Structured Reflection

Joanne Fitzgerald  Organisational Psychologist

In today’s busy world people and organisations expect action, rather than reaction. Delaying decisions can be costly and everyone wants answers to problems, not questions. As such, people rarely take the time to step back and evaluate what is happening in their workplaces and in their role experiences.

Reflection allows people to periodically take a step back to actively witness and explore one’s own experience in greater depth. Reflection inquires about what individuals have experienced and provides a basis for understanding these experiences.  These conversations do not necessarily promote the exchange of viewpoints; rather they bring to the surface political, social and emotional experiences that arise from workplace experiences and interpersonal interactions.

Unfortunately, often when people encounter difficulties in their work they tend to consult their ‘solution database’ and choose a standard answer or assumption that has been used in the past to solve problems. In reflection, an individual is able to actively inquire about their solution database and the assumptions on which it is based, and alter them accordingly.

Stories and dialogue are effective methods of reflective inquiry as they are both cognitively complex and allow cultural references in conveying how we feel about, think about and make connections between experiences. By examining how an individual constructs their narrative view about an event, it is possible to analyse how they feel about the event and the meaning they have taken from it.  Similarly, by engaging in a collective dialogue, an individual can increase their own understanding of the event and be able to identify where it fits within the larger context of their work.

Why Reflect?

Structured reflection can add much to the considered practice of many professionals. Specifically some of the objectives include:

• To generate a greater awareness about our behaviours and their consequences. This promotes openness to new ideas and possibilities.
• To identify the gaps between what we say and how we behave in the workplace and in our various roles
• To identify biases in how we obtain and process information. This allows for greater awareness of how individuals tend to ignore some information and make assumptions about data rather than investigating it.
• Understanding that while intuition and past practices can give us helpful clues for deciphering current issues or future situations, often the new situation presents itself in a different context and solutions that previously worked may not longer be appropriate.
• To deepen our understanding of ourselves as we take up challenging and complex roles within a complex society.

There are five essential skills for reflective practice. These include:

1. Being: This involves the creation of a climate for reflection where the group can consider their experiences. In this stage of reflection individuals are encourage to present a narrative of the event and not attribute meaning and judgment to the event.
2. Speaking: Calls for speaking as a collective group and attributing collective meaning in the group. ‘Speaking’ aims to characterise the state of the group at any given time
3. Disclosing: Members reflect, find and speak with their own voice to disclose any doubts, assumptions, irritants or passions.
4. Testing: Encouraging inquiry from all group members in attempting to uncover new possibilities and modes of action. This stage attempts to generate new ways of thinking and behaving. It requires the group to think about its own process, norms, roles, and past actions.
5. Probing: Direct and non-judgmental inquiry with a member of the group so that facts, reasons, inferences, assumptions and possible consequences can be understood.

The Principles of Structured Reflection

While developing the skills to engage in reflection requires time and attention, these skills can be learned and developed by utilising the following principles:

• Commit to the process: Ensure that you bring full and open-minded presence to the group and commit to the process of reflection, not out of obligation, but rather out of a genuine desire to connect with one’s self and others.
• Trust emergence and have no goals: There is no goal but to rest in the moment and reflect on the past. From this may ensue an emotional release, stress release or an intellectual break through.
• Free up roles: In the group there is no hierarchy. There are no leaders, no followers and every person is equal, although a facilitator often holds the space with all members.
• Seek out assumptions: In order for reflection to be fruitful, you must actively seek out your assumptions both of the reflective process and assumptions in thinking generally.
• Observe judgments:  Allow judgments to come to your mind in order to gain some perspective into your reactive nature, but do not overtly judge others.
• Share parallel thinking: Parallel thoughts are thoughts that come to mind as other issues are expressed. These can be expressed in the group and the link between the two experiences can be reflection upon.

Amulya, Joy. (2006). What is reflective practice? Centre For Reflective Community Practice
Raelin, J. A. (2002). “I don’t have time to think! Versus the art of reflective practice”. Reflections, 4, 66-79.

"I believe that the application of psychology within organisations enriches the lives of those employed by and involved with the organisation."