essay on group work experience

• My Experience Working In A Group

Working in a group can be a great experience. You get to learn about different people’s strengths and weaknesses, and how to work together as a team. However, it can also be challenging, especially if you’re not used to working with others. Here are some things I’ve learned from my experience working in a group:

– Teamwork is important. In order to succeed, you need to be able to work well with others. This means being able to communicate effectively, compromise when necessary, and support each other.

– It’s okay to disagree. It’s normal for people to have different opinions, and this can actually be helpful in coming up with creative solutions. However, it’s important to respect each other’s opinions and to avoid getting into arguments.

– Be patient. Group work can be frustrating at times, but it’s important to be patient and to keep an open mind. If you’re having trouble understanding someone, ask them to explain their ideas more clearly. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a break and come back later with fresh eyes.

– Have fun!Working in a group can be challenging, but it can also be enjoyable. Try to focus on the positive aspects of working with others, such as learning new things and building relationships.

Oftentimes, working with other people on a project can be problematic, but I had no such issues with my group members. The decisions we made were confidential and we each worked at our own pace when completing our respective sections of the essay.

Teamwork is essential when working in a group and I think we demonstrated that well. I learned how to better communicate with others and compromise when necessary. Overall, it was a positive experience that helped me grow as a person.

As a group, I believe that we were able to communicate on an interpersonal level since all four of us were able to solve any issue together. Furthermore, we did not give one another the opportunity to get upset with one other because we knew it would only lead to conflict, which would ruin our group’s flow.

This was our first project together and I think we functioned really well as a team. I remember that there was one incident where two members of the group were not seeing eye to eye on an issue. However, the rest of us were able to mediate and come to a compromise that everyone was happy with. I think this just goes to show that we all trust each other’s judgement and are willing to work together to find a solution.

Overall, I had a great experience working in a group and I am looking forward to more opportunities to do so in the future.

We all contributed equally to the work and no one was lagging behind. Furthermore, my group members were excellent at keeping each other in the loop if someone couldn’t make a meeting; we would get emails with summaries of what we missed and any new ideas.

Overall, I had a great experience working in a group. Teamwork was essential in order to get the project done efficiently and effectively. Everyone contributed equally and communicated well, which made for a smooth workflow. I would definitely recommend groups work for future projects.

All of us in my group followed deadlines and worked together in time, so we didn’t have to pressure anyone to complete work or wait for another member to finish their task.

Teamwork was key in our success. I learned the importance of good communication and how necessary it is to have a clear plan that everyone understands and agrees upon. I also learned how to handle conflict within a group and how to be an effective leader. Overall, working in a group taught me the importance of teamwork and communication, both of which are essential skills in the workplace.

We brainstormed and formulated themes together as a group to make sure that everyone knew what the other member was writing about. That way, we could avoid last minute confusion. I expressed interest in global expansion to my group, and they had no problem allowing me write about it in the essay–our interests didn’t conflict as a whole.

Throughout the essay process, we utilized a Google Doc which was extremely beneficial because we could all work on the essay at the same time and see each other’s progress. This way, if someone was stuck on a certain paragraph or topic, someone else in the group could help out.

We also had a group chat where we communicated outside of class to discuss the essay and ask each other for help. Overall, I thought working in a group for this project was successful and it was nice to have others to bounce ideas off of and collaborate with. Teamwork is an essential skill to have in any field and it was good practice for me.

I wanted to write about same day delivery, but my groupmates pointed out that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the trend. They were right, so we decided not pursue that idea further.

Teamwork is not always easy and sometimes you have to be willing to let go of your ideas for the sake of the group. I had another idea that I was quite passionate about, but after discussing it with my group, we all decided that it wasn’t the best option.

It can be difficult to keep an open mind when working in a group because you might feel like your ideas are the best, but it’s important to remember that there are other people involved and their opinions matter too. At the end of the day, it’s important to work together and compromise in order to produce the best possible outcome.

Employees must be interpersonal with one another and trust each other’s viewpoints in order to function as a team when promoting the company’s brand as a whole. It goes without saying that, as technology advances, the retail sector will change and develop with new sectors, brands, products, and services to meet the growing demands of customers and the developing economy.

The way in which groups operate and communicate will have to adapt along with these changes in order to remain effective. The following essay will explore my experience working in a group and how it has helped me to develop teamwork skills.

I have worked in many different types of groups, including both small and large ones. I have also had the opportunity to work in both temporary and permanent groups. In every group, I have always strived to be a good team player. Teamwork is very important to me, and I believe that it is one of the key elements in any successful organization.

Working in a group can be challenging at times, but it can also be very rewarding. I have learned that it is important to listen to others, to respect their opinions, and to work together towards a common goal. I have also learned that it is important to be flexible and to be willing to compromise.

I believe that teamwork is an essential skill for any employee in the retail industry. The ability to work effectively in a group is essential for sales success, for customer service, and for managing inventory. Teamwork is also essential for store operations and for maintaining store security.

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How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay

Here are the exact steps you need to follow for a reflection on group work essay.

• Explain what Reflection Is
• Explore the benefits of group work
• Explore the challenges group
• Give examples of the benefits and challenges your group faced
• Discuss how your group handled your challenges
• Discuss what you will do differently next time

Do you have to reflect on how your group work project went?

This is a super common essay that teachers assign. So, let’s have a look at how you can go about writing a superb reflection on your group work project that should get great grades.

The essay structure I outline below takes the funnel approach to essay writing: it starts broad and general, then zooms in on your specific group’s situation.

Disclaimer: Make sure you check with your teacher to see if this is a good style to use for your essay. Take a draft to your teacher to get their feedback on whether it’s what they’re looking for!

This is a 6-step essay (the 7 th step is editing!). Here’s a general rule for how much depth to go into depending on your word count:

• 1500 word essay – one paragraph for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion ;
• 3000 word essay – two paragraphs for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion;
• 300 – 500 word essay – one or two sentences for each step.

Adjust this essay plan depending on your teacher’s requirements and remember to always ask your teacher, a classmate or a professional tutor to review the piece before submitting.

Here’s the steps I’ll outline for you in this advice article:

Step 1. Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is

You might have heard that you need to define your terms in essays. Well, the most important term in this essay is ‘reflection’.

So, let’s have a look at what reflection is…

Reflection is the process of:

• Pausing and looking back at what has just happened; then
• Thinking about how you can get better next time.

Reflection is encouraged in most professions because it’s believed that reflection helps you to become better at your job – we could say ‘reflection makes you a better practitioner’.

Think about it: let’s say you did a speech in front of a crowd. Then, you looked at video footage of that speech and realised you said ‘um’ and ‘ah’ too many times. Next time, you’re going to focus on not saying ‘um’ so that you’ll do a better job next time, right?

Well, that’s reflection: thinking about what happened and how you can do better next time.

It’s really important that you do both of the above two points in your essay. You can’t just say what happened. You need to say how you will do better next time in order to get a top grade on this group work reflection essay.

Scholarly Sources to Cite for Step 1

Okay, so you have a good general idea of what reflection is. Now, what scholarly sources should you use when explaining reflection? Below, I’m going to give you two basic sources that would usually be enough for an undergraduate essay. I’ll also suggest two more sources for further reading if you really want to shine!

I recommend these two sources to cite when explaining what reflective practice is and how it occurs. They are two of the central sources on reflective practice:

• Describe what happened during the group work process
• Explain how you felt during the group work process
• Look at the good and bad aspects of the group work process
• What were some of the things that got in the way of success? What were some things that helped you succeed?
• What could you have done differently to improve the situation?
• Action plan. What are you going to do next time to make the group work process better?
• What? Explain what happened
• So What? Explain what you learned
• Now What? What can I do next time to make the group work process better?

Possible Sources:

Bassot, B. (2015).  The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection . Routledge.

Brock, A. (2014). What is reflection and reflective practice?. In  The Early Years Reflective Practice Handbook  (pp. 25-39). Routledge.

Gibbs, G. (1988)  Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods . Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Extension Sources for Top Students

Now, if you want to go deeper and really show off your knowledge, have a look at these two scholars:

• John Dewey – the first major scholar to come up with the idea of reflective practice
• Donald Schön – technical rationality, reflection in action vs. reflection on action

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Step 2. Explore the general benefits of group work for learning

Once you have given an explanation of what group work is (and hopefully cited Gibbs, Rolfe, Dewey or Schon), I recommend digging into the benefits of group work for your own learning.

The teacher gave you a group work task for a reason: what is that reason?

You’ll need to explain the reasons group work is beneficial for you. This will show your teacher that you understand what group work is supposed to achieve. Here’s some ideas:

• Multiple Perspectives. Group work helps you to see things from other people’s perspectives. If you did the task on your own, you might not have thought of some of the ideas that your team members contributed to the project.
• Contribution of Unique Skills. Each team member might have a different set of skills they can bring to the table. You can explain how groups can make the most of different team members’ strengths to make the final contribution as good as it can be. For example, one team member might be good at IT and might be able to put together a strong final presentation, while another member might be a pro at researching using google scholar so they got the task of doing the initial scholarly research.
• Improved Communication Skills. Group work projects help you to work on your communication skills. Communication skills required in group work projects include speaking in turn, speaking up when you have ideas, actively listening to other team members’ contributions, and crucially making compromises for the good of the team.
• Learn to Manage Workplace Conflict. Lastly, your teachers often assign you group work tasks so you can learn to manage conflict and disagreement. You’ll come across this a whole lot in the workplace, so your teachers want you to have some experience being professional while handling disagreements.

You might be able to add more ideas to this list, or you might just want to select one or two from that list to write about depending on the length requirements for the essay.

Scholarly Sources for Step 3

Make sure you provide citations for these points above. You might want to use google scholar or google books and type in ‘Benefits of group work’ to find some quality scholarly sources to cite.

Step 3. Explore the general challenges group work can cause

Step 3 is the mirror image of Step 2. For this step, explore the challenges posed by group work.

Students are usually pretty good at this step because you can usually think of some aspects of group work that made you anxious or frustrated. Here are a few common challenges that group work causes:

• Time Consuming. You need to organize meetups and often can’t move onto the next component of the project until everyone has agree to move on. When working on your own you can just crack on and get it done. So, team work often takes a lot of time and requires significant pre-planning so you don’t miss your submission deadlines!
• Learning Style Conflicts. Different people learn in different ways. Some of us like to get everything done at the last minute or are not very meticulous in our writing. Others of us are very organized and detailed and get anxious when things don’t go exactly how we expect. This leads to conflict and frustration in a group work setting.
• Free Loaders. Usually in a group work project there’s people who do more work than others. The issue of free loaders is always going to be a challenge in group work, and you can discuss in this section how ensuring individual accountability to the group is a common group work issue.
• Communication Breakdown. This is one especially for online students. It’s often the case that you email team members your ideas or to ask them to reply by a deadline and you don’t hear back from them. Regular communication is an important part of group work, yet sometimes your team members will let you down on this part.

As with Step 3, consider adding more points to this list if you need to, or selecting one or two if your essay is only a short one.

8 Pros And Cons Of Group Work At University

You’ll probably find you can cite the same scholarly sources for both steps 2 and 3 because if a source discusses the benefits of group work it’ll probably also discuss the challenges.

Step 4. Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced

Step 4 is where you zoom in on your group’s specific challenges. Have a think: what were the issues you really struggled with as a group?

• Was one team member absent for a few of the group meetings?
• Did the group have to change some deadlines due to lack of time?
• Were there any specific disagreements you had to work through?
• Did a group member drop out of the group part way through?
• Were there any communication break downs?

Feel free to also mention some things your group did really well. Have a think about these examples:

• Was one member of the group really good at organizing you all?
• Did you make some good professional relationships?
• Did a group member help you to see something from an entirely new perspective?
• Did working in a group help you to feel like you weren’t lost and alone in the process of completing the group work component of your course?

Here, because you’re talking about your own perspectives, it’s usually okay to use first person language (but check with your teacher). You are also talking about your own point of view so citations might not be quite as necessary, but it’s still a good idea to add in one or two citations – perhaps to the sources you cited in Steps 2 and 3?

Step 5. Discuss how your group managed your challenges

Step 5 is where you can explore how you worked to overcome some of the challenges you mentioned in Step 4.

So, have a think:

• Did your group make any changes part way through the project to address some challenges you faced?
• Did you set roles or delegate tasks to help ensure the group work process went smoothly?
• Did you contact your teacher at any point for advice on how to progress in the group work scenario?
• Did you use technology such as Google Docs or Facebook Messenger to help you to collaborate more effectively as a team?

In this step, you should be showing how your team was proactive in reflecting on your group work progress and making changes throughout the process to ensure it ran as smoothly as possible. This act of making little changes throughout the group work process is what’s called ‘Reflection in Action’ (Schön, 2017).

Scholarly Source for Step 5

Schön, D. A. (2017).  The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action . Routledge.

Step 6. Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

Step 6 is the most important step, and the one far too many students skip. For Step 6, you need to show how you not only reflected on what happened but also are able to use that reflection for personal growth into the future.

This is the heart and soul of your piece: here, you’re tying everything together and showing why reflection is so important!

This is the ‘action plan’ step in Gibbs’ cycle (you might want to cite Gibbs in this section!).

For Step 6, make some suggestions about how (based on your reflection) you now have some takeaway tips that you’ll bring forward to improve your group work skills next time. Here’s some ideas:

• Will you work harder next time to set deadlines in advance?
• Will you ensure you set clearer group roles next time to ensure the process runs more smoothly?
• Will you use a different type of technology (such as Google Docs) to ensure group communication goes more smoothly?
• Will you make sure you ask for help from your teacher earlier on in the process when you face challenges?
• Will you try harder to see things from everyone’s perspectives so there’s less conflict?

This step will be personalized based upon your own group work challenges and how you felt about the group work process. Even if you think your group worked really well together, I recommend you still come up with one or two ideas for continual improvement. Your teacher will want to see that you used reflection to strive for continual self-improvement.

Scholarly Source for Step 6

Step 7. edit.

Okay, you’ve got the nuts and bolts of the assessment put together now! Next, all you’ve got to do is write up the introduction and conclusion then edit the piece to make sure you keep growing your grades.

Here’s a few important suggestions for this last point:

• You should always write your introduction and conclusion last. They will be easier to write now that you’ve completed the main ‘body’ of the essay;
• Use my 5-step I.N.T.R.O method to write your introduction;
• Use my 5 C’s Conclusion method to write your conclusion;
• Use my 5 tips for editing an essay to edit it;
• Use the ProWritingAid app to get advice on how to improve your grammar and spelling. Make sure to also use the report on sentence length. It finds sentences that are too long and gives you advice on how to shorten them – such a good strategy for improving evaluative essay  quality!
• Make sure you contact your teacher and ask for a one-to-one tutorial to go through the piece before submitting. This article only gives general advice, and you might need to make changes based upon the specific essay requirements that your teacher has provided.

That’s it! 7 steps to writing a quality group work reflection essay. I hope you found it useful. If you liked this post and want more clear and specific advice on writing great essays, I recommend signing up to my personal tutor mailing list.

Let’s sum up with those 7 steps one last time:

• Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is
• Explore the benefits of group work for learning
• Explore the challenges of group work for learning
• Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced
• Discuss how your group managed your challenges
• Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

2 thoughts on “How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay”

Great instructions on writing a reflection essay. I would not change anything.

Thanks so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. – Chris.

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Charlie’s Blog

Just another university of brighton blog network site.

A reflection on my experience of working in a group

Introduction – The project that I have been involved in was to make a presentation for our chosen company to review their current digital marketing campaign and to make recommendations on how to improve it. The company that we chose was The Bok Shop, “a free-range and vegan fried chicken joint” (The Book Shop, 2017). They have three locations with their first and main restaurant being located in Brighton, viewable in the photo below and if you click the integrated link on the photo it will take you to their website.

History on The Bok Shop, (The Book Shop, 2017)

Planning and Organisation – Firstly, my group arranged an online meeting to discuss the task at hand, as well as identifying any key segments that we would need to include in our presentation. We planned out how and when we should set takes completed by and decided that we should have meetings every so often to ensure progress was being made.

Process – Our process was to gradually complete our slides dividend between us in our early meetings of the group work. When finding any useful sources, we would share these within a document to increase our productivity. The way we did this was via Microsoft Teams, I created a group where we could communicate, share documents and work on the presentation together.

Involvement and Collaboration – Regrettably, I believe that the involvement and collaboration from the other members of my group were not up to an acceptable standard. Although everyone eventually finished their part of the presentation, this required me constantly chasing them up on when they will be doing this work, and why no additional progress had been made. On top of this, not only did I need to complete my part of the presentation but I had to start helping other members and completing slides for them while they work on the other parts that they were allocated. I am not sure whether this was down to a lack of motivation, for example, the other members not reaching the self-actualisation step in the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs pyramid in this project and therefore not having the motivation to fully involve themselves with this project or explore their creative side (McLeod, 2020).  However, this helped me learn some strong group leadership skills, by being able to manage when the project is not going to plan and being able to get it back on track.

Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (McLeod, 2020)

Conclusion – In conclusion, working on this group presentation has taught me and expanded my skills when working within a group, that could help further my employability opportunities. Not only am I more confident in taking control of a poor situation and turning it around, but I am more confident in speaking in groups and presenting something I have created and practised. As well as this, I have learnt that I would start sooner after getting the assignment, compared to later on to ensure that my issues would have time to be resolved.

References:

Thebokshop.com. 2017. The Book Shop . [online] Available at: < https://www.thebokshop.com/brighton > [Accessed 7 February 2021].

McLeod, S., 2020. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs pyramid . [image] Available at: < https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html > [Accessed 7 February 2021].

McLeod, S., 2020. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs . [online] Simplypsychology.org. Available at: <https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html> [Accessed 7 February 2021].

Word count: 500

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Free Essay About My Group Works Experience

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Teamwork , Community , Work , Team , Members , Group Work , The Group , Leadership

Published: 03/30/2023

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Reflection on Group Work

The report is a reflection of my group work and its experience. I have experienced different aspects of group work throughout the course while working with inter-professional group members. I have a positive experience of teamwork and it enhanced my skills and knowledge. I have perceived the importance of teamwork in achieving the objectives. I have understood that equal contribution of all members is required to perform any task. The group work and teams can solve different problems and concerns in society and work places. The ability to work effectively in teams plays an important role in creating a successful career. I have experienced different accidents that are valuable for me. However, one important incident is our group work. The group members accepted their responsibilities and performed assigned tasks with honesty, dignity, and transparency. It generated good results and we completed our group work in an effective manner. I have learned from various experiences that improved my skills and abilities. The contribution and dedication of every group member have promoted the mutual understanding and respect within the team and it generated efficient results of work. It has changed my values, behavior, attitude, and belief that enable me to handle the difficult tasks in a positive manner. I have learned about the accountability and checkpoints that increased our work efficiency. The checkpoints have ensured that we are working in the right direction according to the strategic plans. I have learned the scope of the positive working environment to achieve the end results. The positive attitude of all team members has generated optimal results .

Key issue related to the experience

I have faced some challenges and issues while working with other team members such as misbehavior, leadership issues, and others. The group developed shared leadership tactic that generated inappropriate behavior in the group. The team had a formal leadership and it also changed from time to time depend on upon the nature of the specific task. It created issues for me and I had to work with a new leader from time to time. Some leaders were not much effective and they had fewer leadership skills. Some team members worked as leaders due to different circumstances and needs of the group. However, they were unable to manage the team. It decreased satisfaction among team members and created some conflicts. I worked with different individuals from different cultures that created cultural diversity in the group but communication became an issue. I have difficulties to change my behavior according to the norms and values shared by team members. We completed our task in an effective manner but could not meet the deadline. I have faced difficulties in start due to new people, new culture, and new task .

Action plans for future teamwork

I have learned various new strategies through my teamwork experience. It improved my knowledge that would help me in future. I would create time lines and road maps for completing different tasks in a timely manner. I would improve my behavior and create a positive attitude that would help me to work effectively with different team members belonging to different cultures. I would make strategies to improve my communication and motivation that would directly enhance my performance. I would focus the competency, support, respect, transparency, honesty, fairness, and predictability that would improve my values and increase reputation in the group .

Reference List

Chuck, W., 2015. Effective Management. Boston : Cengage Learning. Davies, W.M., 2009. Groupwork as a form of assessment: common problems and recommended solutions. Science+Business Media , 58, p.563–584. Laura, S., 2011. Making Teams Work: How to Create Productive and Effective Teams. Productivity Pro Press.

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Reflective experience essay on a group relations conference

Introduction

Group work conference is a form of co-operative learning, targeted on personal variations, knowledge enhancement, generic skill development (communicative, collaborative and critical thinking) and approaches. During my professional career, I have carried out a group exercise on exploring the complexities in caring for the emotional and psychological well-being of children, young people and families within the multi-disciplinary and multi-agency context. My job role as a student in social work has involved making contacts with clients (children), advising clients and families on available resources, setting up appointments, supervising contacts at the home and child care centres, assessing client needs and creating the plan together, carrying out risk assessment, attending training and court sessions, safeguarding the well-being of children and supporting them for independent living. This work has allowed me to make the effective use of time for production, alongside offering control as well as responsibilities. The advantages of group work assisted me in overcoming my limitations of faster work, efficiency, understanding, communication skills, work accuracy and exposure. Throughout my practice, I have carried out different roles, particularly within the social service system. The meetings have included different professionals, predominantly from within the social care provider sectors and working with children such as psychotherapists, teachers, doctors, social workers and mental health nurses alongside a variety of social service departmental managers.

This essay makes an effort in reflecting upon one of my personal experiences in a group work conference, where I planned, organised, facilitated and was actively involved in a group work. Within the first section, the essay discusses and explores experiences of working and talking with and the responsibility for the emotional and psychological well-being of children, young people and their families. My role in influencing and being influenced with the contribution of other group members will be discussed together with the group dynamics and inter-disciplinary teamwork. A wider view on the experience of the conference as a whole is made to explore issues of conflict and leadership together with theories and discussions of personal tendencies and self-behaviour within the process of group work on a shared task. A well-defined conclusion will be offered around the closure of the group together with the impact of conference on practice needs.

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Knowing that each of our group members possessed varied timetables and sessions, I have established a “common meeting point” for discussing the topic to be delivered in the conference. Among the three group meetings that I have organised in the library, I indicated my points on the subject, with special attention on the emotional and psychological well-being of child care. An in-depth discussion on the written facts, and selection of appropriate articles were explored in the subsequent second and third meetings. Easy and flexible ways to finish the completed work were discussed and a periodic ‘check on progress’ and the practice of developed work was explored in the final meeting. The advice and support gained from my colleagues helped me in collecting the best material needed for the conference. They provided me with confidence and an underlying ability, which cannot be possible to attain in real time. The effective accountability and adherence assisted me in tackling the issues of competitiveness and non-satisfaction. My knowledge, subject exposure, skills, abilities and working tendencies improved and it minimised the complexities witnessed through variations in interest, emotional consequences and the political environment. My experience of group work conference influenced me to a considerable extent in improving my skills needed for presentations and group dynamics. Whilst working to deliver the group conference, I became inspired through the thoughts and ideas of others. In an eventual manner, this supported me in providing new thoughts and innovative ideas. This group conference work, aided in my consideration of issues through different sources, besides building my practical knowledge. As a consequence, I personally feel this group work conference has contributed as a method of attaining and developing skills with respect to my own connectivity and development. The whole of my group work conference was enjoyable, a method of learning and my best experience developed through the development of my assigned work with other group members. Through an examination of the different ways in managing ourselves, we de-escalated the complex situations in a highly successful and cost effective manner.

The analytical skills, which I have learnt during my professional practice, aided me in enhancing my conceptual thinking and more significantly creativity and teamwork skills. Developing the presentation for this conference helped me in analysing the significance of schedules and time-effectiveness without any considerable compromise on quality. Throughout the group work, I have learnt how to tactically negotiate the most productive conditions for myself, work closely with my friends, take charge, introduce useful concepts and develop effective presentation. Besides, the co-operation amongst the group members enabled me to increase my learning experience with a successful achievement of desired outcomes. At each stage of the work, I became familiarised with the chosen subject, content and other conflicting issues. Though conflicts arose in our work, we had realised the minimal importance of such constraints, and moved ahead in a smoother and more effective manner. Presence of small groups (like that which was present for this conference) allowed the quieter members to gain involvement with considerable importance given to his or her ideas and opinions. Group work allowed me to understand the functioning ways pertaining to team settings. The open nature of group work assisted me in valuing and sharing previous experiences with others, discovering my true potential, technology restructuring and waste management (Burns and Sinfield, 2008).

Apart from these formal skills, my previous experiences with group work have also offered me with valuable insights. The knowledge gained from most of my group discussion sessions has allowed me to work in a team setting with different roles. My role in this group work conference influenced my team members in planning, prioritising and managing time. The open nature of classes, values of my own personal experiences, and delegation of less critical responsibilities alongside the trading and sharing of notes with fellow colleagues enabled me to exhibit how much we all have to learn from one another. My contribution to the topic of emotional and psychological well-being deciphered me with some of the phraseology and undermined my limitations.

Inter-disciplinary working practice is the discipline involving the working of individuals from two or more professions functioning as a team with a common purpose, commitment, mutual respect and goals. This practice enabled us in attaining effective team work, an ability to improve the working environment, enhance mutual respect and share knowledge between different fields. However, the numerous practice based issues linked to unrealistic expectations, lack of knowledge, perceived threat, professional jealousies, and impaired autonomy can result in a variety of serious consequences (Miller and Freeman, 2001). Effective leadership skills gained through the practice sessions helped me in minimising the incidence and prevalence of team conflicts. Writing down notes, trying to be silent and careful listening on the ideas provided by others, helped me in gaining enough information to deal with the issues. The knowledge gained through the group work and professional experience helped me in liaising with other health care professionals, attending court sessions, multi-disciplinary meetings, one to one key work sessions and advocating of beliefs. Throughout the conference, I strictly confined myself to the guidelines indicated in the social worker’s care plan and this assisted me in supervising contacts of children and home care centres.

Regardless of numerous constraints witnessed in carrying out the group work, I highly value the skills and lessons learnt and would suggest the experience to anyone, who desires to expand their abilities, especially within the field of child care (Bolton, 2010). Effective planning of activities and objectives, which need to be performed at each stage, enabled me to complete the work before the deadline. I ascertained the strengths and abilities of my team members, their roles and demands for the team environment (Bolton, 2010) in a step by step manner. This soothing and relaxing experience allowed me to reach the expectations of my higher officials with a decision to consider negative as well as positive consequences (Burns and Sinfield, 2008). I thought about alternate ways of handling the group work which enabled me to retain the understanding of the importance of communication, compassion, fundamental social work practice skills and group work abilities of interacting with children, when they are anxious and scared. Eventually, I became more aware of my communication skills and their effectiveness, together with the ways in which I could improve.

I perceive that, my contribution to the group in suggesting ideas and examples may be needed in improving myself in a conceptual and critical manner. I became more aware of my communication skills and their effectiveness, together with exploring a variety of ways for personal development. This reflection process enabled me to look within myself, gave an immense improvement of my own social work skills and patient observations as well as my delivery of care and support. In my own perspective, it can be considered as an effective exercise, which helped in understanding the ways of how to treat patients who need such care and support. For me, implementing these kinds of group work projects can enable students to increase their learning experience and participation. I think making a successful presentation necessitates an enhanced awareness on technologies, subject as well as skills (Bolton, 2010). I perceive myself to be a stronger person developing confidence. I ensure that I confront my fears and anxious feelings against certain individuals, in the defence of team members and treated individuals. An open body language, eye contact, voice tone and other abilities, as aforementioned with this paper are of much importance (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2002). Developing such qualities has enabled me as a social care professional to enhance the feelings of care, identification, empathy and support. I feel that, genuineness when supported with an open and relaxed method of accepting client requests can enable us to work according to the best interests of patients (Cooley, 2000). Although, listening, clarification and empathy, improving the emotional and psychological well-being of patients are key counselling skills needed in delivering care, I feel that the presence of good communication skills are an invaluable asset as it minimizes the degrees of hopelessness and psychological distress (Fallowfield and Jenkins, 2009). I think it is a highly rewarding and reflecting incident, which enabled me to identify my self-weaknesses and turning them in to strengths. Now, I perceive myself to be a stronger person developing confidence. I ensure that I am able to confront my own fears and anxious feelings against certain individuals, in the defence of a patient (Heming and Colmer, 2003). Different frameworks related to social work practice assisted me to create outlines on the issues, which are required due consideration for future use and reference.

The use of this previous experience assisted me in exploring the situation, in a much deeper way. An effort to enhance my personal and professional development skills needs to be made in the future. Use of different illustrations concerned to the experience, helped me in realising the fact that, learning and knowledge development is something which I should be pro-active in. Reflective experience assisted in structuring my thoughts and feelings in an appropriate manner with level of knowledge concerning to evidence based practice and medicine (Alexander et al., 1999). I believe this is a crucial segment to allow the group in offering a well-structured analysis with a chance of gaining experience (Burns and Sinfield, 2008). Group work, an excellent illustration for any enhancing any form of career, may continuously help me in developing my future. From my point of view, group work enables one to utilise time effectively for student production, alongside offering control as well as responsibility for learning practice (Carson, 2004). Furthermore, I have recognised reflection as a key tool of practice, necessary for gaining skills and abilities. The strategies and approaches developed by different scientists (such as Parkes, William, and Colmer) appeared to be highly useful in assessing the psychological impact of family member loss, even though each person reacts to the situation differently.

I feel that, implementing the projects accomplished through group or team work at the university will assist everyone, in the future with an allowance of developing practical, conceptual and cognitive knowledge towards unseen horizons. It permitted me in promoting my trust and my listening and learning skills from the highly qualified staff and the review of literature. On the whole, this reflective and personal experience assisted me in enhancing my knowledge and understanding on leadership, conflict and other related issues (Alexander et al., 1999).

Alexander, M., Fawcett, N., Runciman, P. 1994, Nursing Professionals-Hospital and Home-The Adult, London: Churchill Livingstone Publishers, pp. 123-190.

Assenmacher, K. 2011, Reflective Writing: A Reflection upon a Team Work Experience, London: Auflage Publishers, pp. 12-30.

Bolton, G. (2010) Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development, London: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, pp. 43-78.

Burns, T., Sinfield, S. 2008, Essential Study Skills: The Complete Guide to Success at University, London: McGraw Hill Publishers, pp. 34-90.

Carson, C. 2004, Growth and Development through group work, 3rd Edition, London: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, pp. 12-78.

Miller, C., Freeman, K. 2001, Interprofessional Practice in Health and Social Care: Challenging contexts, London: Hoffmann Publishers, pp. 23-89.

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My Experience In Group Work

Working in a group can be a very delightful or a very frightening experience. I based the previous sentence on my personal experience because I have seen both the good as well as the bad side of team work. I will share my previous experience in the following paper which I happened to encounter at AUM during the English 100 course. At first to begin with, we were paired up as a group of 4 girls against our choice. It gave me a negative feeling at first because we were put into a group by force and were completely unknown. At first that awkward moment of silence prevailed whereas, slowly we started introducing ourselves and blending in. This was a friendly process because we formed a group instead of just being a number of girls. This was …show more content…

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Some do not take their classes seriously, and they have a mindset that they are just there because they have to be there. (I do not know how to explain that better). But I think it’s very important that a student studies hard and he or she should not make excuses when they do not get their work turned in on time. There is a due date for a reason! We are in college, we should not be coming up with lame excuses and giving our professors hard times.

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Related topics.

An Analysis of the Experience of Teamwork Essay

Introduction, description, action plan, reference list.

This paper deals with assignment 4 we have completed and its evaluation. To analyze any event, it is helpful to use Gibbs’s reflective cycle (Jasper 2003). This framework helps focus on the major aspects of any event and project. Thus, I will provide a brief description of the work. I will reveal my feelings and evaluate the teamwork and my work within the team. The paper includes an analysis of the work and I will draw some conclusions.

I will develop a specific personal action plan to develop certain skills which will help me in my future career. In this paper, I will reflect on the experience of teamwork and the way it affected me. This paper also includes a description of certain challenges our team had to face. Finally, I will also speculate on the way teamwork affected my attitude towards accreditation.

For this assignment, the class was divided into groups. I was in group three with four other students. We had three meetings where we dealt with crucial issues. The first meeting was an introductory meeting and the members of our team introduced themselves. Admittedly, learning more about each member of the team is essential for efficient work (Belbin 1982). It turned out that the members of our team were involved in different fields related to healthcare.

The second meeting was devoted to discussion of the subject and sharing ideas. Each member of the group made a presentation on the matter. The last meeting was devoted to planning. Admittedly, any team must have specific goals and a concise plan to reach the goals (Covey 1994). It is also crucial to distribute roles among the team members (Berkun 2005). Thus, we distributed roles and chose the leader of the group. We also worked out our schedule. We decided to use online sessions for further meetings and updates on the project.

I had never worked in a team, so I was worried about the project. I did not know what to do and I had doubts concerning the effectiveness of our team’s work. I was also worried as I was not sure that I could be an effective member of the team for I had not had any experience in accreditation. It was a great relief for me to find out that one member of our team had some experience in accreditation. It was quite stressful to find out that the team members had opposing views on the matter as some were strongly against accreditation while others supported this idea. Eventually, we managed to come to a single conclusion and set deadlines. However, I was really upset when I read the first draft after we had joined all the parts. The parts were written by different people who had different styles. It was challenging to make the paper a complete whole.

Though it was quite challenging, I find this experience beneficial for me as I have learned a lot about working in a team. Now, I can listen to myself and self-develop, which is the most important for a person (Butler 1981). Experiential learning is seen as one of the most effective ways to gain experience (Kolb 1984). I agree with this now as I learned a lot while working in a team. I know how to exchange ideas and collaborate with people of different personality types.

The work was efficient as each member of the group contributed equally to the success of the entire group. Some members helped organize ideas and others helped manage time, etc. As for the most serious challenges, we had certain problems with the process of decision-making. I believe the team spent too much time planning and discussing things, which is ineffective and can jeopardize the project (Arden 2003). It was also difficult for me to accept other people’s views. Nevertheless, I am sure that teamwork needs to be able to find compromises or even accept others’ viewpoints.

It was rather difficult to work out a unified point of view on the matter as members of the team had different opinions. Moreover, the members of the team had quite different personality types. It is essential to understand a personality type of a partner as it helps predict his/her behavior and reactions (Rollinson 2008). At the same time, Brain (2002) states that a team where members have different personality types can be also beneficial. I agree with that as I witnessed the benefits of collaboration with people of different personality types. Thus, extroverts in our team helped come to an agreement and effectively share ideas, while introverts helped create the schedule and accumulate data.

In general, this was a beneficial experience for me as I met new people with different backgrounds and personality types. I also learned to collaborate with them efficiently. I will be able to employ this experience in the future. I understand that people differ in terms of their personality types. While working in the team, I changed my attitude towards accreditation. Now, I know that it is difficult to introduce accreditation to any organization. On top of that, it is essential to work out the culture of the organization and train teamwork before introducing accreditation to this organization.

As has been mentioned above, I learned a lot. Nonetheless, I also need to work on my communication skills. Covey (1989) notes that it is essential to be able to listen correctly and react properly. I have to learn to listen carefully. I should also learn to make sure I understand everything clearly. I have to learn how to make the right questions to avoid any misunderstanding and extract the information I need. It can be also helpful for me to learn how to articulate ideas properly to be able to support my opinion. Therefore, I will have to improve my skills to work within a team effectively.

Arden, P 2003, It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be , Phaidon, New York.

Belbin, M 1982, Management teams why the succeed or fail , Butterworth-Heinemann, London.

Berkun, S 2005, The art of project management , O’Reilly Media Inc., Sebastopol, CA.

Brain, C 2002, Advanced psychology: applications, issues and perspectives , Nelson Thornes, London.

Butler, PE 1981, Talking to yourself: learning the language of self-support , Harper and Row, San Francisco.

Covey, S 1989, The seven habits of highly effective people – powerful lessons in personal change , Simon & Schuster, New York.

Covey, S 1994, First things first, Simon & Schuster, New York.

Jasper, M 2003, Beginning reflective practice , Nelson Thornes, London.

Kolb, D 1984, Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development , FT Press, London.

Rollinson, D 2008, Organisational behaviour and analysis: an integrated approach , Pearson Education, Essex.

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Group Work That Really Works

A group essay writing activity pushes every student to contribute—and it can lead to real growth in writing ability.

Group work is a mode of learning I’ve struggled with for much of my teaching career. The concept of students working together to learn is valuable for many reasons, but creating a group activity where all students are engaged in the collective work can be challenging. Recently, I tried a group essay writing activity that not only involved every student in the task but also created conditions for rich student discussion that resulted in some real growth in their writing skills.

A Group Essay How-To

1. On the day before the group essay, each student first writes an essay on their own. I’ve moved more and more over the years toward having the students write their first draft of most of the writing we do in class. This eliminates many of the distractions that can intrude on student writing and ensures that I’m there to support them. If students need additional time to finish their paper after class, I’ll usually accommodate them.

2. I read the essays myself , writing some quick feedback on a separate sheet of paper—usually just a rubric score, one thing the student did well, and one thing they could do to improve their essay. I use the individual scores and feedback for conferencing with students later that week, when we’ll discuss their reflections on their writing and ways to improve. I also assess the essays as a group for areas that seem to call for more instruction for the whole class.

3. I teach a mini-lesson on one or two of those areas of need I’ve identified for the class as a whole (e.g., thesis statements, finding and integrating evidence, transitions, etc.).

4. And then, the group essay. After handing back the individual essays—with no marks on them—and organizing students into groups of four or five, I give them instructions for group work.

First, students take turns sharing their thesis statements with the group. They discuss the relative merits of each and come to consensus on a group thesis statement. They write this in large letters on one regular sheet of paper that I’ve given them.

Next, students decide on supporting points for the thesis. They need to have a number of supporting points equal to the number of the people in the group because each student is responsible for individually writing a body paragraph for one of the supporting points, using evidence and commentary to connect their supporting point back to the thesis. They each write their own body paragraph on another sheet of paper.

Once students have finished writing their supporting body paragraphs, they come back together as a group and puzzle the essay together, adding transitions to connect the body paragraphs and writing a concluding paragraph on a final sheet of paper.

Although this composing step worked well on paper, I’m looking forward to having the students try it out on shared Google docs, as that would make the editing process easier—particularly when the students come together to combine their paragraphs into a cohesive whole.

5. Finally, the groups get up in front of the class and read their essay aloud. After each group reads, we take a few minutes to discuss the strengths of the essay and ask any questions we might have about it.

Why Group Essays Work

The success of this activity stems from the shared responsibility of writing the essay. As I walked around the room while the groups were working, the focus and richness of the discussions showed me just how much impact this activity would have when it came to developing students’ understanding of the elements of an effective essay. Almost every single student was engaged, and those who became distracted were quickly brought back to focus by a group that was relying on their contribution.

Having the students read their essay aloud in front of the class provided some valuable results. The entire class benefited not only from hearing what students had done with the thesis and support but also from the feedback given by me and their classmates. And I was provided with a great formative assessment opportunity and took notes for further mini-lessons my classes might need. In the very next essay we wrote in class, I noticed significant growth in the skills students had worked on in their groups.

One more not-so-small detail: Students loved the group essays. The complaints I sometimes hear about group work—that one person ended up doing all the work, that one or more people weren’t contributing, that it was hard to figure out who was supposed to do what—were rare. All students were essential, the roles and tasks were clearly defined, and the time constraint of needing to get all the writing and discussion done in one class period added an urgency to the task, so that very little time was wasted. (It is possible to break the group activity into two class periods if necessary.)

Students agreed that this was an activity that actually helped them understand how to improve their writing, and they asked if they could do it again for their next essay.

I’m looking forward to trying some variations on the group essay—perhaps having students write the essay together before trying on their own, or having them create mini-lessons for the writing needs they see in the classroom.

Sample details

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Group Work Experience

Working in groups offers the opportunity to collaborate with various personalities and exchange creative ideas, which can be a rewarding experience. However, a downside emerges when certain individuals do not fully contribute their potential and effort to the assigned tasks.

Initially, I believed that I possessed good teamwork skills. However, this year has revealed flaws in my behavior that require attention. Consequently, I am currently engaging in self-reflection and reassessing my principles. It is evident that I have a proclivity for assuming leadership roles and steering projects towards my own concepts. A teacher of mine identified this controlling disposition and labeled me as someone with a “strong personality” who becomes agitated when situations deviate from my vision. Despite initially opposing this feedback, upon contemplation, I recognized that I possess aspects of both extroversion and introversion.

After reflecting on my desires and goals, I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a support system for the group. It is important to me that I value input from all members rather than solely relying on my own ideas. In the future, my intention is to actively listen to everyone’s suggestions and encourage open communication among all of us. Being the force that brings the group together holds more significance for me than asserting my own ideas in a way that discourages other perspectives. However, during this phase of self-reflection, it is difficult for me to maintain the same level of confidence I had before.

As I continue to learn how to be a follower, I have noticed that the groups I’ve been part of encountered challenges. These difficulties arose because certain members were not willing to contribute, while others applied pressure on them. It is possible that those individuals who lacked interest in contributing might have preferred pursuing their own ideas. If they had found enjoyment in the tasks and were not obligated to carry out repetitive and uninteresting work, they may have felt more motivated.

When I am in a group, my main goal is to gently persuade individuals to unite, utilize their strengths, and enhance the group’s bonds.

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