Reflective Report: Team Building Experience and Leadership Skills

This reflective report analyzes a student's experience in a team building activity within an educational setting. The report details the initial team structure, consisting of diverse members from different countries, and the challenges that arose, including communication barriers and differing cultural values. The student, taking on a leadership role, describes the strategies employed to foster effective communication, distribute tasks, and manage conflicts within the team. The report highlights the importance of trust, accountability, and constructive conflict resolution in building a high-performing team. The student reflects on personal skill development, particularly in communication and leadership, and the lessons learned from overcoming team challenges. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of leadership in enhancing team performance and fostering strong member bonds, with references to relevant academic sources.

Reflection Report

INTRODUCTION
The following report is a reflective essay upon team building activity conducted in an
educational institute. This reflection consist of various barriers which have arisen while working
in a team and how does individual work towards enhancing skills and providing them self with a
number of skill development opportunities while working in a team.
REFLECTION
At the beginning of our course the professor who was responsible for the classes designed a
structure of team and made sure that all the team members in the team were excited to work
together and build team activity (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2020). After this distribution of teams,
we were told about the case study and the report along with presentation which we were going to
prepare and we were expected to distribute the task and decision-making process in order to start
the presentation process.
In the team which I was a part of it consisted of five members. All the five members of my
team were not from same country. Our team met was from different country which added
diversity of culture and believes in our team. Also, the native language of the team it was
different from that of ours. This led to some challenges in communication between team
members and also various conflicts due to values and believes a different team member.
When we started our preparation the first step was to develop a plan. In this plan we
developed various goals and the time which will be taken in order to fulfil all these goals and
requirements for a plan. However due to lack of communication a concrete plan could not be
built. There were a number of concerns such as trust, fear of conflict, leadership as well as
communication. I made sure that I work as a leader of a team and I was confident and dedicated
enough to work with all the members of the team in a friendly way.
After the first meeting there were a number of consecutive meetings established by me. In
this meeting I made sure that there was progression made in the team members and also the
language barriers were executed. We used a common language which was used in school that is
English and all of us then communicated in the same language (Salenger and et. al., 2020). I
made sure that all the task and the duties were effectively distributed amongst all the team
members and their no dissatisfaction in any member and all the queries of all the members in the
team are solved efficiently.

However at times I feel that my communication skills lack somewhere. I made sure that I
enhance my communication skills and the information regarding the roles and responsibilities of
everyone in the team are confronted to them efficiently.
We decided that we will not interfere in the work of each other till the work is completed.
It was a difficult task to do but however we made sure that everyone agreed upon this. This helps
the individuals in the team to work according to their best and without any disturbance in their
work they can outperform in their work. This also helps in increasing the productivity of the
team and maximum utilisation of all the resources.
With the help of this scheme we made sure that the team building of our group was
transforming into a high-performance team. With the help of this we made sure that all the
members in the team building towers are giving their best efforts in order to enhance the work.
This also helps in bringing in and developing good bond between all the members in the team.
It was necessary for me to act as a leader (Didwania and et. al.,2020). However, I knew I wasn’t
a great leader but while working in a team I developed that I can be a great leader who is self-
directed, who can encourage people and also motivate them in order to attain higher results from
them. This helps us in self-directing team and also increasing the productivity level with the
quality of the work which we were performing. I made sure that all the members of the team are
effectively carrying on with their work and completing the task which is allotted to them in the
given time period.
However there are some of the characteristics which refer to dysfunctional team such as lack
of trust, fear of conflict, avoidance of accountability, lack of commitment, in attention to results.
All the members in our team made sure that it was necessary for us to overcome all these five
factors which can lead to a dysfunctional team. It was necessary to make sure that each team
member trusted one another. We also made sure that every team member who is allotted a
responsibility will stand accountable to all the members in a team for the work which is allotted
to them. All the conflicts arising in team were converted into healthy conflicts and with the help
of all these steps which were taken by the team members together made sure that our
presentation will be fulfilling all the needs and requirements provided by the professor.
The project which I completed in a team is a great asset for me to help me in future and
make sure that I can grip better on all the situations where I need to work with the team in the
corporate sector. I cannot effectively say that I can bring a number of changes and situations

which have problems I can deal with them effectively in my professional career. A lot of
experience has been gained by me while experiencing this project as they will a lot of team
conflicts which were ascension to be solved for the success of the project. It is necessary to
realise that I am mature enough and all my team members are also mature to handle the task and
liabilities which are allotted to them. While completing this project I also understood that there
are a number of ways in which the conflicts between the team members can be changed towards
a positive direction which will help in creating more energy and motivation in the team. This is
the most important and desired element in the performance of a team.
CONCLUSION
From the above reflection it can be clearly concluded that there are a number of ways in
which the performance of a team can be enhanced and a greater bonding between all the team
members can be built. It is sensible for a leader to handle all these factors in a team and make
sure that the team is working effectively towards the goals and objectives.
REFERENCES
Books and journals
Mazzarol, T. and Reboud, S., 2020. Work Book: Team Building, Company Leadership and
Strategic Alliances. In Workbook for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (pp. 117-138).
Springer, Singapore.
Salenger, R. and et. al., 2020, February. Cardiac ERAS: A Guide to Team Building and
Successful Implementation. In Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
WB Saunders.
Didwania, A.K. and et. al.,2020. Mastery Learning of Team Skills. In Comprehensive
Healthcare Simulation: Mastery Learning in Health Professions Education (pp. 191-
208). Springer, Cham.