Reflection: Team

Step 1:

Create a welcoming, calm, and quiet space for the session to take place. You might want to start with a check-in to support the participants to feel present and focused.

Facilitator notes

There are as many ways to run a reflection session as there are facilitators. Don’t feel bound by the steps above, and feel free to experiment with other ways of running the session. What is key to the session is your intent. Bear in mind some facilitative practices: Support the group to meet its own purpose, not yours. Meet the group members where they are emotional. Don’t force deep soul-searching if they want to keep the session light and playful, or vice versa. Be present with yourself. Listen to your reactions and feelings as they arise, and use them in the session where appropriate.

Step 2:

If it is the first the group does this exercise, introduce the purpose of team reflection and some guidelines for an effective group experience: participants should speak from their individual perspective (“I-statements”) , they should avoid generalizations like “everybody” and “some people”, and they should practice active listening when others are speaking.

You can also introduce the models and theories that underpin team reflection: learning-by-doing and reflective practice. Draw these on a flipchart and conduct a short discussion with the team members to explore any fears or confusion.

Step 3:

Introduce the following reflection questions. Write them on a flipchart or provide a printed handout, so the questions are easily visible:

• What happened during the experience?
• How did I feel and what were my reactions?
• What insights or conclusions can I draw from the experience?
• What actions can I take based on what I learned?

Step 4:

Ask the team members to reflect on the questions, individually and in silence, writing in their notebooks for about 10 minutes. Put some gentle music on if appropriate.

Step 5:

After the set time, ask participants to organize in small groups (3-5) and share their reflections with each other. Give 15-20 minutes for this step and remind participants to ensure that each person gets the chance to share.

Step 6:

Bring the full group back to the circle. Invite team members to share their reflections one-by-one, either going around the circle or randomly. Encourage them to go deeper into thoughts and feelings, not just read out what they have in their notebooks.

Facilitator notes

The facilitator’s role here is to support the sense of trust and openness. Encourage participants to share from the individual “I” voice, to practice active listening, and not to engage in discussion or debate.

Step 7:

When the time is up or it feels like the right time to end, close the session. Thank the team members for their engagement and participation. Optionally, conduct a short check-out. Make sure they have a short break before the next activity.

Tips for running this activity online

• Pick an online whiteboard tool that allows you to use a large, zoomable canvas.

• Use a video conferencing tool where you can assign the participants into breakout rooms (eg. Zoom).

• Start with a brief check-in and explain the reflection process.

• For the first task, place the reflection questions in your online whiteboard or shared online document and ask participants to reflect in silence for ten minutes. They can add thoughts to the online board or take notes for themselves.

• After this step is completed, turn on breakout rooms and organize participants into small teams where they can share reflections with one another.

• After breakout tasks are completed, have participants return to the main room where you can invite the full group to share reflections before you debrief the exercise.

• When facilitating group discussion, we recommend participants use non-verbal means to indicate they’d like to speak. You can use tools like Zoom’s nonverbal feedback options, a reaction emoji, or just have people put their hands up.The facilitator can then invite that person to speak.