ExperienceofworkingingroupsorteamsIntoday'sworkcultureanddynamicenvironmenteducationalinstitutionsandorganisationsrequirestudentsandemployeestoworktogetheringroupsatcertaintolerantandcoordinativelevels,thusprovingexperienceofworkingingroupsorteams(Blease,2006citedKelly,P.2007).Thegroup3.4wascreatedforthepurposeofpartakingintheBurberrycasestudy.TheassignmentwastocriticallyanalysethecasestudyandsuggestareasofconcernoropportunitiesforimprovementandbrieftheMDandboardthroughthepresentation.Thisreportispreparedbyourgroupasareflectiveworkonourpreviouscompletedassignment.Inthisreportwewillbereflectingontheformationofthegroup,itsdevelopmentanddescribingthetwocriticalincidentsthatcameaboutandhowweasagroupdealtwiththem.Wewillalsobereferringtofindingsaboutthedifferencesinpersonalitiesofthegroupmembersandrolestheyplayedinthefunctioningofourgroup(BelbinTest,Bortner1964).*TuckmanBruce.(1965)Formingstage(CriticalIncident1)Thefirstchallengeagroupfacedatthestageofforming(TuckmanB.C.,1965)wasculturalandpersonaldiversity.Themembersofthegroupwereallocatedusingapair-mixedapproach(Mahenthiran,2000citedKelly,P.2008).Initiallyitmadeintergroupinteractionsmorecomplicated.Manyscholarsarguethatmosthomogeneousgroupsproduceaverageresults.Incontrast,mostdiversegroupsproduceeithersignificantlyworseorsignificantlysuperiorresults.Heterogeneitycanenhancecompetitiveness.(HittM.A.,2007)Inoursmallgroupof5(Vibhuti,Mohit,Umang,MohammedandNatalya)diversitywasevidentnotonlyfromtheculturalpointofview(suchdimensionsasPowerDistanceIndexandUncertaintyAvoidanceIndexinparticular),butourapproachestoteamwork,behaviourandethics.ThedifferenceswerereflectedintheresultsofBelbintest,PersonalityTestandTeamgroupsurveyweundertookandtheanalysisofHofstede'sScoresofCulturalDimensions.(Appendix1,2).Theresultshelpedustorealiseourdifferencesinperceptionofleadership,thewaytoachieveourobjectivesandrolesinthegrouptoachieveoutcomesweexpected.ToachievepositivesynergyandcreateeffectiveworkingenvironmentwesetourstandardsofbehaviourandethicsandincludedtheminGroupContracttoreinforcethem.(Attachment...)However,inspiteoftheanalysisundertaken,thefirstseriousissuethegroupfacedwasthelanguagematter.Threeteammateswereoccasionallyspeakingtheirnativelanguagewhilediscussingandnegotiatingthetasks.AccordingtoHofstedeG.'languageisthemostclearlyrecognizablepartofculture'anditwasnaturalfor3membersofthegrouptospeaktheirnativelanguagetoexpressthemselvesinabetterway.Butitaffectedtheknowledgetransferinthegroup,decreasedmotivationofother2membersandwhatismoreimportantsignificantlydelayedtheformationoftheteamhencegroupdynamicswassloweddown.Aftertheissuewasraised,thedecisionwastakentoappreciatetheuseofacommonlanguageatourmeetings.Thiscreatedapositiveimpactonourgroupdevelopment.Wehadpositivecommunicationclimate(LongM.H.andPorterP.A.,1985).Moreovertheincidentwasreflectedupon,thecontractwasrevisedandnewclauseswereintroduced(GroupContract,p.3).Besides,themembersofthegroupagreedtodevelopsuchculturalcompetencesastolerancetodifferences,patienceaswellasinterpersonalsensitivityandtoimprovecommunicationskills.(KolbD.A.,2001)Performingstage(CriticalIncident2)Eachmemberofthegrouphadapre-assignedtaskforthepresentationdueonNovemberthe6th2008.Accordingtotheagenda,Umang,Mohammed,NatalyaandVibhutiwereaskedtodeliverthepresentation,whileMohitwastheITincharge.Butasluckwouldhaveitunfortunately3dayspriortothedateofpresentationVibhutiwhowassupposedtospeakonculturecaughtfluandlosthervoicetemporarily.Thisresultedinconfusionandpanicattheeleventhhour.However,asthegrouphadcomethroughallstagesandwasatthestageofperformingcharacterizedbyacertaindegreeofflexibility,opennessandhelpfulnessitwasabletosolvetheproblem.Mohitcameforwardandoptedtopresentinstead,thusportrayingteamworkandcourtesy.Thusthegroupdeliveredexcellenceinthe'performingstage'ofTuckmanandJensen'stheory(1977).ItalsoprovedPearceandRavlin'stheory(1987)ofgroupsthatweasagroupco-ordinatedinaflexiblemannerandeachmemberofthegroupcommittedindeliveringthepresentationtothebestoftheirabilitiesinachallengingsituation.ReflectivePracticeReflectionisaprocessofre-organisingknowledgeandemotionalorientationsinordertoachievefurtherinsights(MoonJ.,2006)andanexpectedresultofreflectioncouldbethechangeofbehaviourorevidenceoflearning.Itisfundamentaltotakein-depthanalysistowardslearning.Wealllearnfromexperienceandanalysingpastexperiencecouldprovideuswithdeepinsightofwhatwasdone,whyitwasasuccessorafailureandwhatwecouldhavedonedifferently.Reflectionenablesgroupsandindividualstomoveforwardimprovingtheirworkingpractices.Itreinforcessenseofcompetenceandaccomplishmentwhileatthesametimeithelpstorecognizeareasofweaknesses.Theconceptof'reflectivepractice'impliestheideathatapersonisactiveinreflectingoneventsandusingwhatheorshecanlearnfromthemtoimprovefutureaction.(MoonJ.,2004)Reflectivepracticeisbeingrecognizedasanessentialskillforlearnerswhoarerequiredtoanalyseandevaluatetheirpersonalorprofessionalperformance.AccordingtoGrantM.J.(2007),wecanreflectinactionandonaction.Inourgroupwemostlypracticedreflectiono