1
Assessment 3: Reflective Essay 35%
Weight: 35% (35 marks)
Due Date: Friday 18 May 2018 at 5 pm via SafeAssign online submission point.
Reflection
Raelin (2000) notes that a reflection is a potent vehicle for making sense of experience, improving our
powers of observation, promoting consistency between beliefs and practices and spurring us to adopt
new practices. (Refer to Raelin, J. A. (2000), Work-based learning: the new frontier of management
development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, pp.124-128).
Team Developmental Stages
To become a team, a group of people go through a sequence of stages outlined by Tuckman (1965) as
forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Each stage has its own features and this
creates difficulties for team members and their managers.
The Task:
Write a 1500 word essay (+/- 10%, excluding Reference List) reflecting on your interpersonal
(between people) and intrapersonal (within the person) team communication experiences throughout
the team developmental stages in the lead up to your Team Presentation. It is important to support
your experiences with literature. Utilise a minimum of 6 peer-reviewed journal articles (post
2007).
Peer-reviewed or refereed articles are from academic/scholarly journals that only publish articles that
have passed through a review process. The review process helps ensure that the published articles
reflect solid scholarship in their fields. Internet and book references are optional but in addition to the
foregoing requirement.
Note: In reflective essays, it is appropriate to use the first person e.g.: ’I’, ‘my’, ‘our’, ‘he’, ‘she’ etc.
Submission Format:
The submission is to be done online by the due date according to the marking criteria.
The Reflective Essay should be set out as follows:
Introduction
This section should contain:
• A short explanation of your involvement in the team. What was your role?
• Most importantly, clear and concise outline of what specifically will be discussed in your
essay.
• A short sentence on whether your experience is supported by the literature
When writing the introduction, try to be as specific as possible.
Part 1
In this section, you should:
• Describe and analyse the interpersonal dynamics within your team
2
o For example, you can look at how any of the following issues affected your team in
this section:
§ Diversity; listening and non-verbal communication; effective
communication issues; persuasion.
• Describe and analyse the intrapersonal issues that affected the team
o For example, you can look at how any of the following issues affected the team in
this section:
§ Self-awareness; self-disclosure and trust; goals, values and ethics; time and
self-management.
Note: You need to support all your reflections with research literature (only peer-reviewed
journal articles) on intra/interpersonal communication and working in teams.
Make sure that you only write about your specific experience in your team. This section
needs to demonstrate your reflective capabilities of linking your team experience to the research
literature.
Part 2
In this section, you should:
• Describe and analyse the performance of your team throughout the team’s development.
o For example, you can look at how your team managed any of the following issues:
§ Negotiation; team development; managing conflict; effective meetings;
facilitating team success; making decisions and solving problems creatively;
power; coaching and feedback; leadership and empowerment.
Note: You need to support all your reflections with research literature (only peer-reviewed
journal articles).
Make sure that you only write about your specific experience in your team. This section needs to
demonstrate your reflective capabilities of linking your team experience to the research literature.
Part 3
In this section, you should:
• Reflect on the success or failure of the team processes
• Suggest how the team processes might be improved using research literature (only peerreviewed journal articles).
In this section, you should make recommendations supported by research literature about
what can be done better in the future when working in teams. It should show both your reflective
capabilities of assessing your team experience, but also offer ways to improve based on the
research literature.
Conclusion
Summarise main points made in the reflection. Remember to re-reference the main points made in the
body of your reflective essay (Parts 1, 2 and 3).
3
References
Include your reference list in this section. You need to use APA v.6 referencing style for the intext references and reference list. A minimum of 6 peer reviewed journal articles (post 2007) is
required.
• Reference list needs to be correct and in alphabetical order by author surname.
• In-text references are needed for all paraphrased material (direct quotes are not to be
included).
Remember to use the correct source (printed textbook, eBook, printed journal, digital journal etc.)
submission point.
4

5