Reflective Journal: Exploring Team Dynamics and Personal Growth

This reflective journal details a student's experience working on a group project involving an academic poster and case analysis. The journal describes the events that took place, including initial enthusiasm, inexperience with poster creation, and challenges with scheduling and team meetings. The student analyzes the team dynamics, highlighting conflicts and their eventual resolution, referencing relevant literature on team building and conflict management. The journal evaluates the team's progress, the role of team dynamics, and the importance of clear roles and responsibilities. The student reflects on personal strengths and weaknesses, the value of peer learning, and the acquisition of new skills. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of team dynamics and the impact of the experience on the student's approach to future team projects and skill development.

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
A corporation is very often divided into different teams with each team being provided
with the opportunity of working together for the achievement of their business objectives (Cater
III, Kidwell, and Camp, pg. 301-326). It is for this reason, I believe that during our course in
universities, we are very often given the course assignments in groups whereby the contribution
of each of the members is very crucial to the success of the entire team. In the previous
assessment, we had been given the task of making an academic poster and case analysis whereby
the entire team had to work together in order to conduct the given task. The report is a self-
reflective journal whereby the different events which took place in lieu of preparing the poster
will be described, analyzed and evaluated with respect to practice concepts as well as theory,
Description of the events
The task in hand involved forming an academic poster and case analysis whereby we
were required to make a digital poster using the PowerPoint tools which is the most commonly
used software for poster making. The positive aspect of the situation was that we all were very
enthusiastic to make the poster as it was a new learning experience for us, moreover, as the team
was formed by the course lecturer, we students had the opportunity of working with previously
unknown classmates. Hence, we decided to put our best foot forward.
Although the excitement about learning to make a poster kept us driving, there was a
negative aspect associated with the situation was that all of us were inexperienced with respect to
the knowledge about making a poster. This was a new experience and hence, we faced certain
issues with respect to the formation of the design, layout and other such issues. However, we
undertook the help of different classmates to learn. According to me, another negative aspect of

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the situation was that the schedules of the different classmates, stood as a barrier in front of the
group meetings and it became quite difficult to manage the timings of the meetings.
However, this scenario was soon solved as we decided to conduct the physical meetings
once a week and the virtual ones thrice every week. The first meeting took place in the third
week of the coursework which was followed by the second meeting which took place in the fifth
week of the coursework. Each of the members divided the task among themselves and then
contributed collectively towards the success of the entire project. Initially during the first few
meetings, conflicts and arguments became a common part of the meetings and hence, for this
reason, the meetings often got delayed.
However, during the latter half of the team project, the situation and schedules became
more cooperative in nature and the members started to interact with one another more easily. We
started attending seminars together and on certain occasions, went out for lunch as well. When
the cooperation phase increased, the results became quite visible in nature and the poster was
completed with due consideration to all the requirements which had been stated. Hence, I believe
that the experience was a learning one and it helped me to understand the team dynamics.
Reasoning and Evaluation of the events
According to Collins et al, (pg. 63-91), team conflicts are often considered to be a
prominent part of any team building and group tasks. During the initial phase of the team, the
team conflicts are on a rise because of various factors like the responsibility factors, the non –
acquaintance aspect of the members and clarity regarding the task (Maxwell). However, as stated
by Crawford and Jeffery (pg. 32-48), as the group progresses towards a mature phase, the
conflicts decrease and the contribution increases.

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This is what happened between our team members as well and as we started progressing
with the task in hand, the conflicts began to reduce and a positive environment of cooperation
began to took place (Ku, Tseng and Akarasriworn, pg.922-929). With respect to this, we were
effectively able to ensure that we are successfully able to complete the task in hand.
The team dynamics tends to play a crucial role in determining the success of a team. The
team dynamics can be described as the psychological, unconscious force which exists in a team
and has a huge influence on the performance of the team as a whole (Galegher, Kraut and
Egido). It determines the pattern and the manner in which the different team members tend to
interact with one another and the way in which these members need to act in order to ensure that
all the team objectives are successfully attained (Galegher, Kraut, and Egido, pg.15-34).
According to me, had we undertaken Eubanks et al`s (pg. 556-568) take on the improvement of
the team dynamics, we would have become quite successful in undertaking roles and dividing
the tasks successfully. According to the author, there are various ways in which the team
dynamics can be improved. These range from aspects such as understanding the different
members of a team, to tackling problems along with gaining feedback effectively (Georgiadis,
pg. 187-218). Moreover, I believe that the roles and responsibilities of the different team
members needs to be stated down in the beginning of the team formation itself as it helps in
ensuring that the different team members are clear on what their contribution each member needs
to make and what they can expect from others.
According to me, this is an aspect where our team lagged. This is because, the roles and
responsibilities of the different members was not clarified and identified in the introductory
phase. Hence, this lead to a wastage of time and lead to ambiguity (Flaherty, pg. 210-223). This
could have been improved with effective focus on communication and other team building

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activities which could have been held. The team building activities can be described as the
activities which take place during the initial formation of the team and assist in its success.
Hence, if this aspect could have been improved, it would have gone a long way in assisting the
different members to gel with one another easily.
Personal experience
Hence, working in a team, helped me in understanding my strengths and weaknesses. I
have realized, that I need to work on my skills and need to become more participate in nature in
order to ensure that my contribution towards the team can increased considerably. Moreover,
there were various areas where I faced difficulties such as understanding the role in a team,
bringing up creative ideas and other such aspects. Peer learning contributed in a great way by
making me understand the way in which things need to be done in a team. Hence, I would like to
learn from these aspects and then use these learnings in my future assessments. I also learnt
about making posters which would then assist me in making better presentations in future and
being able to make use of posters more effectively. Moreover, the case analysis also assisted in
ensuring that the concepts were well understood.
Conclusion
Therefore, from my experience as stated in the reflective journal it can be effectively
noted that it is the team dynamics and the team conflicts which take place in a team which help
the team to grow in nature and help the members to learn their roles and objectives. Before,
involving myself in the team, I preferred working alone, but my experience on this team has
changed my views and from now on, I would like to contribute more towards team projects and
build my skills. Participating in the poster making team activity improved my communication

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skills and creativity skills as well. Moreover, my theoretical knowledge on team building skills,
team dynamics and others have also improved.

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References
Cater III, John James, Roland E. Kidwell, and Kerri M. Camp. "Successor team dynamics in
family firms." Family Business Review 29.3 (2016): 301-326.
Collins, Catherine G., et al. "Unpacking team dynamics with growth modeling: An approach to
test, refine, and integrate theory." Organizational Psychology Review 6.1 (2016): 63-91.
Crawford, Eean R., and Jeffery A. LePine. "A configural theory of team processes: Accounting
for the structure of taskwork and teamwork." Academy of Management Review 38.1 (2013): 32-
48.
Eubanks, Dawn L., et al. "Team dynamics in virtual, partially distributed teams: Optimal role
fulfillment." Computers in human behavior 61 (2016): 556-568.
Flaherty, Jane E. "The effects of cultural intelligence on team member acceptance and
integration in multinational teams." Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge, 2015. 210-
223.
Galegher, Jolene, Robert E. Kraut, and Carmen Egido, eds. Intellectual teamwork: Social and
technological foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press, 2014.
Galegher, Jolene, Robert E. Kraut, and Carmen Egido. "Technology for intellectual teamwork:
Perspectives on research and design." Intellectual teamwork. Psychology Press, 2014. 15-34.
Georgiadis, George. "Projects and team dynamics." The Review of Economic Studies 82.1
(2014): 187-218.

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Ku, Heng-Yu, Hung Wei Tseng, and Chatchada Akarasriworn. "Collaboration factors, teamwork
satisfaction, and student attitudes toward online collaborative learning." Computers in Human
Behavior 29.3 (2013): 922-929.
Maxwell, John C. The 17 indisputable laws of teamwork: Embrace them and empower your
team. Thomas Nelson, 2013.