Explaining Gibb's Reflective Cycle

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle Using a Class Group Assignment that Almost Went Wrong

Now and then, something happens that changes our perspective on a particular issue. It could be a seemingly innocuous experience that jolts you to your senses, such as a chance meeting with someone that changes your perspective on an issue; forever. It might also be a classroom experience that leads to an extremely poor grade in a subject.

This is precisely what happened to me and my colleagues during a group class assignment on diversity. You see, I have always considered myself an effective team leader who cares deeply about people, and nowhere is the duty of care more critical than in the nursing profession, which is what I was studying. Before I go into details about what happened, let me start by saying that I will use Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle to reflect on this incident.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle (GRC)

The GRC model was developed in 1988 by Graham Gibbs. He wanted to provide a structure for learning from various experiences. The model provides a framework by which one can examine experiences. One critical aspect of Gibb’s Reflective Cycle is that it is cyclic, making it ideal for experiences that repeat themselves, allowing one to learn from events or situations that either went exceptionally well or extremely awry.

The GRC model covers six stages that allow one to reflect on an experience and consequently establish better ways of handling the same or related experiences should they recur. The six stages include describing, evaluating, analyzing and making conclusions about an experience, how it made you feel, and coming up with an action plan for dealing with similar or related future experiences.

Reflection is a critical resource one can access in the event of a similar or related experience. It empowers students who make a habit of using it. Engaging in focused thinking (or reflection) has many benefits, including supporting understanding and self-awareness (White, 2004; Wieringa, 2011). According to Robins and others (2003), if one practices reflection for an extended period, they become experts in making professional decisions and informed analyses and judgements. This can be highly empowering.

Now, back to my experience in a nursing class during a lecture on diversity. Below is a step-by-step expose of what happened through the lenses of the GRC model.

Description

We were asked to select three students for a class group assignment to be handed in at the end of the lecture. The assignment was about how to handle terminally-ill patients. Since we were pressed for time, I had to make a quick decision. I picked three of the best students in the class to join my group. I then divided the assignment into four parts before assigning each student their part. We had just one hour to complete and hand over the assignment.

Halfway through the exercise, one of our team members informed me that he had not started his part of the assignment, the reason being I had assigned him a topic he was uncomfortable with, and neither was he qualified for it. Realizing my folly, I quickly gathered my team for a quick briefing.

As I briefed them, it turned out another team member was going through a similar predicament. We decided to start all over and this time everyone worked on what they were passionate and comfortable with. For instance, one of the members was a Muslim who was uncomfortable with praying for sick people in Jesus’ Name. I assigned him a different task that he took up with gusto.

Although we managed to finish our assignment on time, we didn't have enough time to edit it for flow and consistency. I realized I did not incorporate everyone’s sensibilities and strengths before assigning tasks.

Feelings

I was extremely disappointed with myself for not planning the assignment better. In the nursing profession, a mistake like this could be extremely destructive. While I was right in breaking the assignment into four parts and assigning a section to each member of my team, I did not consider how diverse my team was. I just assigned tasks as I thought appropriate. It turned out I ended up making two of my team members extremely uncomfortable.

Since I’m the kind of person who prides himself on being sensitive to other people’s beliefs (which is why I took up nursing in the first place), this oversight made me feel and look bad. Besides, recalling the team for a briefing I should have conducted at the onset was extremely embarrassing; but I had to do it. At the end of the day, we did the work in half the time and none of us felt the final product represented the overall group’s strengths.

Further, the fact that I did not get to edit the assignment made me feel like I had let the group down. Nonetheless, I’m grateful that even though we did not submit our best work, I was able to steer the ship away from total disaster. I felt like I had just saved a patient’s life despite the initial false start.

Evaluation

To forestall a total disaster, several things worked in our favour. First, I had the presence of mind to select team members with a history of stellar performance in class. Second, while I admit I should have led the team better, assigning each person a task instead of all of us working on the same document meant we could work faster. This became critical when we had to restart the assignment. We were running out of time; fast! It was nothing short of a miracle that each member of my team managed to finish their part of the assignment on time.

While we felt we did not submit a masterpiece as we had set out to, we were certain that we would be awarded a fairly decent score. Instead of allowing the quickly-diminishing time to incapacitate us, we focused on the core of the assignment, which allowed us to work faster. In any case, at the end of the assignment, we had learnt the importance of considering the diversity and strengths of team members before assigning tasks. This is a critical skill for a nurse, and I’m glad we passed the test.

Of course, several things worked against us. The fact that we did not have enough time to edit the assignment meant we missed out on a chance to be exceptional. Besides, it would have been great if we did not rush through the assignment as we did. In a way, I failed the team for not briefing them properly at the beginning of the assignment and for not assigning tasks appropriately.

Analysis

A key reason we did not submit an excellent assignment as we had hoped was that I did not coordinate the group properly, especially at the beginning. Nothing can excuse the fact that I failed to brief them about the tasks and allow them to pick sections of the assignment that they were most competent in, and comfortable with. Planning is critical for medical practitioners, especially nurses who have to monitor patients around the clock.

I made up for my initial failure by quickly rounding up the team for a quick brief. I managed to steer everyone away from total failure. As it turned out later, we still managed a very decent score when the results came out. Of course, a few typos here and there made what would have been an award-winning performance one of the top performers.

Looking back, I think I was too confident that I had the best team in the class, which led me to assume that everyone was comfortable with their tasks. Besides, I should have been more sensitive about two of the members of my team. I should also have played to individual strengths when assigning tasks instead of doing it as I felt fit. I should of all people have had the presence of mind to realize that people work better when they operate in their area of strength.

While splitting the assignment was ingenious (I believe), we still ended up rushing through it and submitting work we were not 100% proud of. I should have thought through the assignment more thoroughly. Had I planned the assignment clearly and thoroughly, allowing time for a brief and debrief, we would have submitted a classic assignment.

According to Belbin (2010), every member of a team has specific strengths and weaknesses. Not borrowing from Belbin during the first half of this exercise nearly flunked us, and I would have been solely to blame for the potential disaster. Effective teamwork requires not only delegation but delegating the right tasks to the right team members. I’m glad we came around and delivered in the last half hour of the assignment once Belbin’s lesson was learnt.

Conclusion

As I look forward to joining the healthcare profession as a nurse, I will always remember the lesson I learnt from this exercise. I learnt the importance of briefing team members before assigning tasks. It also taught me that assumptions are dangerous, even when working with highly qualified people. Another lesson I learnt is that teams are not always coherent groups with similar characteristics. They can be as diverse as every member of the team, and a great team leader should consider these diversity dynamics before assigning roles to individuals. Some of these dynamics have nothing to do with a person’s ability to perform a task.

Race, religion, and sexual orientation differences must not be assumed when assigning tasks. The last thing I would have wanted was to hurt my Muslim brother by assigning him an “inappropriate” task. Another critical thing I learnt was that planning is critical in every assignment. Everything, from the time it takes to brief the team to the performance of the actual task, must be factored in. Most people fail not because they planned to; but because they failed to plan.

Action Plan

I have learnt my lesson. The next time I’m working with a team, I will do several things. First, I will brief them about the assignment and let them choose which part of the whole they are comfortable with. Second, I will seek to find out what their strengths are before assigning tasks. Next, should I have to split the work as I did, I will stipulate the expectations of the assignment from the get-go. I will also manage time better than I did. A few minutes into the assignment, I would check with each member to see if they are doing okay, or whether they need help. Most importantly, before releasing the team to embark on their tasks, I will ask if everyone understands their role and if all are comfortable with the tasks assigned to them.

I will carry lessons learnt from this experience into the nursing profession. Taking care of terminally-ill patients is not a walk in the park. It’s not the kind of profession where mistakes are tolerated. I’m glad I learnt my lesson within a safe space where no one’s life was in danger. However, I understand that delegation is a critical ingredient in the nursing profession. Assigning the right tasks to the right people is essential, so is planning and executing tasks on schedule. Anything else is a dereliction of duty; not delegation. As I look forward to becoming a nurse, these are lessons I will bring with me.?

References

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

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Robins, A., Ashbaker, B., Enriquez, J. and Morgan, J. (2003) Learning to reflect: professional practice for professionals and paraprofessionals.?International Journal of Learning, 10: 2555–65.

Ross, Judith A. (2008) Make Your Good Team Great.?Harvard Management Update, December 4.

White, D. (2004) Reflective practice: wishful thinking or a practical leadership tool?? Administrator, 26 (3): 41–4.

Wieringa, N. (2011) Teachers’ educational design as a process of reflection-in-action: the lessons we can learn from Donald Schon’s The Reflective Practitioner when studying the professional practice of teachers as educational designers.?Curriculum Inquiry, 41 (1): 167–74.

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