Reflective Essay on Residential Experience

This essay is a self-reflection of my residential experience learning at the event at Fall barrow during my post-graduation days. It has increased both academic knowledge and personal experiences and real-world experiences as well.

Running Head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Topic- Residential experience reflection
Student name
University name
Author notes

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This essay is a self-reflection of my residential experience learning at the event at Fall
barrow during my post-graduation days. It has increased both academic knowledge and personal
experiences and real-world experiences as well Bedwell, Fiore and Salas (2014, pp.171-186). In
order to critically analyze and interpret my motives and feelings on the same I have incorporated
a number of discussion areas and various personal development needs were identified and
evaluated based on a number of theoretical support and use of relevant frameworks Bedwell,
Fiore and Salas (2014, pp.171-186). I have conducted a number of self-evaluation tests that
includes the self-perception team role profiling test, Belbin role suit test, Myers Briggs test of
personality, Big five theoretical approach, Barrett value test and also emotional intelligence Bass
and Riggio (2014). Each test result is interpreted here to find the actual and final behavioral
approach Burns (2012). The reflective essay is structured and divided based on the following
main areas of discussion namely leadership, communication, time management, conflict,
interpersonal skills and teamwork. After critical analysis of each point I have drawn final
conclusion on my part to have an understanding of my stand that reflected upon my areas of
improvement in future. For better comprehension of the essay the Gibbs reflective model is used
where descriptions, feelings, evaluation, conclusion and action all are interconnected in a
cyclical manner by Gareth Bell (2013, pp.45-47). However, in this essay I will only focus on my
personal experiences on the previously mentioned areas of consideration based on each event
undertaken.
First, I would like to share my first Day 1 experience of Maze task. Here I have to
identify the correct path of finishing a given task with the help of all relevant rules and
regulations. I failed the task and felt very disappointed. The reason of failure was no proper
communication and effective planning. My personality type releveled by the Big Five

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personality test mentions the same. It is based on the five personality types of extraversion,
neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experiences Behfar, Friedman
and Brett (2016, pp.501-536). I have rated myself on a five-point scale and my end results show
that I am high at extraversion and conscientiousness but is low at openness to experiences. This
evidence from the test support the event results of failure as I am low at openness to experiences.
Pre-planning a picture of how to effectively complete the task would help in achieving better
results and proper communication could have supported the results of doing better. This reflects
that the communication approaches need to be more conducive and clear communication will
result in better outcomes Batenburg, van Walbeek and in der Maur (2013, pp.901-913). There is
need to work on interpersonal skills and openness to discussions and interaction with unknown
groups need to be increased Behfar, Friedman and Brett (2016, pp.501-536). This will improve
openness to experiences to a great extent Cappellini (2015, pp.184-186).
On day 1 I also participated in task of Web Bridge where I need to identify the correct bridge
pattern and need to cross it by aligning them. I again failed this task and lose my self-confidence
to some extent. I failed due to worst planning and vague ideology. It also reflected that my
resource management is not good and I have bad leadership skills. My test results of the famous
Myer Briggs test of personality support the failure reason and results show that I am an ENTJ
type A personality individual and is a Commander of dominant characterization. Though my
extroversion and judgement qualities are my strengths but my intuition and thinking weaknesses
has superseded them. And weak intuition and thinking resulted in worst planning Greenberger
(2016, pp.121-128). I then decided to change my problem-solving style to situation based and
and has become more flexible to adopt changes as per situations.

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The third task of day 1 is called the sheep and shepherd task where I as a shepherd need to guide
all the sheep to reach the destination by using the correct signal. I was successful in this task and
regained my self-confidence. The planning and communication both improved after the first two
tasks and I understood the importance of interaction and proper media signaling for successful
communication. I also focused on timely communication and for which planning also improved.
I am a complete finisher (CF) as per Belbin roles and so was able to successfully finish the task.
According to Hawkins (2017) communication plays a very vital role in business and
professionalism. If there is no clear communication among groups and team members the
ultimate objective cannot be achieved and there will be chaos and conflicts Hebert and Hauf
(2015, pp.37-49). After considering the results of self-perception and team role profiles it is
found that I have high service skill which is my strength and have mild transformation skills
which I need to improve further and low at survival which is one of my weaknesses and need to
work on it and convert it to one of my strengths.
I then participated in the last Number Cruncher game of day 1 where group activity is focused
upon. Here a group of people need to choose consecutive set of numbers and are required to
touch the given numbers in a given time frame. The team lost the game due to my poor time
management skills. I felt very disappointed as my team lost the game for me. I was not able to
choose the optimum method of task completion within the given time frame. This is well
reflected in my personality type of ENTJ Commander as I have weak intuition and thinking
abilities. I was unable to decide upon the optimum way of completing the task within the given
time. I then focused on more group activities to increase my flexibility and cohesion as a part of
the team so that in future professional life I do not face group participation difficulty. It is
evident from EI results that there is issue in balancing of inner emotions with the result outcome

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in professional life and this creates a lot of difficulties in professional development Kolinko
(2019, pp.189-212). Collaboration is what that should be emphasized the most while performing
in a team Leutner et al. (2014, pp.58-63). The more efficient are the interpersonal skills the more
impactful will be communication and both team support and resource usage will be effective and
timely McCleskey (2014, p.117).
On day 2 of the residential experience I participated in the group activity of Ball game
business task. Here I and my team needed to buy required resources by the mode of auction and
complete the task. The task was a failure due to poor planning and improper time utilization. I
was mainly responsible for it as I am poor in both. Team work was excellent but I was not able
to deliver my best. I felt hopeless and guilty too. Belbin roles which shows that I am a good team
worker (TW) but not a good team leader and so there is need to change my commanding attitude.
My EI is quite high and I have strong self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and
high relationship management skills. There is need to transform the ‘self’ into improved group
dynamics Malik and Zamir (2014, pp.35-42). Because professional world will support my group
effort more as I need to work in teams in future. Though I am a complete finisher (CF) as per
Belbin roles but still my time management is not proper and there is need to work on time
management skills so that both resource utilization as well as reduce time wastage on unwanted
skills can be optimized Hebert and Hauf (2015, pp.37-49). I have used tests for personal behavior
interpretation and critical appraisal of my own needs of personal development and this also
shows that time management is one such area that need to be developed more. I have also
completed the Barrett test of personal value assessment which helped me in better understanding
of my value system, motivational beliefs and will help me in deciding over what is right for me

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and what is not. The outcomes show that I am high at service, mild at transformation and low at
survival. So, I need to work on my transformation and flexibility more.
On day 2 and 3 there were a number of smaller business tasks of collecting wedges and selling
them to meet the total sale amount of £7500. This was also a part of the group activity. In the ball
game task, my planning has been misjudged and I was not happy with the outcomes and a
conflicting situation developed at that point of time. In order to meet the goals, I at times become
very tensed and stress increases and I start shouting in anger at my colleagues and for this I am
not able to maintain good relationship management with my colleagues and my team as well.
Here also I lost control of my emotions and shouted to my colleagues in anger which is not a
good act in professional upfront. My colleagues and team members were not happy at my
behavior and the ultimate result was not a good relation development among the team. Conflict is
one of the main reasons of unhealthy work environment Meslec and Curşeu (2015, pp.81-88). I
am a dominant trait characteristic individual and always try to influence others in my work and
want everybody to follow my command. As per Belbin roles my weak areas include plant and
shaper and I ignore incidentals and often offends the feelings of others. My high EI has increased
my self-concern and I felt the need for change. Being a commander as per Meyer-Briggs’s
personality test results supports my dominant personality. I tried to command all team members
most of the times and I realized that this is not the right approach and I tried to change them and
gradually my leadership skills have improved. I have manageable coordination, monitoring and
implementation attributes and need to work on them. I have learnt how to lead and manage a
team more effectively by increased participative style engagement. Team cohesion matters the
most in a team effort but to be successful each team member needs to be effective in their
individual area of strengths as well Nohria and Khurana (2014). Team members should

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complement each other and the best complementary team will be the winner at the end
Pfaffenberger, Marko and Combs (2011). As a result, situational leadership has been considered
and task demand and motivational skills have improved further Phipps (2013, pp.10-26).
Conflicting situational crisis has decreased to a considerable extent Raes et al. (2015, pp.5-30).
And I have become more emotionally stable and my situational leadership trait has helped me in
better team leading and improved team management. So, my changed leadership style has helped
me in receiving positive feedback from the team.
So, to add up all aspects considered here in this discussion what I can say about mine is
that I am somewhat reluctant in projecting myself in conspicuous means and people misinterpret
this as a threat in me and fails to recognize my actual inner strengths. Only known persons can
understand me well and they can only know my personality and my reliability. When I take on a
thing, I complete it thoroughly and then stops. Success and failure are accounted afterwards. This
supports team work and mutual help behavior Rhodes and McGuire (2013). I am comfortable in
working with a team and is less comfortable in working alone with prime responsibility given to
me. My stress level increases and confidence reduce leading to ineffective anger management.
When work relationships are considered I am more comfortable working with difficult work
situations and talented individuals. I expect a boss who is both difficult and demanding and set
high work standards. I believe that finding the best out of others is also an approach of finding
the best in me. I support cultural differences and try to impart social service and quality work
through my work. My personal and professional demarcation is loose and I take things from my
heart and at times face difficulties when people take advantage of my emotional count. There is
need to be more practical in professional arena and need to develop personal partnership with a
single person who will be more influential so that chances of misinterpretation by other people

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reduces and emotional and social work environment becomes more effective Rhodes and
McGuire (2013). I am somewhat dilemmatic about my best suited role and need to consider my
weak areas as well to have a clear understanding of the personal stand of mine.
While concluding the paper, it is quite evident that the overall reflection on personality
and development areas suggest that I am most effective when I perform in a team and have good
and improved leadership skills, people managing abilities, increased level of confidence and
support everyone’s decision and also communicate well with the team. There is a lot of
improvements in consideration to the previously mentioned aspects from past times Kolinko
(2019, pp.189-212). And the residence experience has been very effective in improving my skills
and know-how on leadership, team management and has helped me strengthen my own
personality to a considerable extent. Now I am good at collaborating and complementing my
team members holistically. I have understood that I am not a good creator nor a good idea
generating individual and so I need to complement myself with this drawback and find a team
that has all the complementary qualities that I lack. This will help in my own performance level
to improve considerably. Outward attitude towards reality increased and clear understanding of
the importance of situational decision making and time management in workplaces have been
achieved Greenberger (2016, pp.121-128). In order to be successful in my career endeavors in
future time I need to be more of a team player and should be empathetic towards each team
member and will respect their cultural differences and value ethics. I have also developed as an
individual and this residential experience will be one of the turning points of my life in both
personal and professional fronts.

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References
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