Leadership and Reflection in Group Processes

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Introduction
In this essay, my aim is to explain and analyze the various theories of leadership and
reflection but mainly, the group processes by linking my role in the team project. I will try to
provide all the information regarding the group process that I was involved in and share my
experiences as well. I will provide certain leadership theories and group processes that could be
followed in the future projects. In addition, I will use the Gibbs’ reflective cycle to analyze my
role in the team and the extent to which I was able to carry out the responsibilities given to me.
Throughout the group project, I have had to play multiple roles within the team as per the
requirement and the situation.
Working in the project has helped me understand the team dynamics in a much better
light. In addition, the team project has also assisted me in understanding my own capabilities and
weaknesses. With the help of this newly gained knowledge, I will be able to improve myself as
an individual and as a team player as well. I will also include the personal learning outcomes that
have come out from the group project to shed light on the newly gained insights into my personal
development. I will provide a personal development plan (PDP) that would address my
weaknesses. In this essay, I will include my own strengths and weaknesses that I have explored
during the team project. The analysis will also include the impact that I was able to exert on my
team while carrying out my role as a team player. Our project on “Nurturing Practice
Development in Nursing and Midwifery” was received well and I could proudly say that I had
important contributions to make in its success. I will include my contribution and its influence on
the outcome of the project.
Discussion

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle was developed in 1988 by Professor Graham Gibbs in his
book Learning by doing” (Potter 2015). The cycle has five stages starting with description of the
event, the feelings during the event, evaluation of the feelings and thoughts, conclusions drawn
from the evaluation and further action that is deemed necessary. Using the Gibbs’ cycle would
help me in describing the group project process more easily.
Tuckman (1977) further provided a framework for the group process that had four stages.
These included forming, storming, norming and performing.
In the forming stage, the team begins to come together with members being introduced to
each other. The members then share information about their interests and backgrounds. At this
stage, the common goal, the process for organizing the team, rules of the group and member’s
responsibilities are decided. It is in this stage that I have been given the role to look after the
Medication safety project in my organization (Tuckman and Jensen 1977).
The storming stage is where the team comes together to work as a team and discusses
ways to achieve the common goal. This stage is also, where there is increased chance for conflict
because the members begin to compete for acceptance and reputation. During our group project,
a conflict arose when my team leader rejected my proposal of preparing a Gantt chart for the
project. She argued that for a small project like ours, Gantt chart would not be necessary.
Conflicts are bound to arise within the team because there will be some clash of ideas, ideologies
and egos. It is important for the team leader to manage the conflict in a proper way (Bradley et
al. 2013).
In the norming stage, the individual goals make way for the collective goal of the team
and each member starts to give her and his best to achieve the goal. The most important

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY
characteristic of this stage is that the members demonstrate respect for each other and appreciate
the ideas they share.
Performing is the fourth stage where the team works with full motivation and focuses
entirely on achieving the goal with perfection. Motivation is at its peak amongst the team
members to give their all and achieve their goal.
The last stage is adjourning when the group project ends and the team dissolves. The
members celebrate success of the project and reflect on the future project. This last stage was
included later by Tuckman to complete the group development stage (Betts and Healy 2015).
Group process
To ensure the success of any group project, it is crucial that the group process is effective
and systematic. Group process refers to the way the members of a team or organization
collaborate and work together to fulfill the assigned tasks. The process includes initiation,
communication, decision-making, allocation of tasks, setting the routine and the rules, setting
and maintaining the deadline.
In this project, the team had to prepare the seminar program, the abstracts, group reports,
seminar certificate and evaluation form. In order to fulfill all these tasks, the team had to hold a
meeting first and decide the team leader and other responsibilities. Our team consisted of five
members that included along with me, Salina Blake (SB), Li-An Collie (LC), Vincy John (VJ),
and Laura Watson (LW). Salina Blake (SB) was chosen as the team leader. All the members
were introduced to each other through the conversation MyLo discussion board thus completing
the forming stage.