Residential Trip – A Reflection

This essay provides a reflective account of a residential trip, discussing the tasks performed, skills assessed, and personal growth. It explores topics such as teamwork, leadership, motivation, negotiation, and more.

Residential Trip – A Reflection
Introduction
Reflection constitutes a very crucial aspect of any task. Reflection is termed as the
process of describing a specific incident and using it as the basis upon which evaluations are
done to gain a better understand of the practice and the outcome achieved (Bowden, 2003).
Reflection provides us with a closure regarding the activity done, and helps to integrate the
learning that took place in the task performed. In this essay, I will give a reflective account of the
residential trip I went to as part of our curriculum. In the trip we were given different tasks which
are to be performed in groups. We were a group of 6 and had to complete various tasks as a
teamwork. The various tasks I performed helped me to assess various skills that I possess. In the
essay, I will discuss my feelings, and thought about what went through in those tasks and what I
learned from them about myself. I will base the reflection upon Gibbs Reflective Model. Further,
I will link each events I performed with the personality tests taken during the course learning,
which will help to correlate the skills I possess. Additionally, I will also provide an academic
reference for each event, proving the point I am making.
The event was a great learning experience, and it helped me to come out of my shell and
understand my potential. I was looking forward to going in this residential trip, as the various
activities will help me to not only know the team members well, but it was also a great
opportunity to hone my professional and personal skills. The great amount of activities that was
going to take place in the trip made me excited. As stated by Jane Cooper, residential trips that a
great way to connect with the nature and it is a new experience for people like me who are city
dwellers (Cooper, 2018).
The Myers Briggs Test reveals that I am an Extraverted (25%), Intuitive (12%), Feeling
(25%), and Judging (35%) - ENFJ type of person. As an extrovert (25%), I am good with
handling people and enjoy interacting with them. I seldom feel shy and do not hold back when

communicating. We tend to undermine our potential and our capabilities in life, when we are live
in a cocoon (Lyons, 2018). However, when we come out in the public, we realise what we are
capable of. Thus, the residential trip was a great thing to have happened. I enjoyed the outdoor
games and interacting with my team members.
The trip helped me to notice great potentials within me and introduced me to my inner
self. I have always been a friendly person, but I never thought myself to be great with managing
people and motivating them to perform themselves better. However, during the tasks I saw this
side of myself. Motivating people around is a great leadership skills, and will be beneficial to me
in the future career life. The Gallup poll has proven that around 70% of employees are either
“not engaged” or “actively disengaged” at the workplace (Seppälä, 2016). By motivating
employees, I will be able to help them to achieve their objectives and the target set for them.
During one of the task, we were required to identify the misplaced numbers in a given
time. I contributed greatly to this task by motivating my team members and helping them to
complete the task in the due time. Motivation is a key skill for leaders. Tomas Chamorro-
Premuzic states that the prime task of a leader is to encourage its team members to go beyond
their expectations, and perform the tasks given (Premuzic, 2014). I was able to motivate the team
members, as well also performed well when my turn came. As revealed in the Emotional
Intelligence test, I scored well in the relationship management aspect (6), which substantiate the
fact that I have the skills that is required to manage people effectively.
During another particular task, the need for co-ordination between team members became
very evident. It was clear that as a team we did not perform well. From my perspective, I tried to
be very co-operative, helping my team to accomplish tasks. I was instrumental in making a plan
and helping my team members to cross the obstacles to complete the task. This behaviour can
been found in my Myer Briggs test result (ENFJ) specifically in those areas where coordination
is lacking between teammates, and I can demonstrate my charisma and can make significant

impact on people. The learning from this exercise suggests that my leadership style is adaptable
to different situations (Wade, 2016).
The Barrett Free Values Test reveals that I have a good balance between finding a
common good for all and possessing personal self-interest. I scored the highest in feeling
protected and loved dimension, showing good emotional security, I also scored well in the
commitment, creativity and personal fulfilment dimension. I could sense an overall development
in my personality. The exposure of the activities at the residential trip helped me to enhance
these aspects of my personality. As stated by Dave Mattson, along with the group goals, my
personal achievement are also equally important, in order to succeed in the group task (Mattson,
2017). It motivates the person to go beyond just achieving the target and excel in the tasks
performed. Thus, as a leader I will able to get a pulse of my team members and also my
individual aspirations, which is a great trait of an effective leader.
Another particular aspect in which I lacked during the maze activity was while
performing for my own tasks. I usually got so involved in motivating and cheering for my
teammates that when the time for my performance came, I got exhausted and underperformed.
As per my emotional intelligence results, I scored low in self-management (5), which suggests
that I have low self-confidence about my capability. The task was not a difficult one, but my
inability to assess my energy level worked against me. I should have realized that my
performance was to come up next, and should have done some preparation before going for the
task. I possible reason for the underperformance could be lacking motivation. Before correcting
myself, I need to be aware of the causes for the same, as wrong self-assessment could result in
numerous problems afterwards (Mindtools.com, 2019).
During the ‘Sheep and Shepherd’ task, it was clear that communication would be vital in
completing the task. The team planned and agreed an approach, which proved successful. I
demonstrated good communication and team work, which helped the team complete the task in a

good time. The evidence for this approach can be found in my Emotional Intelligence test. I
received 7 in self-awareness, 5 in self-management, 4 in social awareness and 6 in relationship
management, which shows that I am good in working with and around people. As said by Alan
Bas, trust is an important factor which helps to improve the coordination between
the team members (Bass, 2018). The task also helped to assess my listening skills, which I
believe was great as I completely went with the conviction of the shepherd.
Further, as revealed in the Myers Brigg Test, ENFJ people are global learners and work
well with people. Thus, it was easy for me to trust my shepherd and execute the task in the above
mentioned activity. I went with the flow and diligently followed the direction as given by the
shepherd. Having conviction on the direction given by the shepherd helped me to complete the
task within the given time. I had great fun on this particular task, and though I did fall in between
but they all were done with great team spirit and I felt like a kid again. The task also helped to
assess my listening skills, which I believe was great as I completely went with his conviction
(Bass, 2018).
The activities on the trip was not solely based upon performing tasks, but required a great
deal of skills on our part. A specific skills that I used on these tasks was my negotiation skills.
The Big Five Personality Traits tests revels that I recorded 90% score in the extraversion trait. As
an extraverted person, I not only enjoy working with others, but am also an assertive person. The
assertive skill helped me to negotiate with other group members in procuring required for one
particular task. Pallavi Jha has define negotiation as an art wherein a person is able to strike a
deal that is not only satisfying for his party but is also equally beneficial for the other (Jha,
2015). Thus, while dealing with other groups, I was careful that my group should not be
benefitted at the cost of the other.
The activities on the residential trip gave me immense opportunity to assess the art of
multi-tasking within me. Right from sports activity to honing our organisational ability to learn

the art of business negotiation, we performed varied levels of task and utilised a great range of
skills. As mentioned in the Myers Briggs test, ENFJs like me are able to the see the bigger
picture in any roles and can juggle a great amount of responsibilities at hand. I realized that a
perfect plan, time management, communication, and the optimum use of resources, will help us
to complete the wide range of tasks encompassed. Thus, performing the activities helped me to
gain better insights about the skills that I possess. Multi-tasking is a great virtue in the time
constrained modern world, as it helps to execute increased tasks and strive to be more
competitive (Harford, 2015).
Though I demonstrated positive attributes while motivating my peers and maintaining a
good communication channel with them, I wasn’t successful in all the task that I performed. I
was tensed and scared in performing some of the tasks as I lacked the focus and concentration.
As revealed in the Myers Briggs test, ENFJs tends to neglect themselves as well their own needs
while performing in a group. The same happened with me on the tasks. I got so involved in
managing the group tasks that I failed to pay attention to my own individual roles. I learned that
we need to be me more focus on about what we are supposed to do, and pay attention to our
individual roles as well. As suggested by Susan Storm, talking to someone close will help in
finding a closure and direction to the inner emotions (Storm, 2017).
Prior to taking part in the residential trip, I did not think I possessed any entrepreneurial
traits. However, the experiences that I went through on the trip changed my perception about
myself. As per Daniel Bortz, an entrepreneur possess numerous traits, comprising motivation,
creativity, persuasiveness, vision, decisiveness amongst others (Bortz, 2019). I believe that I
demonstrated the true traits of an entrepreneur in performing those activities, as most of these
traits were visible in the way I conducted myself during the trip. In the Big Personality Test, I
scored 90% each in conscientiousness and extraversion, which encompasses great virtue of an
entrepreneurs namely, discipline, well-organised, assertive, interpersonal skills, etc. In

agreeableness and openness to experience I scored low, which suggests that I am humble,
practical and competitive. The traits are indicating that I will be great as an entrepreneur and can
run a business.
A surprising observation that I noticed in my reflection was that I scored high in the self-
awareness skills, as per the Emotional Intelligence tests. However, I did not seem to reflect on
the same in the activities. For instance, I was instrumental in motivating and encouraging my
team mates to do well, but did not perform well myself and needed coaxing from my team mates
to complete the task. As per Liz Huber, a possible reason for the same could be my fear
psychosis about the tasks and also the fact that I was exhausted after cheering for my teammates
(Huber, 2018). She suggests that one should release their physical and mental stress and energize
oneself by taking some rest and a good sleep.
Another issue we noticed during the tasks was the time management. We failed I
numerous tasks as we did not complete it on time. Time management is a crucial component to
attain success in life – both professionally as well personally. To manage time better, one needs
to work smarter rather than harder (Mindtools.com, 2018). As per my Simple Personality Test, I
scored as an extraverted (51%), observant (81%), feeling (56%), judging (58%) and turbulent
(51%). being a judging personality implies that I am stuck with plans and work ethics, and tend
to be less flexible in my approach. In my opinion, altering these beliefs will help in managing my
time and prioritising in more important things.
A key observation of the activities made me realise that I am good in teamwork. I seldom
had any difference of opinion with anyone, and was able to work harmoniously. As per the
Barrett Free Values Test results, I scored well in teamwork and enjoy working with others. I
believe having a cooperative relationship with my peers. The good rapport will help me in not
only my professional life but will also open various avenues for my career. As per a report by the
Mental Health Foundation, maintaining good relationship in workplace and with those around us

are beneficial for our mental health Mental Health Foundation (2016. Thus, I strive to sustain
healthy working relationship with people around me.
After the tasks used to get over, we used to sit back and analyse what went wrong and
where we needed to focus more. These discussions helped us to get a retrospective view about
the tasks completed and helped to improve upon the upcoming ones. As per the Emotional
Intelligence test scores, I received 7 in self-awareness, 5 in self-management, 4 in social
awareness and 6 in relationship management. The self-awareness quotient implies that I have
good hold on my strength and weakness, and am able to assess the impact of my emotions on
work and relationships. Margaret Pryer and Bernard Bass substantiated the significance of
feedback on learning (Pryer and Bass, 1959). Further, it is also supposed to improve motivation
or at the least maintain it.
Conclusion
Looking back at the reflection, I realised the importance to spend more time in working
on my fears, and paying more attention to my self-development. It is clear from the self-
assessments that I tend to pay less attention to my own tasks and lack motivation for doing well.
Additionally, I also need to be more flexible in my approach, and take spontaneous decisions on
the spot rather than following a rigid planned framework. By prioritising and determining the
need of the hour will help to understand where I need to focus more (Green, 2017).
To conclude, the residential trip was a great learning experience for me and helped me to
assess the skills I have within me, and identify those areas where I need to work. While I
demonstrated qualities of leadership and great team bonding, I need to work on the physical
strength to perform various manual tasks. Probably, taking adequate amount of rest and good
sleep will help me to strategies better and get the physical as well mental strength to perform on
tasks (Sleepfoundation.org, 2019).

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