Critical Reflection on Group Work and Leadership Skills

This critical reflection examines a student's experience in a group project, focusing on leadership dynamics and teamwork. The student recounts their role in guiding the group, dividing tasks, and addressing challenges such as a member's late arrival and the impact of reduced group size. The reflection analyzes the planning process, the manifestation of leadership qualities, and the importance of motivation and communication within the team. The author discusses the successes and shortcomings of the group's interactions, the division of labor, and the impact of the group's structure on their ability to work together effectively. The student highlights the evolution of their leadership skills and the lessons learned from the experience, emphasizing the importance of adapting to challenges and fostering a cohesive team environment.

CRITICAL REFLECTION
Various group situations have made me realize that I often take the role of a leader in
those groups or become a part of the group's leadership process. In this group activity too, I
have found myself playing the role of a leader guiding my team members and giving them
instructions. The two other members of my group were Tasman and Ricky. We were a group
of four but one of the other members left the group just three days after we were assigned the
project leaving us as a group of three. Ricky was not present when the assessment was given
out but we got his email address. Initially, I met up with only Tasman and we discussed the
topic of our presentation. We also mailed Ricky and fixed a date to meet up.
After that, I and Tasman went out one day to take a look at the assessment and divide it into
three parts. It was initially divided into four parts but with the fourth member leaving, we
knew we had to divide it into three fair parts. Both of us decided to split the work into three
equal and fair parts and ask Ricky's opinion on the matter when he came. We finally decided
the parts only after ensuring that like us, Ricky too did not have any complaints about his
part.
We decided to meet one more time to do a run up on the presentation we were
supposed to give out, but due to my inability to make time for that, the meeting was not
conducted.
According to my understanding, I think the problem we could have faced with our group
assessment was
1. There could have been confusion when the fourth member of our group left. But we
were able to handle the situation, by properly diving the task among us through group
discussions without creating any confusion
2. Ricky was not present from the beginning, he could have missed some important data
or discussion which could have affected his quality of work. I and Tasman tried our
best to fill Ricky up about the bits and pieces he missed in our meeting and calls.
3. Due to joining in late with me and Tasman, Ricky could have felt 'left out’. On the
day the three of us made, I and Tasman tried to make him feel very much like a
member of the group and that his inability to attend the previous meeting had no
effect on the group.
4. Dividing the assessment by three parts instead of four, increased the work for every
one of us. This could have resulted in time management issues or hampered the

quality of our work (Chin, 2015). However, I must admit that all of us did our work
on time without compromising on its quality.
5. We three were not able to meet up to practice running our presentation. We still
managed to give a decent enough presentation in class.
Usually, a group is defined as an accumulation of a number of people who are capable
of identifying and interacting with each other (Northouse, 2017). It is also defined as
individuals coming together to attain a specific goal. Even though the former definition is
true of our group, the latter is not truly applicable as our works were divided into parts and
expect for one meeting, another meeting between me and Tasman along with the phone calls,
we did not quite work unitedly. However, we were able to make the best of our situations.
Considering our planning, Tasman has been very helpful in the planning process. We
discussed a variety of important things regarding the assessment. Even Ricky was helpful in
the planning process. He seemed to agree with the planning idea I and Tasman proposed,
making the process easier. We were able to plan the entire assessment completion during the
meeting of the three of us.
Séin-Echaluce et al. (2015) opined a leader can be defined as an individual who
motivates and directs a group of people towards achieving a goal. Throughout the process, I
feel that I have manifested my leadership qualities in maintaining the group. Both of them
had decided to mail me their works to merge all of it together. However, I feel I should work
a little more on my motivation skills. I found that, on our meeting including Ricky, Tasman
put more efforts into make Ricky feel comfortable and a part of the group. So I think I need
to work on that part in order to be a good leader. Overall, the assessment was successful and I
gained more experience in group work and behaviour. I hope I will make my leadership skills
better with this experience.

References
Chin, R. J. (2015). Examining teamwork and leadership in the fields of public administration,
leadership, and management. Team Performance Management: An International
Journal, 21(3/4), 199-216.
Northouse, P. G. (2017). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage
Publications.
Séin-Echaluce, M. L., Blanco, Á. F., García-Peñalvo, F. J., & Conde, M. Á. (2015, August).
A knowledge management system to classify social educational resources within a
subject using teamwork techniques. In International Conference on Learning and
Collaboration Technologies (pp. 510-519). Springer, Cham.