Dragon’s Dens Group :Social Enterprise Reflection Presentation

Introduction:

In this assignment I will be reflecting back on my Dragon’s Dens group presentation, I will be reviewing how I worked together as a team and how I felt the experience went as a whole. Alongside relating theory to practice throughout my reflection.

Reflection:

Inclusion: Did u do all you could to involve every member of the group, did everyone feel a sense of control over what was going on and what did I do to make that happen?

The assignment task was to create a social enterprise business working in small groups to design a pitch that I would then present to the dragon panel alongside my other team members. Initially, at the beginning when the task had been introduced, ideas were immediately flowing from every angle. Everyone had a different suggestion to bring to the table, I began to feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. I noticed that one of the members in my group seemed to be very enclosed, and was more prone to agreeing to everyone’s ideas and less open to sharing their thoughts on the task at hand. In order for me to get a real sense of teamwork I began to initiate direct contact with that member asking them what their thoughts were on my own suggestion. The member then immediately began sharing their thoughts on whether the ideas were strong for the social enterprise. It took for me to observe and display inclusion through one-to-one interactions which then provided the space for all members to feel heard and valued. Having the ability to listen to others I find to be key and as “theorist quote here???” said ……

I felt throughout parts of the planning stages extremely overwhelmed at times as two members were battling to take the lead on the overall structures of our business proposal. There were times throughout these interactions when I felt my ideas were not being heard and that there were agreements made already prior to the lectures that were a key time to sustain our planning meetings. So when we would start our group discussion the ideas of the social enterprise had already been agreed which I felt slightly confused about. I then had to take a step back throughout all that group discussion as I could not comprehend what I had missed out and after taking the time to listen to the group I then felt it was key for me to express to the team that this task was aimed at supporting our group work, and explained that I needed some further understanding on what was discussed and agreed in my absence.

I felt through being open and direct with my dialogue provided the team with an opportunity to convince me why their idea would be sustainable, which also provided my team with practice before meeting the dragons.

Control: Leadership role what influence did you have would you of wanted more?

Throughout my group work exercise, I could say that at moments throughout our interactions, I felt my ideas were being disregarded, not necessarily intentionally however I feel that the desire to lead initially become the focus for two members of the group in particular. Which then at times made it difficult for me to pitch my input to the task at hand. In the beginning, I notice a pattern in my behaviour where I was becoming more complacent in sitting back but the emotions that followed left me feeling frustrated and disengaged within my group. Taking a step back, and observing where I would sit within the characters in my group only then allowed me the space to be able to interact more effectively. Once I began asserting my ideas alongside showing affection through providing humour I noticed the dynamics changed and providing balance ensured that I too had space to be heard.

After taking those steps I noticed the group was able to adapt to my style of group work, and everything slowly started to sync in as one.

There were however some moments where it felt like two members of the group were battling to take the lead. This came across as a challenge for me initially as I would describe myself to be a born leader, with key qualities that I felt would complement the group. However, at times I felt my patience running low as the two other members I felt were investing too much time in battling each other for the leadership role. Instead of investing time in drawing more ideas to the planning board.

Once I intervened and created some open suggestions the work began to flow and fall into place naturally as I was able to lead in a more inclusive manner which paid less intention to just hearing the sound of my own voice but providing open-ended questions which then lead space for open discussions which I and the team would later then build on.

Affection:

Decisions made were the right for my team did everyone feel a sense of control and what did I do to make that happen?

Affection is what West would call where social reflectivity, and the importance of good interaction as well as thinking about Shorts theory that everybody needs to feel trusted and supported. I found that through talking and joking these tools provided me with the platform to ensure that I was engaging with others in my group discussions effectively.

Reflecting back and thinking about how I made others feel included was a key part of my learning experience of this task. It was extremely interesting as I came across other strong members who too had leadership personas but in different ways. Having to balance my own character and style of learning to adapt and work within a group was definitely a challenge. One in which I felt I managed very well and I feel having the ability to engage in social circles confidently was a big help as my own personality traits were what I felt supported me through this process.  Also listening and building on each other’s ideas through talking, joking, and laughing allowed everyone to feel both heard and valued, which enforced more positive discussions and supported us in forming our presentation.

How did you show your appreciation? How did you make that interaction work?

One member of the team was amazing at creating our PowerPoint slides, and was super keen on getting the process started her initiative and energy towards the task at hand were very positive, and vibrant. I was always acknowledging the work that she had put in for the group. Through praise and displaying a sense of interest by highlighting the work that she had presented, and questioning how she was able to formulate all our notes into PowerPoint slides so effectively and fast.

I also found it key to not allow myself to become too comfortable with agreeing with that particular member of the group to take on the majority of the workload, even if she was adamant it was fine. I found myself continuously vocalizing that it was a group effort and suggested that we should draw up a task list with our names alongside a key element of work that needed to be completed in the group. I also suggested we provided each member with a deadline for when the work would have to be presented in the group lectures.

However, there were times when on lecture days a particular member of the group would continuously inform the group that they never had time to draft up any ideas or had nothing to add to the group discussion because they had gone out the night before and were too tired. This is when the real challenges occurred because as the deadline began to draw closer the pressure began to rise.

It was my first experience dealing with conflict and lack of commitment from the particular member

They then began to feel a strong sense of frustration from the other members of the group their way of expressing their feelings was through disengaging and not inputting into the discussion which led to the other member of the group feeling a quad and uncomfortable. At that moment I already had observed the pattern of behavior and was able to mediate openly by highlighting the importance of everyone pulling their weight throughout this task I was also clear that we are all adults, and should be able to discuss any of our concerns and feelings in an open calm manner. As Patrick Lencioni highlighted the five dysfunctions that in every healthy group, there will be moments where dysfunction will be encountered.  only now am I able to notice the pattern behind the lack of commitment members were giving and also the amount of pressure they were putting on their shoulders which led to those emotions of feeling frustrated Due to not being able to have the courage to hold others accountable for their actions, it was evident to see now that

Pretty instantly the members were quick to vent and express their thoughts on where she was at with her concerns about the workload of the task. Soon after the discussion everyone was open and the dynamics of the group seemed to have leveled out naturally. Again I was able to understand through taking part in this exercise that everyone has their own ways of both venting and expressing themselves and that not everyone will get along, however, we all have something valuable to bring to the table.

Conclusion:

Overall I felt that this experience as a whole was very beneficial as it allowed me to gain a great insight into what working within a group entails. The experience also gave me the opportunity to grow in myself reminding me of all the key qualities I have learned through my own personal walk of life. It also highlighted qualities, and characteristics I thought I was very secure in but now know that through taking part in more group experiences I will be able to continue to flourish and strengthen throughout my journey here at university and moving forward into my career. Understanding how to lead and still being able to balance all the other qualities needed is something that I feel I will always be able to do naturally with a style that I feel is very entwine with my personality traits. Which was something I was able to take away from this experience.