Reflective Essay - Organisational Behaviour
Reflection on my experience in the Organisational Behaviour team over the semester with particular attention to the way that Communication interacts with Conflict.
Reflection is the process of stepping back from an experience, to ponder carefully, it’s meaning to the self through the development of inferences (Organisational behaviour handbook, 2009). After completing group work for 10 weeks, there were many problems that occurred within my group that had an effect on the report set. This essay will focus on communication and conflict in particular and on how experiences were reflected on effectively and learnt from.
Being a social person I have always enjoyed meeting new people and learning things about them however group working has always been a problem for me as I always go into it with the mentality of ‘I don’t want to do this, I can achieve the same result or better by myself’. Entering my Organisational Behaviour group however was different. From taking the Interpersonal skills module last year I had highlighted my need to improve on group work skills and believe I had successfully managed to do so. I entered my group with a smiling face and a new attitude towards forming a successful team.
As a group we decided to have weekly meetings to discuss problems, what was going well and review our work. During these, I found that our ideas bounced off of each other easily and we were able to work well; however sometimes I felt I wasn’t confident enough to air all of my views. This was not to any fault of the team but down to my own insecurities. I generally get embarrassed to say certain things or ideas out loud. From completing a learning log (see Learning log: 1) I noticed I restrict myself from sharing my ideas. Communication is an interchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing or signs (Dictionary.com, 2009). Withholding some of my ideas was a barrier to my successful communication. As an understanding individual I was aware that conflict
Reflection is the process of stepping back from an experience, to ponder carefully, it’s meaning to the self through the development of inferences (Organisational behaviour handbook, 2009). After completing group work for 10 weeks, there were many problems that occurred within my group that had an effect on the report set. This essay will focus on communication and conflict in particular and on how experiences were reflected on effectively and learnt from.
Being a social person I have always enjoyed meeting new people and learning things about them however group working has always been a problem for me as I always go into it with the mentality of ‘I don’t want to do this, I can achieve the same result or better by myself’. Entering my Organisational Behaviour group however was different. From taking the Interpersonal skills module last year I had highlighted my need to improve on group work skills and believe I had successfully managed to do so. I entered my group with a smiling face and a new attitude towards forming a successful team.
As a group we decided to have weekly meetings to discuss problems, what was going well and review our work. During these, I found that our ideas bounced off of each other easily and we were able to work well; however sometimes I felt I wasn’t confident enough to air all of my views. This was not to any fault of the team but down to my own insecurities. I generally get embarrassed to say certain things or ideas out loud. From completing a learning log (see Learning log: 1) I noticed I restrict myself from sharing my ideas. Communication is an interchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing or signs (Dictionary.com, 2009). Withholding some of my ideas was a barrier to my successful communication. As an understanding individual I was aware that conflict
References: Bacal, R., (1998). Conflict prevention in the workplace, using cooperative communication. Canada: Bacal & Associates Ballafiore, D., (1998) Belbin Associates., (2007) A flash introduction to Belbin team roles. [online] Available from < http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=255> [Accessed January 8th 2010]. Bloisi W., Cook C.W, Hunsaker, P., (2007), Management & Organisational Behaviour. 2nd European Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw- Hill. Communication and conflict., (2008). Communication and conflict. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 3rd 2010]. Communication resource centre., (2008). What are statements of mistrust?. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 12th 2010]. Dictionary.com., (2010). Communication. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 3rd 2010]. Foulger, D., (2004). Models of the communication process. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 4th 2010]. Huczynski, A., Buchanan, D., (2001). Organisational behaviour: an introductory text: 4th Edition. Hemel Hempstead UK: Prentice Hall Europe. Kraybill, R., (2006). 5 styles of conflict. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 12th 2010]. Lintern, F.,(2007). Study guide for OCR Psychology A2 level. London: Hodder Arnold. Martin, G., (1996). Proverbs. [online] Available from: [Accessed January 3rd 2010]. Martin, J., (2005). Organizational Behaviour, 5th Edition. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Mullins, L.J., (2007). Management and Organizational Behaviour, 8th Edition. London: Thomson. Weiner, N. (1948). Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Wiley: Weiner, N Appendices: Belak, T., (1998) Conflict research consortium., (1998). [online] Available from: [Accessed 4th January 2010]. Rees, W.D. & Porter, C., (2001). Skills of Management. London: Thomson. Robert, R., Wilson, D., (1998) Wood, J. T. (2002). Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.