Effective Teamwork and Project Management

This assignment provides a detailed analysis of effective teamwork and project management techniques. It explores the behaviorist theory of learning, construction project management, domino theory, reflective portfolio, safety management, and strategic management. The assignment also touches on teamwork as a collective effort to complete a job within a stipulated time and in an effective way. It is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand these concepts and improve their skills.

Running heads: REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Portfolio
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Introduction
A reflective portfolio is a style of writing in which a student reflects the set of knowledge
that a person has gained from the practical assessments. the major goal of a reflective portfolio
writing is to get engaged with the fieldwork, it also showcases the ability of a student to compare
the knowledge gained with that of the theoretical knowledge (Thompson and Pascal 2012). The
comparison of the practical knowledge with the theoretical knowledge must finally present an
opportunity for knowledge application. There are different forms of portfolio writing and it
contains the online archive, documentary evidence and short writings, a notebook writing an
extended piece of writing. One of the key elements of a portfolio is the revisions of the important
consideration of the practice and increasing the self-awareness. A reflective portfolio generally
contains different types of details like samples of the work, journal entries, critical incident
reports, personal statement, evidence of the achievement. Reflective portfolios are helpful for the
students to a great extent for the development of the critical understanding of the traditional
assignments and academic development. Through the reflective portfolio, there is a greater
chance of developing awareness critically through one's own skill development. Through the
reflective portfolio, a student can apply the theoretical knowledge on the different practical
scenarios. The portfolio helps in reflecting back on the insights, feelings, and thoughts which a
student tries to develop a degree programme or a course programme. In order to write a portfolio
effectively, there is a definite need to focus on writing an assignment comprehensively, critically,
revealing the weakness, devising a developmental plan (Corley and Zubizarreta 2012). The
purpose of the report is to reflect on the personal portfolio through a series of accounts with
reference to the certain incidents as well as providing the opportunities that will translate the
theory into practice. The assignment carries seven incidents which are to be reflected upon the
site visits, group work, carrying out a specific assignment, feedback on the specific assignment
and extracurricular activities. While the main purpose of the report is to develop a professional
identity that will help in the career development. The report demands a reflection on the
evaluation of the practice through witnessing and experiencing.
Incidents and reporting from site visits
First incident
I visited a construction site with my professor Enad which is located in Oxford. During my visit
to the construction site, I almost fell down and felt the importance of the health and the safety
procedure which is necessary to be followed for each and every individual who is working and
visiting a construction site. In order to take the precautionary measures, there is a definite need
for a person to wear safety helmets and safety shoes. When I was previously working, I did not
pay much attention to the health and safety equipment, however later I felt the need to follow the
necessary procedure in order to keep myself safe from any mishap.
The interesting part of the incident is that previously I used to be careless of the health
and safety related issues in the workplace. Whereas, the feeling of the importance of the health
and safety procedure struck my mind only after I stumbled upon an object at the construction
site. One thing that surprised me was that the careless attitude of mine suddenly shifted to a more
cautious attitude. The sense of a probable harm and danger suddenly changed my attitude
towards the workplace hazards. I previously used to give less emphasis to the various hazards
that were prevalent in the workplace, however, after visiting a construction site my perspective
and mentality have completely changed.

2REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Incidents and reporting from group work
Second incident
In our life, we spend a significant amount of time in groups of one kind or
another, from the beginning of our life our family is a particular kind of group, our friends, and
our workplaces. All of these may offer the opportunity to improve our skills, ways of learning
and the social interaction. Also, it helps to improve our knowledge by learning from each other.
According to (McCorkle et al. 1999; McKinney and Graham-Buxton 1993), team assignment
and group work can be beneficial in gaining team skills, problem-solving and the communication
skills. For the people how will work in the construction industry working as a group is one of the
basic things in our field and every now project we will have new group members may be it the
first time to know and work with him. I did not pay any attention for that in my previous
experience in the university or the work but after the second group work in my master, I changed
my mind to know how to deal with this situation especially when you have group members from
different backgrounds and different languages.
As a master degree student in the department of construction management, we have an
assignment for every module. Some of these assignments individual and some group works, in
our department, we have a lot of international students which make the communication very hard
for these students. In CEM202 construction project management, I had group work with five
students from different backgrounds and most of them didn't speak English as a mother tongue.
This assignment was marked 35% of the overall mark. This group was not effective and we got
70% in this group because some of the group mates did not do their work effectively maybe
because they didn't understand what should they do. However, I am one of these people who
didn’t speak English as a first language but I try as much as I can to ask and understand what I
should do before I start work in my part. It was the first group work for me with these group
mates so I had no any information about their attitudes, skills and the ability of works.I feel
disappointed because it was the first assignment and I want to get a good mark from the
beginning. Also, I felt so angry because that was the first assignments and the first impression
about us and it should be good. In addition, this assignment was not a hard assignment to achieve
the high mark.
Nowadays, the demand for teamwork has increased to a great extent in the
business and at the same time, the stakeholders and the employers are asked integrate the
exercises related to the team building into the curriculum. This is done to help a student learn
about the leadership, communication, and teamwork. The experiences that I have received from
the group work has helped me to deal with a different kind of the situation and also when I dealt
with the different people in different scenarios. I have learned to become more flexible and now I
make sure that each and every person in a group knows what they are doing. According to Lovitt
and Goswami (1999), one very common belief that exists in a group is that misunderstandings
within a cross-cultural group occur due to people's inability to understand the native syntactical
and phonological constructions. It has been mentioned by the authors that non-native speakers
that are able to write English are undermining the cultural complexity of a language. I also
learned a lesson that I should increase my communication skills so that I can communicate with
the international people which will help me understand the other members during work. Working
in a group will provide an important chance of knowing my mistake and hence will further help
me in correcting and bettering myself.

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An incident from carrying out a specific assignment
Third incident
Assignments are the most important part of both the learning and the teaching
process, assignments are a kind of a measuring tool through a student's level of learning can be
measured. Quizzes and the exams are certainly the useful and favorite ways of assessing a
student, however, the out of the class assignments that are either written or in another form also
offers a similar kind of approach to the learning of a student. Like creating the means test is
necessary, the creation of the excellent assignment also help in learning from a student's end.
When I came across an assignment which is assigned to me by my professor. I
was at first very confused and puzzled about the way that I must proceed with. I was given a
construction project management assignment when I was doing the assignment I came across
several findings and which can be designated as incidents. When I was going through the
assignment, it presented me some challenges like the what must be the ideal objectives of project
management, the modern management innovations, risks associated with a project,
organizational structure, professional construction management and the management rules
regarding the project management. Whereas, when I further went with the different literature
search, I accumulated different sets of information which I have mentioned below.
The incidents are nothing but the certain aspects of the learning which I found as
highlighting things in my assignment. The main component of the assignment was to find and
investigate the better alternatives that will reduce the conflicts arising due to the resource
constraint. The main objectives according to me which I summarized as stated below:
 Stating the plans and the objectives- this includes the different factors like
participants, targets, scheduling, and budgeting.
 Increasing the efficiency- this highlights the proper and effective usage of the
different types of the equipment, material, labor, and resources.
 Coordination: coordination and maintaining proper lines of communication has to
a large extent maintains a sync between the construction, estimation, design, and
planning.
 The differences arising due to the conflicts must be properly addressed in order to
find a common objective and goals (Munns and Bjeirmi 1996).
The next major understanding of mine is the modern management. Modem management
describes the usage of the old technologies and the tools and implements the same into a new
area of management. A further detailed study of the modern management process yielded the
following.
 An approach related to the management process- it is to study the management
function in detail.
 Decision support and management science approach- this approach helps the
managers to take the complex decisions in a proper scientific and mathematical
manner like the operations approach.
 An approach based on behavioral science- it emphasizes on interacting with
people.

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 Competitive advantage sustainably- it gives an indication of a good management
strategy (Hamel 2008).
Modern management can be described as an amalgamation of the different types of
constituents which is mentioned before and it includes the special knowledge domains, project
management, general management. The implementation of the modern management techniques
into the construction has proven to be efficient and effective.
The next vital part which I have identified or learned is the risk and is an important part
of any project. If a participant of a project takes the risk then it shows the eagerness to compete,
however, there is a bigger chance of bringing the whole project down. There are greater chances
of risks involved in a construction project and the list of risks are mentioned below:
 Social problems arising due to the factors like public safety rules, environmental
protection.
 Economic complications arising due to fluctuating exchange rates and stock
fluctuation.
 Relationships- this is the most important as well as the most common factor. The
impending risks develop because of the participants of the projects and the
various instabilities arising within the contracting agencies.
 Technological risks arising from the life cycle of a product, and the other risk
factors (Raz, Shenhar and Dvir 2002).
A majority of the risks lot depend on the ability of the upper-level managers and the
project owners and how they are addressing a risk. Nonetheless, when a decision is made
regarding taking a risk, the whole management must work together in order to make the project a
success. I have learned that in order to make a project successful, there is a definite need for the
project manager and the project owners to take risks and make the constituents of a project work
accordingly.
I have also learned an important factor in a construction project and project management
is a company's organizational structure. There are various factors which are associated with the
configuring and designing of a project and a lot depending on the organizational flow. The
factors are as follows:
 Decomposition of a project and the method of decomposition like the staggered
decomposition vs parallel vs sequential and this depends on the organizational
availabilities and needs.
 The different types of the organizations that are participating in the project and
their involvement in the different phases.
 Organizational structure itself plays a major role in deciding the number of
projects that it will take up within a given period of time (Miles et al. 1978).
Professional construction management is another section of my learning which I have
understood through the teams that specialize in the different types of construction activities like
the construction, design, and planning. These management teams have the responsibility of
contracting and coordinating in order to address the conflicts and thus making a project

5REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
successful. Firms having a construction manager is a professional person who conducts the
management of the construction. The various responsibilities of a construction manager that I
have found are as follows:
 Working along with the engineering/architectural team and the owner to decide
the strategies and take further decisions.
 Provide the sub-contracts and other services.
 Supply and material chain management.
 Consider the different types of constraints and the resources and the development
of the alternatives if needed.
 Measures the progress of a project and ensures that the owner is well versed with
the situation (Tatum 1983).
Professional construction management involves big projects like the Alaskan pipeline
project.
The assignment provided me an opportunity to conduct a deep research on the
construction project management and I have found that there are certain rules which if followed
can result in winning the project. The rules are as follows:
 Clarification of the project goal- the underlying part of any successful project is
to find out the goal. A project manager who is effective continuously highlights
the goals to the team members again and again. This helps people in clearing the
vision of the team members and help them to stay motivated.
 Utilization of the objectives in order to define the responsibilities- in order to
reach the goal, the objectives should be to allocate the responsibility to the right
person and recognize their capabilities. A manager who is effective will recognize
the talents of the individual members of the team and will assign the
responsibility to the perfect person accordingly.
 Establishment of the time estimates, relationships, activities, checkpoints- when a
specific target is set in front, it becomes easy for the employees to work and
achieve that goal. Creation of the checkpoints, timelines, and deadlines helps the
workers to guide their energy in a particular direction (Kerzner and Kerzner
2017).
 Framing of a plan along with a picture- making the project as clear as possible for
the team management and the team members through the usage of the pie charts
and the Gantt chart. This helps in viewing the progress of a project which will
help the team members to understand the process much better way even without
the usage of the presentation and verbal explanations.
 Development of a project team which will be able to identify the differences that
exist within the different team members and recognize the different human
behavior. It is important to highlight that the skills of the different people can be
used to benefit the project. Identifying the motivating factors for each of the team
members and each of the person can be motivated by something or the other.

6REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
 Reinforcing the energy and the motivation of the people- by instilling a sense of
ownership into minds of the team members, the thoughts if the people working in
a team can also be aligned. By bringing the sense of challenge and the common
thinking team members can be motivated and cheered throughout the stages of the
life cycle of a project.
 Communication is vital to the team management and the team managers and is
one of the main reasons for the success of a project. All the important aspects of a
project like the failure, success and the progress must be well informed to the
members of a team. Listening should be much more emphasized than talking
which will help in better communication.
 Utilizing the energy generated from the various conflicts during the life cycle and
to encourage the people. It will assist and guide in resolving the conflicting issues
rapidly.
 Authority- the power and authority of an of a project manager can be used in
bringing the commitment from the members of a team. This helps in
amalgamating the individual powers into a collective success (Kerzner and
Kerzner 2017).
 Trying to be creative
Feedback on a specific assignment
Fourth incident
When I saw my construction project management mark it was like surprised
because it expects more than what I got at this time I feel like I'm disappointed because It was
the first assignment for my the master but after I read the feedback I fell shocked because in my
country the pass mark for the modules is 70 but in the UK it is different system, after I started
reading the feedback and know my mistake from the professor's comments on the work, it was
easy to get higher mark if I had read the assignment brief (objective, aims and assessment
criteria) and how it is important to ask the people how to gain experience ( professional) if you
did not understand. It is important to follow the instruction when assignment is being carried out.
I did a thorough research of the literature and found that academic writing at the
master level includes the qualities to plan, draft and revise the assignments according to the
requirements of the assignment. The teachers especially focus on the certain criteria in order to
evaluate the writing; vital components of the assignments; how the components are organized
when the final work is submitted; the vocabulary and the grammar used in order to portray
certain elements of the assignment. Considering the fact language of writing is the most
important part of any assignment because it is only through the language that the information can
be collated and expressed. Thus a port graduate assignment typically focusses more on the
vocabulary and the grammar (Silvia 2007). There are certain guidelines that are provided for an
assignment actual information. Information like the sufficient and adequate amount of
background reading before performing the assignment; selection of a clear and relevant aim of
the study; organizing and planning the whole assignment; clear depiction of the arguments,
expressions and the thoughts; careful presentation of the diagrams and flowcharts; completing

7REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
the assignment within the word limit. Balance in the academic writing is a key to getting
successful and get more marks. Balance comes in two different senses like physically and
intellectually. Physically means providing exact information which is evenly distributed, and
intellectually means that an issue is dealt both sides (Silvia 2007).
Assignments always with a common structure called the introduction which
provides the insights of an assignment with the introductory paragraph providing information of
what the whole assignment is all about. Especially for a master's level project, the introduction
needs to be more complex and more substantial. The introduction part also includes the main aim
of the study and the major parts which will be discussed in the later part of the assignment.
Within the academic writing, it is also necessary to acknowledge the sources from where the
information is sourced. It is necessary to critically present a topic through an argumentative
approach. It is necessary to add a reference from the sources from where the ideas and
information are sourced is to acknowledge the authors. Another important part is to minimize the
plagiarism, that is blind copy pasting should not be done as it is not allowed and is unethical in
academic writing (Tuomainen 2016).
There are two theories which are can be actively linked to the learning and the
understanding. According to the incident which I have mentioned, theories like cognitive theory
and the behaviorist theories of learning comply with my understanding and the thought process.
The behaviorist theory highlights a learner actually remains in a passive state and responds only
to an environmental stimulus. A learner always initiates with a clean slate and in the later part,
the behavior is altered by the negative and the positive reinforcement. Reinforcements whether
negative or positive increases the chances of occurrence of an event. While the punishment both
negative and the positive reduces the chances of the occurrence of the event from occurring
again. Positive reinforcement can be attributed to the response towards a stimulus and the
negative reinforcement can be attributed to moving away from a stimulus. Cognitive learning
comes after the behaviorism. Ivan Pavlov is the famous psychologist who propounded this theory
and the definition of this theory states that learning is a sort of acquiring the new behavior which
is based on the environmental stimulus. The theory is divided into two parts: one is classical
conditioning and the other is behavioral conditioning. Classical conditioning can be attributed as
the natural reflex to an external stimulus. Humans are biologically wired and due to this reason, a
specific stimulus will generate a specific response. Other types of examples of classical
conditioning are the phobia of public speaking, fear of failure, anxieties, and irrational fears.
Behavioral conditioning only occurs when there is a stimulus is reinforced. It is in a simple sense
a feedback system. If a reward is attached to the learning process, then there is a high chance of
doing the same task again (Fosnot and Perry 1996).
Extracurricular activities
Fifth incident
Accommodation application: When I was at the last week of the perception
English language course the accommodation office send us to email to apply to new hall
accommodation and how it is important to apply before the deadline. But I did not finish the
application before the deadline.

8REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
From this incident, I came to know about the value of time. Everyone must respect the
time because only when a task is finished within a stipulated deadline, the chances of the success
of the task increases. Proper management of time is necessary for the construction project
manager. Time management is a vital factor when a particular amount of time is allocated for the
successful completion of a particular project. Time management is important because it contains
the essential parts of a construction project like the development of a plan or a concept,
execution and final completion of a project. Construction project managers also have the
responsibility of assigning and allocating different tasks to the different people. Unable to
complete a project within the stipulated deadline can lead to failure of a project and this lead to
high losses from the end of the construction company and the owner of the project. Although
there are other factors like mismanagement, lack of resources and finances, however, time plays
a crucial factor here (Chan, Scott and Chan 2004).
SixthIncident
Another incident which occurred along with the above mentioned incident is that, I found
some of the workers are also working without wreaking the safety gears. Although, I realised the
need of the safety gears only after I stumbled. I rather wonder how those workers will realize the
same.
Construction and the construction sites are the most accident-prone jobs and it includes
maintenance and repair of the infrastructures, roads and building houses. The construction site
jobs include different types of the hazards associated with the certain conditions like equipment
and power tools, dust, noise, excavation, height. The most common types of accidents that occur
at the construction site are caught in between two objects, electrocutions, struck by a free object,
and falls. With an increase in the construction work the proneness to the construction site related
accidents. This valuable information is the base of my thinking and this is the main reason why I
chose the health and safety as the prime area of discussion. The accidents that occur in a
construction site occurs due to the construction failures that generally occur due to the
construction-related failure and the failure of the implementation of the safety strategies into the
workplace. Safety management in a construction requires a strategic management that will
control and prevent the accidents from occurring (Dėjus and Antuchevičienė 2013).
The particular aspects of this concept that I found tough for me to understand are that
why there are gaps in the strategic management due to which the accidents still occur.
Previously, I used to work and even after that I have not felt the urge to maintain a personal
health and safety protocols. Only after the occurrence of an accident with made me aware and I
felt the need for the safety shoes and the safety helmet. I considered the safety gear useful only
after I personally felt the need of my life safety. I do not understand why the safety protocols are
not followed prior to the occurrence of an accident. Only after the occurrence of an accident the
awareness of a person suddenly changes. whereas, it is necessary for the people that work in a
hazardous environment must follow safety protocols before performing any risky job. These
perspectives are irrespective of the people that work construction site because there are different
types of job that are more prone to hazards and accidents.
Theoretical perspective

9REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
The observation of mine is that like me there are other workers who work in a hazardous
environment without the prior and proper precautionary measures. These lack of awareness and
sluggishness leads to accidents in the workplace which sometimes lead to fatal results. The
concept of the occurrence of an accident can be positively linked with the Domino theory which
says that 88 percent of the accidents that occur are caused due to the acts of the people which are
unsafe and only a mere 2 percent by God.
According to the Domino theory, there is a five-factor accident sequence which actually
helps in the initiation of the next step of an accident. The sequence can behold up as follows:
social and ancestry environment; the fault of the worker; unsafe act along with the physical and
the mechanical hazard; accident; injury or damage (Noor, Faridah and Sharifah 2015).
Application of this theory can help in understanding how the accidents occur in a real-world
setting. The rapid way by which the construction industry is constantly changing, this the
associated risks, hazards are increasing as well as aggravating the working condition of the
workers in a construction site. Accidents occur due to a combination of the random factors which
are categorized as unsafe practices in the unsafe conditions. The executives of health and safety
opine that human behavior is the main culprit in the 80 percent of the accidents. Several studies
conducted over the accidents that occur due to the injuries due to the unsafe work practices
instead of the unsafe working conditions. Whereas, there are other factors like the social and the
organizational which also influence and contribute to the safety-related behaviors. The cause of
an accident is a complex issue which is usually contributed by the factors that are the root causal
agents of the accidents occurring at the construction site. To develop a critical relationship
between the factors that are contributing the accidents are an effective way or accident mitigation
or prevention. After conducting a literature review of the accidents that are occurring at a
construction site reveals that a majority of the researchers conducted emphasize on the finding
the cause of the accidents and also to categorize and determine the common type of the accidents
that are occurring (Chi and Han 2013).
In order to identify the main cause of the accidents, it is essential to identify the
underlying theories that highlight the cause of an accident. The models of an accident that
emphasize on the cause of an accident also guide in framing the strategy for the prevention of the
accident. There are several theories of identification of the cause of an accident and the most
commonly used model are Swiss ‘cheese' Theory, Multiple Causation Theories, Heinrich
Domino Theory. The different theories present different perspectives of an accident and are
based on the different perception of an accident. The Heinrich's Domino Theory along with the
other domino theories like Marcum's Domino Theory and the Bird and Loftus's Domino Theory.
Each of the theory presents a different type of explanation for the cause of the accidents,
however, all three theories have one aspect in common. All these theories predict the accidents
as a chronologically placed sequence of events. If the events are not intervened, then there is an
increased chance of an event resulting into an accident. Heinrich developed the domino theory in
the year 1930 and this theory consist of five dominoes or steps which come together to result in
an accident. The theory suggests that people when to acquiring the undesired traits or
characteristics may commit the acts which are unsafe and result in injurious accidents. The
highlighting point of Domino theory is that accidents occur due to the preceding factors and if
the events that lead to an unsafe outcome can be intervened then there is an increased chance of
accident prevention. Heinrich said that the unsafe actions of the worker contribute more
accidents than the unsafe conditions. Therefore, the vital philosophy behind the accident

10REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
prevention is to eliminate the acts of the workers that are unsafe and also the elimination of the
factors that are result into injuries (Hosseinian and Torghabeh 2012).
Thus, it can be inferred that accidents in a construction site do not just occur due to the
hazardous environment. There is a greater contribution of unsafe acts that contribute more to the
occurrence of an accident. The vital lesson that I have learned from the theory itself is that there
are several kinds of jobs that are hazard-prone, and the risks associated with a hazardous work
give more exposure to a specific type of hazard. It is known that a specific risky work will be
dangerous for life as there are risks associated with a particular type of work. Thus, even after
knowing the risk, if a particular worker neglects and does not following the safety protocols, then
it can surely attract accidents in the workplace. What I have learned is that personal safety is
always a personal affair and it must be given more preference when working in a hazardous
environment. The self-awareness regarding personal safety is an uncompromised affair.
Seventh incident
When working in a group another incident occurred, I found that the when a group is formed,
initially it takes quite a bit time for each of the members to get accustomed and know each other.
But as the day progressed, the bonding between the team members grew stronger and along with
it the capability of executing a task also improved.
In future, before starting work in a group we should have more time each other outside
the workplace to be more relaxed at work. Also, we should make sure everyone takes the part
which he can do and manage the time more effectively to finish earlier to have time to review
each other works and correct it if there any mistakes. Also I will make sure to work as per
requirement from the beginning everyone know which member he will review to make sure the
work more than individual peer evaluation which will make the work more effective if there is
any parts will be done by one person in the group and for the parts which will be done by more
than one members we should have enough time to discuss it because that will improve the work
and give every member in the group the chance to share their knowledge and learning from each
other's . That will not improve just the work but it will improve our kills and help the work going
smoothly.
Discussion
Theories cannot be formed in an abstract way. In order to understand the natural
occurrences, there is a need to focus on the underlying theory of each occurrence. If a person
tries to find out the reason behind each occurrence, he or she might find one theory working for
each concept. Heinrich propounded the domino theory, it states that accidents happen due to the
chain of events and that occurs in a sequential way. One event triggers the next event and finally,
it results in an accident. If a major factor in the unsafe act or an unsafe event can actually prevent
the occurrence of an event. The unsafe acts can be defined as the careless acts, unaware of the
environment and not taking the proper precautionary measures. There are 5 different
metaphorical dominoes that contribute an accident like injury, accident, physical hazard, and
mechanical hazard, fault of a worker, ancestry, and social environment.The 6th incident in
relation to the site visit accurately follows the domino theory. The reason why accidents are so
common in the construction sites can only be explained through the domino theory.

11REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Figure 1: Domino theory of how the accident occurs [source: Noor, Faridah and Sharifah 2015]
Bruce Tuckman in the year 1965 proposed a theory on the team development, which he
later on added with the five stages forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.
According to Tuckman, when a team is formed it progresses through certain stages or phases.
The first stage is forming and in this stage, a high dependence is seen within the leader. In this
stage, the members test the patience of the leader and the leader directs the team members. The
second stage is storming and in this stage, it takes a long time to make a decision. Team
members challenge each other with plenty of uncertainties and the team members get distracted
due to the emotional and relationship issues. The leader here coaches the whole team. Stage 3 is
called norming stage and at this stage, a state of consensus and agreement is reached and the
team members respond in a well-coordinated way to the leader. The importance of this stage is
that vital and important decisions are taken at this stage. A form of consensus is reached at this
point and the team members work together and also engage in the social activities. The next
stage is called the performing stage and the team is able to increase its strategic awareness. The
focus of the team overreaching the goals and a sort of incompatibility starts to build up among
the members and the leader. The fifth stage is called adjourning and in this stage, the group
finally breaks up but only after a task is completed by the team successfully (Zoltan and Vancea
2016). The 7th incident mentioned in the group work can now be related with the Tuckman’s
theory. The theory explicitly explains the reason why it took some time for a group or a team to
know each other and get accustomed to each other. The group dynamics mentioned in the theory
works accordingly with the incident that I have experienced.

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Figure 2: Tuckman model team development [Source: Kumar, Deshmukh and Adhish
2014]
Conclusion
Thus, from the above portfolio study, it can be concluded that reflective portfolio is the
best way to express one's own thoughts and learning into a brief and presentable way. This study
is based on a master's level student and the assignment discusses the construction project
manager. The assignment demanded the citation of the different incidents and providing a
linkage of each of the incident with a theory. The theories are referenced from the peer-reviewed
journals. The linking of the incident with the theory help in establishing a connective bridge
between learning and application. It also acts as a reduction of the gap in learning and
understanding. Theories like behaviorist theory of learning, Domino theory and the Tuckman one
of the highlighting events is the visiting to a construction site and further analysis of learning
from it.Through the reflective portfolio, there is a greater chance of developing awareness
critically through one's own skill development. From a reflective portfolio, a student can apply
the theoretical knowledge on the different practical scenarios. Within the academic writing, it is
also necessary to acknowledge the sources from where the information is sourced. It is necessary
to critically present a topic through an argumentative approach. It is necessary to add a reference
from the sources from where the ideas and information are sourced is to acknowledge the
authors.Assignments are the most important part of both the learning and the teaching process,
assignments are a kind of a measuring tool through a student's level of learning can be measured.
. Another important part is to minimize the plagiarism, that is blind copy pasting should not be
done as it is not allowed and is unethical in academic writing.

13REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Reference
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project. Journal of construction engineering and management, 130(1), pp.153-155.
Chi, S. and Han, S., 2013. Analyses of systems theory for construction accident prevention with
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31(7), pp.1027-1041.
Corley, C.R. and Zubizarreta, J., 2012. The power and utility of reflective learning portfolios in
honors.Journal of the national collegiate honors council
Dėjus, T. and Antuchevičienė, J., 2013. Assessment of health and safety solutions at a
construction site. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 19(5), pp.728-737.
Fosnot, C.T. and Perry, R.S., 1996. Constructivism: A psychological theory of learning.
Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice, 2, pp.8-33.
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Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
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large class: Is it possible?. Teaching Sociology, 21(4), pp.403-408.
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structure, and process. Academy of management review, 3(3), pp.546-562.
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success. International journal of project management, 14(2), pp.81-87.
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& Appl. Sci., 9(22): 123-129.

14REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
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group to effective team. Ecoforum Journal, 5(1).

15REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO
Glossary of concepts
Behaviorist theory of learning- it is a learning theory which focusses only on the behaviors that
are observable objectively. It is a learning process through new behavior is acquired depending
on the environmental conditions.
Construction project management- this is the management of the material and the human
resources through the utilization of the modern management skills.
Domino theory- It is a theory of identification of the accidents and speaks of accident prevention
if the causal factors are hindered to occur.
Reflective portfolio- It is a style of writing in which a student reflects the set of knowledge that a
person has gained from the practical assessments
Safety management- it a management system through which safety management elements are
incorporated in order to reduce the danger and accidents in workplaces.
Strategic management- it is the formulation and implementation of the initiatives and the goals
taken up by the management on behalf of the real owners.
Teamwork- it is a collective effort put up by the members of a team to complete a job within a
stipulated time and in an effective way.