approaches but is unable to reflect in in practical context due to lack of confidence and due to lack of desired experience. The shortfalls which I have which prevents me from being a leader is that I lack adequate interpersonal skills and also lack the ability to adapt to any kind of situation which are evident from the results of my test data.
According to my point of view, our group experienced lack of direction and motivation and we had no prior experience regarding such activities, things went unplanned and therefore we were not able to complete the activity in the given amount of time. During the course of the task in unknowingly interfered in the tasks of the other members and also provided suggestions and insights to other team members regarding the approach they should undertake rather than appreciating their own approach. In order to manage conflicts, I called upon all my group members and informed them regarding their specific roles and responsibilities and also assured them that none of the group members will interfere in the tasks of other team members. I felt very disappointed regarding the conflicts which were being evident in the group activity as I personally considered myself guilty in the creation of conflicts which resulted in the disruption of the task and therefore the tasks undertaken by us mostly involved conflicts among our team members which clearly reflected lack of unity in the group among the team members. In order to work effectively as a group it is very important that the members clearly understand their roles and responsibilities regarding the tasks to be performed so that they do not come in the way of each other’s task and it is also very necessary to adopt a single approach to perform the tasks by agreeing on the approach by mutual consent before the beginning of the task, whereas I interfered in the tasks of my other group members and also applied multiple approaches to perform the task.
It was very challenging for all us, as we had no prior experiences in working as a team in order to achieve common team goals but we hoped to achieve desired results at the end of the task but we failed to achieve the desired results as we failed to work as a team. The main reason why we failed to work as a team can be attributed to lack of past experiences regarding working as a team and mutual differences among the team members. Another reason for which we failed to work as a team was that we failed to identify our own roles and responsibilities in the group and accordingly there were contradictions of ideas among the team members which led to the failure of the task. As stated by Grandy and Holton (2013) our group experienced difficulties in detecting a course of action. By examining the results of my test data, it can be stated that the action which needs to be undertaken by me is to sit with all my team members and communicate the reasons of the failures from my point of view regarding the task to the other team members and also seek their feedback and responses and accordingly develop a plan of action by mutual agreement so that our team do not experience the same situation in the future.
Description
Besides, the bitter experience, our group had also lot of memories to cherish upon and remember as a group as we spent majority of our time laughing and joking around as we had no idea what we would be doing the next time and at various point of time some of our group members would could up with various out of the box ideas which could be considered as crazy in nature which made the situation more funny in nature. One of the good things which I noticed during the course of the activity was the strong resolution of the team members when they wanted to get things done any how and at any cost. As we has wasted a lot of time in resolving conflicts in the group and regarding developing ideas to carry out activities, there were very less time left to build the jetty and therefore at that point of time all the members of the group acted in a very serious and professional manner in order to complete the jetty and the group members were also ready to help each other in the group during the tasks which increased the motivation level of the entire group in completing the tasks in an effective manner. As opined by Keavney (2016) after the completion of the activity I realized that I did not possess any practical knowledge regarding team work and therefore was unable to guide my team members during the task. After the completion of the task I also realized that I could not demonstrate appropriate leadership skills which would have provided direction to the team during conflict situation. As opined by Clarke (2013) after the completion of the task I also realized that I lacked the necessary patience, which is considered as very instrumental while working in groups and therefore due to lack of patience, I easily got frustrated and angry on my fellow group members during the course of the activity which I should have refrained. According to me, all these factors from my side contributed to the failure of the activity.
Evaluation- As stated by Hickman and Akdere (2018) one of the most crucial factors for the effectiveness of a group is assigning roles to the group members according to their skills and capabilities. Another success factor of a team lies in the effectiveness of its group or team leader. Therefore the preliminary task which we did before starting the activity was appointing a team leader among the members of the group who would guide the group in an effective manner. After appointing a team leader, our next major task was to develop rules and regulations regarding governing the behaviours of the group members.
One of the vital takeaways for me, after the completion of the project is that though a team leader is important for a team but the man success of the team depends on the contribution of its members. An effective leader must possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills in order to guide the team to its ultimate goal. As stated by Conlin (2016) according to my personal opinion, the group member who was selected as a team leader in our group lacked communication and interpersonal skill and therefore was unable to guide the group in a proper manner. As opined by Kotlyar, Richardson and Karakowsky (2015) the activity was actually meant to be a team work but the contradictory opinion of the group members and the conflict of ideas and thoughts of the team members slowed down the progress of the task but it were expected to happen as none of us had the past experience of such activities and therefore conflict of the ideas of the team members and lack of equal contribution from all team members led to the failure of the task.
Feelings
My personal evaluation regarding the task was that though I possessed theoretical knowledge regarding leadership skills and attributes and time management skills I failed to implement in on a practical basis during the course of the task. According to Peters, Baum and Stephens (2013) I personally perceived that the practical application of various learning theories is very difficult and therefore it is very important to go through various case study analyses in order to apply theoretical skills in practical context. I also felt that I lacked negotiation and team collaboration skills and therefore it is very important from my part to gain more knowledge regarding those concepts and theories.
Analysis- As stated by Clements (2013) from the course of performing the activities it was learnt that a leader must needs to adapt to various situations and perform accordingly in order to be termed as an effective leader. As opined by Swensen et al. (2016) from the analysis of the entire task, it can be analysed that the team could have worker and performed better and could have influenced the situation in a better manner if the leadership qualities of our team leader was effective in nature. As stated by Elkington et al. (2017) leadership is developed as a result of interaction of multiple variables and this aspect of leadership is considered as very vital for the development of teamwork in context of a group as well. As opined by Frawley, Favaloro and Schulenkorf (2018) but, at the same time based on the analysis of our situation, it can be stated that none of the styles of leadership could ensure the fulfilment of the goals of a team, if the members of the team hesitates to take orders and advices from the leaders. As opined by Shilpa and Yadav (2018) I feel that the authoritarian style of leadership is not applicable to situation such as ours as it would have interfered in the maintenance of personal relationships among the group. Based on my personal performance analysis I felt that I belong to the beginner level regarding my learning capabilities and do not possess any application skills of my learning capabilities.
Conclusion- From the analysis of the entire situations which were associated with the completion of the activity, it can be stated that in this type of situation, the democratic style of leadership is more suitable than the authoritarian style of leadership as it enables the receive the maximum possible support from the team members as it involves the members in the decision making process of the group which helps in motivating the members and it also helps in mobilizing the intellectual resources of the team. As opined by Solansky (2014) in case of high value orientation unity, the most effective style of the leader’s activity is being characterized as democratic and in groups with high productivity but low value orientation unity as an authoritarian one.
Action Plan- From the analysis of reflection regarding my own performance, there are various developments which are required to be undertaken by me based on the insights of my performance in the activity. As opined by Callaghan (2014) the first and foremost activity which I need to undertake is to undergo reading and evaluation of various case study analyses regarding leadership skills and attributes as it will help me to apply my leadership skills on a practical basis as I have perceived that I possess leadership skills within myself but I fail to apply me in practical situations due to lack of knowledge regarding application of theoretical contexts in real life situations. The second activity which I need to undertake is gain more knowledge regarding time management, group dynamics and group collaboration so that I can effectively manage various issues and conflicts which arises in the group and so that I can also provide a direction to the team in achieving its goals and objectives. As stated by Bryant (2013) another activity which would be undertaken by me is to develop my communication and inter-personal skills so that I can communicate in a more effective manner with my group members and also lead by example in the group so that I can be a role model to the other members of the group. As opined by Hanson (2013) the next activity that I will undertake is to identify the capabilities of the group members and accordingly assign them tasks and also clearly defining their roles and responsibilities regarding accomplishing the goals of the teams so that they are no conflicts and confusion among the team members regarding their roles and responsibilities which will help in avoiding conflicts in the team.
Conclusion
From the analysis of the above reflection it could be stated that, the performance of the rope group was hampered as a result of conflicts and differences between the group members. From the analysis of the self-reflection report it can also be stated that one of the main causes of failure of the rope group regarding the building of the jetty was the lack of effectiveness of the team leader as the team leader had not adequate communication and interpersonal skills required to guide the team. From the above self-reflection report it can be also stated that the insights of the self-reflection report will help in adopting strategies in order to address issues and enhance performance.
References
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