A Reflection on your own leadership and team working skills.

3. Coursework 2 guidance

This is a 2000 word (+/- 10%) critical personal reflection across the course of the module on your own leadership and team working skills.

This is written in the first person.
Although a reflection this needs to be supported with relevant theory and literature: e.g. leadership and management theory, change theory, communication, team working, current health and social care policy.
What is Critical analysis? discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the literature you use as you apply it to your own group experience. Critical writing involves constructing an argument/debate about the subject you are discussing.
Focusing on certain areas may help you write e.g. communication, leadership, team working – it’s your choice. You can use a model to reflect but this is not necessary.
Your reflective diary notes will help you here as you review your thoughts over the weeks.

Points to consider:
· What was your personal experience of team working? (both face to face and online).
Be honest here as identifying your own strengths and weaknesses will help you to get the best from the module in terms of your own professional and personal self-development

· You might want to think about how your group developed over the weeks of the module and possibly use that as a structure for your narrative..hence the reflective diary.

· Tuckman’s (1965) work on group formation – the five stages – is a useful logical structure as it follows the path of the group from its early days through to task completion and beyond. https://www.businessballs.com/team-management/tuckman-forming-storming-norming-performing-model/

· Possibly consider your own group experience in each of these 5 stages and critically discuss this using relevant theory and literature to support your writing. You might find another structure that you could use..it’s up to you.
Think about:

· What factors promote or prevent good team working e.g. effective communication both face to face and using remote technology such as WhatsApp – what are the positives and negatives of such technology? different
team roles – think of Belbin’s Team inventory (1981) and your own identified team role and what you and others offered the team in terms of skills and attributes? What skill mix is needed for an effective team?

· How does the leadership and management style impact on team working? e.g. autocractic, democratic, situational styles? What was your own style and the styles in your team..did these change over time? Did leadership change from person to person over time?

· What is your response to change? Consider you own leadership and management skills…what are your strengths and what skills do you also need to develop? – you can refer to your attached CLCF action plan here if you wish

· What were the team dynamics over the course of the module? Was it a cohesive and positive group? Was there any conflict in the group..why? Was it creative or destructive conflict? How was this resolved if at all?

· Did the way the team worked, the professions included and the individual personalities contribute to conflict e.g. members not attending or participating? What did the team do about this?

· Was there a free flow of ideas in the group and were differences of opinion welcomed or was their Group Think and one dominant view prevailed unchallenged to keep harmony?
As a point of interest see the literature on Group Think (Janis, 1972):
Groupthink ”a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.” It is the triumph of concurrence over good sense, and authority over expertise.
See specifically the inquiry into the 1986 NASA Challenger disaster: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=2ahUKEwjJ19qj2-3gAhVXRxUIHU7_BGwQFjABegQICxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2003%2F03%2F09%2Fweekinreview%2Fthe-nation-nasa-s-curse-groupthink-is-30-years-old-and-still-going-strong.html&usg=AOvVaw2vrDir8iICMlpXuJNuUMwI

· COVID 19: how did the changes forced on the module delivery impact upon yourself and your group working e.g. moving earlier than planned from face to face to online group working and seminar facilitation? How does a team prepare itself for unplanned changes and working in uncertain times?

· There is a lot of literature around about team working, leadership and change including the factors that promote or inhibit this so critically apply some to support your reflection e.g. Tuckman, Maslow, Adair, McGregor, Lewin., NHS Change Management Model, Making Every Contact Count, NMC and HCPC guidance

· A lot of questions have been asked about structure of the piece…we ask for no set structure it’s your choice how you write this reflection, the important point is that you cover the points above and demonstrate that you can critically reflect on your own leadership and team working skills. Sub headings can be used if these help you to organise your writing.

· Approximately 10-20 relevant good quality academic references should support your writing

· The Clinical Leadership Competency Framework self-assessment should be completed and the action plan ONLY attached as an appendix at the end of the work. These can be found under the CW2 section on Moodle. The action plan is NOT part of the word count.

· Also see the CW2 marking guide in the module guide to see what the markers are looking for…especially the criteria for a first!