Prior to working on this project, I was never really given a platform to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses, nor have I been tasked to reflect on my group’s teamwork and collaboration before. Hence, I am grateful for this chance to share my individual and group reflection. In this reflection, I will share how my strengths and weaknesses affected the group’s teamwork with the aid of social psychology theories and concepts. To start off, I will be identifying my strengths.
While working on this project,I have discovered that I am a meticulous person. I came to realise that I pay more attention to details as compared to my other groupmates. I would carefully read through the criteria we need to meet and ensure that they are met. For example, while my group was working on the presentation slides, I noticed that we used the incorrect font and font size, so I informed my groupmates about it, and we made changes to it shortly after.
In this process, role theory is applied. According to Psychology Research andReference (n.d.), “role theory posits that the roles that people occupy provide contexts that shape behavior.”While working on this assignment, I subconsciously occupied the role as a checker to ensure that our works aligned with the project brief and criteria. This had shaped my behaviour in the group as I realised that I occasionally had to remind my group mates to keep the criteria in mind; such as trying to incorporate social psychology theories into our presentation.
Subsequently, another aspect I excelled in was giving new suggestions or ideas when necessary. When my group was brainstorming ideas for the assignment, I gave ideas on what we can include in the programme. One of the ideas I suggested was that we should conduct the activities in two separate locations; one in a classroom and one in the canteen during the students’ recess time. This idea was considered by my group mates and we eventually decided to include it in our programme. I think that the concept of group decision making is applied here. Watson(1931) claims that group decision making carries advantages such as generating ideas which one may not have thought of individually, moreover,Johnson andJohnson (2012) states that when individual group members share suggestions which are unique, it can increase the amount of information the group can draw on to make sound decisions(as cited inJhangiani &
Tarry,n.d.).To elaborate on this concept, I will share another personal experience. Before the suggestion of having threeactivities, mygroup mates were set on planning only one activity for the programme. Thus, group decision making enabled my group to generate fresh and different ideas before making an informed decision. Moving on, I will now reflect on my weaknesses. Through working with my group members, I noticed one of my shortcomings was that I am more urgent in completing the project. At times, I would urgemy group members to focus on completing their task by a certain date. This may have caused my group members to feel rushed and more pressured in completing the assignment, so I tried to change my ways to suit the group, as they had a slower pace of completing their work. Based on this, I feel that the concept of conformity is applied in this situation. According to McLeod (2016), “Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.” My behaviour aligned with McLeod’s definition, as I tried to improve on this aspect by understanding that my group mates complete their own tasks at different pace from mine. Hence, I tried adjusting my pace to match theirs. I made such changes to ensure that everyone in the group is on the same page to avoid any confusion. Another weakness I discovered was that I tend to conform to groupthink.Janis(1972)defined groupthink as a psychological phenomenon whereby people desire consensus in a group(as cited in Cherry, 2019). As mentioned in one of the paragraphs, I only give new suggestions and ideas when necessary, thus this also means that when I feel other people’s suggestions are better, I choose not to speak up about my idea. I also chose to go with what the majority agreed on, though I might not fully agree with the decision as I want to avoid conflict in the group. However, this refrain from expressing my thoughts might have caused a hindrance to my group, as lesser original ideas are produced. I could have suggested something which may be better for the programme we planned. This can possibly avoid consequences of groupthink such aslack of creativity since everyone consented to the same idea, and it could give rise to more fresh and interesting ideas than whatmy group can offer now (Corporate Finance Institute, n.d.).
In conclusion, I find that being meticulous suited the groups’ needs, as it ensured that we did not overlook small details that could have costed us our marks. Giving suggestions and ideas at theright time is also suitable for the group, as it sets the direction for our programme. On the other hand, my urgency is not a suitable behaviour asit puts pressure on the group and tension might form as a result. Groupthink also does not suit the group as we are required to come up with creative and interesting concepts for the project. Everyone in the group has their own strengths and weaknesses, and we made up for each other’s weakness with our own strengths to work together more efficiently
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get a custom paper by one of our expert writers.
Get your custom essay
Helping students since 2015
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download