Reflection Paper

When starting this online group project I was unsure how it would be pulled off. I knew I

was in a little over my head, and that came to light when I was asked to be the co-leader of the

group. I knew that I had to be honest with myself, and the fellow group members. The class

load for me was extremely heavy towards the beginning of the week, so I had only time to work

on projects or discussions on later days. I made sure to communicate this with my group right

away, and keep up with the discussions with full disclosure. I answered every single group

posting, and was sure to answer every single email thread. Although I couldn’t have as intricate

part as I would normally like, I evaluated the situation and handled it to the best of my ability.

My group members knew right away when they could expect my parts completed, and when I

was able to participate in discussion.

I have to be honest in the fact that I had no part in coming up with the group subject,

however I did participate and agree that it was an excellent topic. I didn’t want to make any

suggestions because it felt as though to me the subject really hit home. We run into this issue of

family and friends in the workplace daily at my place of current employment. Since I already

work in the same setting as my career will be, I know this issue isn’t going to go away any time

soon. We work highly on a referral network within the current nursing shortage, so it is expected

you are going to have people you know working next to you. We do have issues with favoritism,

boundaries, and work/home balances. These are things we tackle daily, so it was an excellent

topic for me to dive into.

After the topic was chosen I made sure to participate every single week in the

discussions. There were weeks I would post more than once, but my group was extremely
organized and it wasn’t necessary. I may not have provided many ideas, but I did provide the

group with flexibility of choices. I was willing to do all of the sections that no-one else wanted

to do, and was given certain forefront sections that they knew would get done on time. This was

my major contribution to the group, and did anything they needed in order to complete the

project.

Throughout the weeks our group really developed. The beginning we were just getting to

know each other, and feel each other out. We were able to come up with the leaders, and from

there we developed a sense of trust. They said jump, and we all said how high. This was what

worked well for us in our group, and kept us on track and organized. Our leaders did a great job

on communicating with us inside the discussion boards, and out. They were all able to build a

quick trusting relationship with each other, and their demeanor made us feel at ease. I feel the

role that I specifically played in this group was to pick up the pieces. As stated earlier, I was

able to take the entire load that others didn’t want. My part was intricate to the group because it

made sure that even the grunt work was still completed.

Since our group got along so fabulously we didn’t encounter any issues that I was aware

of. We all seemed to communicate, meet deadlines, and appreciate each others ideas and

opinions. Although our group was around medium in size we were still all able to talk as a

whole, and get our parts to match up. Having a specific leader of the group really orchestrated

peace within the group, and a sense of calm. All of our members participated through every

discussion post, and they were communicating their needs. There was no single group member

that left themselves out of the fold, and we all pulled together on all discussions.
 With this group project I really reflected on myself in the fact of letting go at times. I

tend to always need/want to be in control, and that can’t always work. You have to know how to

delegate, and be honest with yourself. Knowing your limitations is key, and I found out that I

actually have some this semester. Putting trust in your teammates can be a blessing instead of a

curse. We can’t do everything alone, and I really put that to use this semester.