Reflective Journal on Working in a Team

According to Dewey, 1933 reflection is a deliberate and active process about thinking to learn.

The aim of this reflective journal is to analyse in the first part, my role, as an implementer, to plan a workable strategy and carry it out as efficiently as possible. The second part will identify and critically evaluate the strategies used and the obstacles that I faced during collaboration. The last part will provide a clear conclusion of the impact that teamwork has had on me.

The basis for the first part is my role and my contribution to the teamwork. As an implementer, I have had the mission to get the things done by turning the team's ideas and concepts into practical actions and plans. Here I would like to think that, this opportunity to work in a team helped me, considering that I am typically conservative. I am a disciplined and very well-organized person that I am used to working systematically and efficiently. Having this ability of good time management and a clear order of my responsibilities, I managed to put my mark in a positive way within the team by maintaining a close connection between my ideas and those of other team members. For me, the feeling of belonging is extremely motivating. The bottom line of this feeling is my position in the group presentation, which was based on all the other member's strengths and weaknesses as a team member.

For the second part, I want to analyse the strategies used inside the team and most important the weaknesses that I was supposed to face and overcome regarding the team. Our team was based on the Tuckman model with all five stages of team development which it assumes: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. This has helped me to reflect more on what means teamwork. Looking at the whole, for me, the teamwork meant a mix of key elements such as target, engagement, action, maintenance and synergy.

One of the biggest problems that our group faced was the lack of time to meet and practice and the distance between us. But, above all these, using all the modern means of communication, such as video conference, chats, emails, we managed to share ideas and suggestions inside the group. Overall, I can say that in the group presentation, we have all participated actively and interacted in an effective way, especially in terms of sharing information and setting the smallest details.

The feedback I have had requested and which I gave to the other members was a key element, helping us to understand and improve the quality of our actions in reaching the final goal, our group presentation. In addition, I think that my correct management of conflicts inside my team has had a beneficial impact on everybody and they have understood how to approach and manage conflicts. Now, thinking of the experience, I can say that this group presentation has managed to bring out a strong point that I have never considered before, that I am a good team worker. Looking behind at my positive attitude adopted even in conflicting situations, I have been able to discover that this element has had led to personal stimulation as well as to others, to accept their responsibility and to continue to achieve our goal.

I was able to practice and develop many abilities, such as social, time management, teamwork, the public speaking and, finally, the communication skills. I was not aware that I have some of these abilities until I have had to fulfil this group presentation. Taking all of these into account, I would like to conclude that it is very important to be able to adapt to teamwork when the situation demands it, even if sometimes tend to be individualist and conservative. Certainly, we will face this need at some point in our personal or professional life. I am sure I can achieve a high performance of personal and professional quality of life by constantly improvement of these abilities.