NAME:

STUDENT ID:
MODULE CODE:
MODULE TITLE:
WORD COUNT: 1675
TOPIC: REFLECTION ESSAY ON FUNDAMENTAL OF
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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Title Page _________________________________________________________ 1
Table of Contents ___________________________________________________ 2
1.1 Introduction _________________________________________________ 3
2.1 Description of the Gibbs Reflective Circle ____________________________ 3

3.1 Reflection Based on the Gibbs Reflection Circle________________________ 4

3.1.1 Description _____________________________________________ 4

3.1.2 Feelings ______________________________________________ 5
3.1.3 Evaluation _____________________________________________ 5
3.1.4 Analysis _______________________________________________ 6
3.1.5 Conclusion ____________________________________________ 6
3.1.6 Action Plan ____________________________________________ 7
4.1 Conclusion ____________________________________________________ 7
References _______________________________________________________ 8

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

In the context of project management, communication serves as a foundation upon which

effective teamwork thrive. Studies have indicated that communication is a key tool for
developing trust and engagement among the team members (Awati, 2010, p. 1). It is presumed
that effective communication among members enable them to collaborate well and work together
to attain a common goal. According to Emmit (2010, p. 54), project management cannot be
successfully practiced without communication. Emmit (2010, p. 54) argued that “communication
remains the process of acquiring all relevant information, interpreting this information and
effectively disseminating the information to persons who might need it.” However, one of the
major problems i encountered during our cooperative effort is poor communication, which
served as a hindrance to better exchange of ideas and cooperation among team members. My
recent experience during our cooperative effort has revealed the difficulties cast by poor
communication. In this essay, i will attempt to discuss my contribution to the teamwork task,
identify my roles and where i need to improve and how this exercise has facilitated my personal
development. The Gibbs Reflective Model will be used to discuss the different landscape of my
emotions, thoughts and actions during our cooperative effort.

2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE GIBBS REFLECTIVE CIRCLE

Reflective writing of this nature provides an opportunity for learners to gain further insights from
a given task through deeper reflection on their experiences (Jasper, 2013, p. 201). Through
reflection, individual learner stimulates both personal and professional growth (Jasper, 2013, p.
201). The Gibbs Reflective Circle remains one of the prominent models of reflection (Zeichner
and Liston, 1996, p. 21). The origin of the Gibbs Reflective Circle could be traced back to 1988,
when Gibbs developed a reflective circle consisting of six distinct stages that allows a reflector
to think through all the phases of an activity or experience (Gibbs, 1998, p. 3). As argued by
Zeichner and Liston (1996, p. 21), the Gibbs Reflective Circle is flexible model that is suitable to
analysing a situation in a critical light to enable future changes. The six stages of the Gibbs
Reflective Circle are depicted in Figure 1 below.

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Figure 1: Six Stages of the Gibbs Reflective Circle

Source: Gibbs (1988)

3.1 REFLECTION BASED ON THE GIBBS REFLECTION CIRCLE

3.1.1 Description

Considering various skill sets, knowledge, experience and backgrounds (Jones, Gold and
Claxton, 2019, p. 1841), the course instructor divided the class into different groups for this
assessment. My group was given three major tasks to perform. After then, it became necessary to
form a group. The first phase of a collaborative journey is group formation. During the early
weeks of our group formation on the module, the collaborative spirit was eroded by poor
communication. After being introduced to each and every member of the team, i found it
difficult to work practically with my team due to differences in cultures, languages and
backgrounds. One of the most difficult things i encountered during the early weeks of our group
formation was how to communicate inter-culturally and carry out the expected tasks. As a
resource manager, my role was to help the group with planning and allocating resources for the
projects. The group was made up of students from a variety of cultural, religious, linguistics and
genetic backgrounds. Most of us had different ways of viewing things and this made the task
even more critical when it became difficult to understand one another effectively and culturally.
However, i realised the need to be culturally curious and eliminate any form of cultural
insensitivities. This helped me to freely discuss and communicate with other group members. At

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the long run, the group work was made interactive and all members of the group were involved
in the activities.

3.1.2 Feelings

Prior to the formation of the group, i was very excited and overactive. Knowing fully well that
the collaborative work will expose me to new challenges, i felt so happy and curious. However,
as poor communication pervaded our interactions, i became so unhappy after the group
formation. It has been emphasised that poor communication can affect one’s emotion (Wall and
Callister, 1995, p. 515). I had never worked with people from other countries. I preferred being
in the same group with people from Nigeria because i would be able to communicate with them
effectively without any barrier. As indicated by Wall and Callister (1995, p. 516), “working with
people one already has social connection with can be useful as a strong interaction already exist
between them”. My initial feelings were heightened by a degree of nervousness stemming from
my uncertainty about how our skills would complement each other and whether we could work
together successfully. Just like i felt, disagreements and divergent viewpoints periodically
surfaced during the meetings. These disagreements often led to an outbreak of frustration. The
disagreement became frequent at some point and it made me feel so miserable. However, i had a
feeling that I need to flock with other people of other countries of the world if i am to succeed in
project management practices. This really helped me to identify the areas of development which
i worked on with the aim to develop myself professionally. Later on, i felt comfortable
interacting with all members of the group and we were able to carry out the tasks before the
deadlines. At the end, i felt feeling nervous is normal as opined by Jones et al. (2020, p. 452).
This made me feel less uncomfortable and embarrassed.

3.1.3 Evaluation

At the time, I had no feeling that the problem of poor communication had been resolved in
anyway. I thought every member’s ability to discharge their functions has already been
comprised. I realized that every other member was scared at first in performing their roles. This
is in accordance with Greene’s (2014, p. 189) assertion that nine out of ten members found their
first tasks during collaborative journey “incredibly daunting”. However, it was clear that poor
communication will hinder progress and jeopardise the cohesion needed for efficient group

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dynamics. Given to this, every member played a crucial role in facilitating an open and frequent
communication which allowed us to share ideas, resolve conflicts and make decision together.
Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2009, p. 31) have already substantiated the fact that open
communication helps to resolve conflict in project management. I was also discovered in the
literature that failure to act as a team will lead to low level of group cohesiveness (Rutkowski,
Gruder and Romer, 1983, p. 545). Both my colleagues and i quickly figured out the solution and
the problem of poor communication was dealt with. I was surprised when the each and every
member worked collaboratively after a few weeks of group formation.

3.1.4 Analysis

According to Cooper (2011, p. 88), it is preferable for teamwork members to immediately deal
with situations, especially when such situations are detrimental to group cohesiveness. As opined
by Daynes and Farris (2013, p. 223), the situation can be made worse if not immediately dealt
with. Project team often struggles when information and ideas are not effectively shared among
each other. This was the case with our group during the early weeks of the group formation. My
actions also made the situation worse as I refused to discuss how I was feeling with other
members of the team. I have always struggled with communicating with people i do not have
social connection with, hence leading to more future problems. I was aware of how effective
communication could help a team to attain a common goal in project management. After some
times, I intended to discuss the situation with other team members about my inability to
communicate effectively with them. My colleagues were ready to help me out through constant
discussion or by allowing me to ask questions when I needed to. They also realized how
dependent teamwork members are in carrying project and they put in more efforts to facilitate
effective communication. If I had to discuss the situation with other members of the group,
things would have gotten worse than expected. Therefore, project team should always listen to
each other and be interactive and communicative. This will always help project team to
effectively discuss the problems at hand and find solutions to them.

3.1.5 Conclusion

It is clear from this group work experience that effective communication is essential to the
accomplishment of any project. Looking back on what happened during the group work, i think i

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would do several things differently. Ordinarily, I should have acted sooner and spoken to the
other members of the group about my feelings and fears after the formation of the group. I
should also have been braver and faced the challenges myself so that i maintained effective
communication among group members. I can now see that my inability to communicate
effectively with other members of the group put the group work at risk. After discussion with my
colleagues, I recognise that I need to develop intercultural sensitivity that will assist me to
successfully move from ethno-centrism to ethno-relativism. It is also realised that I need to be
supportive, communicative and interactive during collaborative effort.

3.1.6 Action Plan

In future, I will ensure to be more interactive and communicative within my collaborative effort.
I will ensure that i work on my communication skills as this will help me to communicate very
well with the group members. Communication skills will enable me to relate appropriately with a
wide variety of people irrespective of their culture, language and backgrounds. The experience
has shown the importance of effective communication on group dynamics and project outcomes.
I will participate in communication classes and read books on communication skills to foster my
communication skills. I need to do this with communication experts, as I need to be guided
through the exercise. I will be implementing frequent progress check in to keep an eye on my
personal development and spot any problem early.

4.1 CONCLUSION

From the forgoing reflective essay, it can be perceived that poor communication in group task
can negatively affect project execution and hinder creativity. As explained using the Gibbs
Reflective Circle, I was able to discuss my emotions during the collaborative efforts and depict
an action plan for subsequent collaborative efforts.

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 REFERENCES

Awati, K. 2010. Obstacles to project communication. [online]. Available at:

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/obstacles-to-projectcommunication (Accessed November 12
2023)

Cooper, P.T. (2011). Managing situations at work. London: Rufus Publications.

Daynes, J. & Farris, M.M. (2013). The Manager- Employee Relationship. Oxford: Oxfordian
Books Ltd.

Emmitt, S., 2010. Managing interdisciplinary projects: a primer for architecture, engineering
and construction. London: Spon Press.

Gibbs G (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further
Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.

Greene, F. (2014). Teacher Trainees: The Truth. York: Education Press.

Hughes, R., Ginnett, R. & Curphy, G. 2009. Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience.
6th edn. New York: McGraw Hill.

Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning Reflective Practice. 2nd edition. Andover: Cengage.

Jones, N.D., Azzam, T., Wanzer, D.L., Skousen, D., Knight, C. & Sabarre, N. (2020),
“Enhancing the Effectiveness of Logic Models”, American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 41 No. 3,
pp. 452–470.

Jones, O., Gold, J. & Claxton, J. (2019), “Process improvement capability: a study of the
development of practice(s)”, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 25 No. 7, pp. 1841–
1866.

Rutkowski, G. K., Gruder, C. L., & Romer, D. (1983). Group cohesiveness, social norms, and
bystander intervention, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(3), pp.545-552.

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Wall, J. A., & Callister, R. R., (1995). Conflict and its management. Journal of Management 21,
515-558.

Zeichner, K. & Liston, D. (1996) Reflective Teaching: an introduction. New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.