Individual Refection Paper

Each person in class will complete this assignment.

What: Paper that refects on your experience as a team member
Length: 750-1,000 words
Style: Times New Roman, 1 pt!, doub"e spaced# your name, team name and
word count in upper ri$ht hand corner
WEIGHTED SCORIG !OR RE!LECTIO P"PER
%0& content in response to bu""eted prompts in Parts ' and '' be"ow
(0& $rammar)spe""in$)sentence structure)word count
*corin$ rubric can be +ound on the ,omm - .ssi$nments pa$e on my
website under the headin$ /Resources0
S"#PLE P"PER$ See end o% thi& in&truction &heet %or an e'a(ple o%
an " paper
ISTR)CTIOS
Part One:
'n your paper, consider how you experienced each o+ the topics be"ow within
your team by refectin$ on your team1s cohesion, confict, ro"es, decision
ma2in$)prob"em so"3in$ and "eadership accordin$ to the +o""owin$ de4nitions!
'ncorporate in+ormation +rom the textbook and examp"es +rom your $roup
experience!
Cohe&ion$ The act or state o+ team members tic2in$ to$ether ti$ht"y
Confict$ . stru$$"e between at "east two team members who percei3e
incompatib"e $oa"s and inter+erence +rom others in an attempt to
achie3e a speci4c $oa"!
Role&$ *ets o+ expectations about beha3ior and persona" contribution
in a $roup
Deci&ion (a*ing+pro,le( &olving$ ,hoosin$ between
a"ternati3es)o3ercomin$ obstac"es
Leader&hip$ 5eha3ior or communication that infuences, $uides,
directs or contro"s a $roup
Part T-o:
.t the end o+ your refection paper, respond to the +o""owin$ two RE.)IRED
ITE#S in about 50 words each! 6i$ deep, be honest!
Ite( /: 6escribe one action you, as an indi3idua", cou"d ha3e ta2en
this semester that wou"d ha3e impro3ed the sma"" $roup experience +or
a"" o+ your team members and te"" why it wou"d ha3e impro3ed the
$roup1s experience!
Ite( 0: 6escribe somethin$ you "earned this semester that you wi""
use in a +uture $roup or team to ma2e sure that team members are
3a"ued and appreciated!

*.7P89
:ohn *mith
,omm 5-, 7; - a!m!
;ord ,ount: 1,7
Part I
The textbook defines cohesiveness as the degree of attraction group members feel toward
one another and toward the group. Cohesiveness was something that our group never failed to
have, even the first time we met. (Name, unfortunatel!, was not able to attend our "o To #unch
assignment due to an illness, but (Name, (Name and m!self bonded from the start. I think part
of the reason we bonded so fast was our differences. I was ver! interested in listening to (Name
and (Name as the! told me their experiences and things about their lives, because it was ver!
new to me. $efore this group, I had never spent time with someone like (Name or (Name. I
think their experience with me was probabl! similar. I think because we were all so different, it
kept us interested, and we found our experience new and exciting. Personall!, I was reall!
nervous going into the "o To #unch assignment. I didn%t know what to expect from m! group,
but once we met for the first time, all m! doubts were silenced.
I think the main reason our group had so much cohesiveness is the fact that we were all
focused on the same goal. &e worked together well knowing that if we bonded, success would
come. I was blessed with a group that had a lot of cohesiveness.
It seems like ever! chapter we read in the textbook mentioned something about group
conflict. In fact, conflict is part of the storming step in the four step process used to describe
group formation''forming, norming, storming, and performing. (et when it came to our group, I
simpl! cannot think of an!thing that happened in our group that could be considered conflict. )t
no point during this class did our group have members at each others% throats or arguing with one
another. I think this was simple because we all were blessed to wind up in a group where our
personalities gelled so well together. (Name is someone we all respected, both as our elder and
as a mother. *ince she is a mother of six, she is great at working with groups. (Name is one of
the nicest people I%ve ever met, and was willing to do an!thing to help the group. (Name and I
reall! got along well because we are both freshman who +ust graduated from high school, and the
more we got to know each other the more we reali,ed how much we had in common. I am ver!
glad to sa! that our group never had to deal with an! conflict.
)s our group spent more time together, we began to develop roles. &hen it came to
writing speeches, we alwa!s had the same roles. (Name would do the introduction and a main
point if needed, (Name and (Name would do main points, and I would do the conclusion and a
main point if needed. (Name was the Information "iver who provided facts and examples
when we%d create our outlines. (Name served as the Coordinator because she alwa!s clarified
our ideas and suggestions. (Name was definitel! the -nergi,er who spurred our group to action
and motivated us to keep going when things got tough. I saw m!self as the -valuator'critic who
evaluated our ideas and conclusions to make sure the! were the best the! could be. The roles we
pla!ed were a big advantage for our group.
&hen it came to decision making and problem solving, our group used a strateg! that
worked out well for us. &e would basicall! sit together and start discussing different ideas. &e
would all pitch in, +ust sa!ing whatever we could think of. Then, it seemed like someone would
alwa!s sa! an idea where ever!one else would +ust all agree that it was the idea we should go
with. $ecause our group bonded so well and worked great together, we were able to solve
problems and make decisions ver! .uickl!. &e all knew what needed to be done, and we wasted
little time. &e +ust started attacking our challenges and decisions that needed to be made. The
wa! we discussed our ideas and agreed on them worked great in our group.
&hen it came to our group, I don%t think we had an! one leader. I think we all provided
leadership in different wa!s. (Name, being a mother, obviousl! has experience as a leader, and
it definitel! showed. *he was great at keeping the atmosphere of our group relaxed but also
knowing when to remind us that we had work to do. (Name is more of a leader b! the example
she sets. /er eas!'going personalit! is contagious, and she had a ver! positive influence on the
group. (Name is a person who%s eas! to follow because he has such a calming wa! that he
carries himself. /e is an honest, caring, smart person, and this makes him a natural leader.
$ecause of m! experience in sports, I have had experience both being a leader and being around
good leaders. I think I was a good leader for the group. I would set the agenda a lot of times for
our group when it came time to meet, and I hope m! group respected me as a leader.
In conclusion, cohesion, conflict, roles, decision making, problem'solving, and leadership
are all important aspects of a functioning group no matter how big or small. &ithout these
contributions, we wouldn%t have survived ever!thing we%ve been through. Not onl! did we learn
more about how it is to work in groups, but we also learned something about ourselves. In the
end, the experiences we had, both with the group and individuall!, were more than worth it. It
prepared us not onl! in our college careers, but in our future ones as well. I%ve come to reali,e on
m! own from working with this group of mine, that an!thing can be accomplished as long as !ou
work together and stick to the plan. )s for m! own reali,ation, I now know that if I want to
accomplish something, all I need to do is find the motivation within m!self to overcome the
obstacles that ma! get in m! wa! of achieving m! goal.
Part 0
1ne action I think I could have taken that would have improved our small group
experience is I think I could have allowed m! group members more opportunit! to express their
ideas and opinions. I feel like I am .uick at coming up with ideas, and I feel ver! strongl! about
m! opinions. &hile these can be good things, I think sometimes I didn%t allow m! group
members enough opportunit! to give ideas of their own, because I would state ideas and the
group would +ust run with it because I felt so strongl! about it.
*omething I learned this semester that I consider the most valuable is that man! times
being on a team with diversit! and new people works out the best. In the past, I alwa!s +ust
wanted to be on teams with m! friends or people I knew. I will bring this positive outlook to a
future group to help new team members feel valued. This class made me reali,e that meeting
new people is fun and exciting, and team diversit! is so ke! to a team%s success.