what have you learned from working in a team essay

Duke MMS Student Blog

What i learned from my team members.

Published November 15, 2019

what have you learned from working in a team essay

Maybe you have heard about one Chinese philosopher’s saying – ‘三人行，必有我师’ which means that when three people are on a journey, there must be one teacher. With this in mind, there is always something to learn from your team members. Here, where the “ Team Fuqua ” spirit of collaboration is emphasized, this perspective will help you not only work well as part of a team but also learn more things more efficiently. That is why I always keep this perspective in my mind with any type of teamwork as it helps me to learn my teammates’ strengths and encourages better team dynamics and mutual respect.

I worked with mainly three teams at Fuqua—two for class team assignments , and one for the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum . So here I will tell you just a few stories about what I learned from my team members.

To start with, one of my teammates was a very passionate person. With this great passion, that friend learned and grew dramatically throughout the program, also overcoming his concerns about networking. From that teammate, I learned the importance of passion.

Next, another team member was a very effective communicator, and thanks to her the team worked very collaboratively and built a good team dynamic. I learned how to communicate very effectively and positively from her.

Last but not least, another team member was very busy with his athletic schedule but always managed all tasks very well. He scheduled and worked with great preparedness which was one of his strengths. From that teammate, I learned time-management skills with good preparedness.

All teams are also very diverse in terms of the students’ nationality and overall background. Therefore, I learned how to interact and work with teammates who have different sets of strengths which taught me various lessons. Teamwork was also tough at times. Still, with the difficulties of teamwork, I learned how to deal with conflicts and challenges and how to manage time effectively with all the different schedules of team members.

These short anecdotes are just a small part of my experience with Team Fuqua. With all the learning experiences and different types of lessons I have had, I am now confident and adept when working on a team. And that is one of the most important skills to possess for work and life.

Igniting a Passion for Innovation with Duke I&E

Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship allowed me to immerse myself in a world that transcends conventional learning.

Celebrating Our Entrepreneurial Spirit with the Fuqua Startup Marketplace

The Fuqua Startup Marketplace event served as a pivotal moment, showcasing the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit within the Fuqua and Duke communities.

How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Here are the exact steps you need to follow for a reflection on group work essay.

Explain what Reflection Is
Explore the benefits of group work
Explore the challenges group
Give examples of the benefits and challenges your group faced
Discuss how your group handled your challenges
Discuss what you will do differently next time

Do you have to reflect on how your group work project went?

This is a super common essay that teachers assign. So, let’s have a look at how you can go about writing a superb reflection on your group work project that should get great grades.

The essay structure I outline below takes the funnel approach to essay writing: it starts broad and general, then zooms in on your specific group’s situation.

Disclaimer: Make sure you check with your teacher to see if this is a good style to use for your essay. Take a draft to your teacher to get their feedback on whether it’s what they’re looking for!

This is a 6-step essay (the 7 th step is editing!). Here’s a general rule for how much depth to go into depending on your word count:

1500 word essay – one paragraph for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion ;
3000 word essay – two paragraphs for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion;
300 – 500 word essay – one or two sentences for each step.

Adjust this essay plan depending on your teacher’s requirements and remember to always ask your teacher, a classmate or a professional tutor to review the piece before submitting.

Here’s the steps I’ll outline for you in this advice article:

diagram showing the 6 step funnel approach to essays

Step 1. Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is

You might have heard that you need to define your terms in essays. Well, the most important term in this essay is ‘reflection’.

So, let’s have a look at what reflection is…

Reflection is the process of:

Pausing and looking back at what has just happened; then
Thinking about how you can get better next time.

Reflection is encouraged in most professions because it’s believed that reflection helps you to become better at your job – we could say ‘reflection makes you a better practitioner’.

Think about it: let’s say you did a speech in front of a crowd. Then, you looked at video footage of that speech and realised you said ‘um’ and ‘ah’ too many times. Next time, you’re going to focus on not saying ‘um’ so that you’ll do a better job next time, right?

Well, that’s reflection: thinking about what happened and how you can do better next time.

It’s really important that you do both of the above two points in your essay. You can’t just say what happened. You need to say how you will do better next time in order to get a top grade on this group work reflection essay.

Scholarly Sources to Cite for Step 1

Okay, so you have a good general idea of what reflection is. Now, what scholarly sources should you use when explaining reflection? Below, I’m going to give you two basic sources that would usually be enough for an undergraduate essay. I’ll also suggest two more sources for further reading if you really want to shine!

I recommend these two sources to cite when explaining what reflective practice is and how it occurs. They are two of the central sources on reflective practice:

Describe what happened during the group work process
Explain how you felt during the group work process
Look at the good and bad aspects of the group work process
What were some of the things that got in the way of success? What were some things that helped you succeed?
What could you have done differently to improve the situation?
Action plan. What are you going to do next time to make the group work process better?
What? Explain what happened
So What? Explain what you learned
Now What? What can I do next time to make the group work process better?

Possible Sources:

Bassot, B. (2015). The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection . Routledge.

Brock, A. (2014). What is reflection and reflective practice?. In The Early Years Reflective Practice Handbook (pp. 25-39). Routledge.

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

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Extension Sources for Top Students

Now, if you want to go deeper and really show off your knowledge, have a look at these two scholars:

John Dewey – the first major scholar to come up with the idea of reflective practice
Donald Schön – technical rationality, reflection in action vs. reflection on action

Get a Pdf of this article for class

Enjoy subscriber-only access to this article’s pdf

Step 2. Explore the general benefits of group work for learning

Once you have given an explanation of what group work is (and hopefully cited Gibbs, Rolfe, Dewey or Schon), I recommend digging into the benefits of group work for your own learning.

The teacher gave you a group work task for a reason: what is that reason?

You’ll need to explain the reasons group work is beneficial for you. This will show your teacher that you understand what group work is supposed to achieve. Here’s some ideas:

Multiple Perspectives. Group work helps you to see things from other people’s perspectives. If you did the task on your own, you might not have thought of some of the ideas that your team members contributed to the project.
Contribution of Unique Skills. Each team member might have a different set of skills they can bring to the table. You can explain how groups can make the most of different team members’ strengths to make the final contribution as good as it can be. For example, one team member might be good at IT and might be able to put together a strong final presentation, while another member might be a pro at researching using google scholar so they got the task of doing the initial scholarly research.
Improved Communication Skills. Group work projects help you to work on your communication skills. Communication skills required in group work projects include speaking in turn, speaking up when you have ideas, actively listening to other team members’ contributions, and crucially making compromises for the good of the team.
Learn to Manage Workplace Conflict. Lastly, your teachers often assign you group work tasks so you can learn to manage conflict and disagreement. You’ll come across this a whole lot in the workplace, so your teachers want you to have some experience being professional while handling disagreements.

You might be able to add more ideas to this list, or you might just want to select one or two from that list to write about depending on the length requirements for the essay.

Scholarly Sources for Step 3

Make sure you provide citations for these points above. You might want to use google scholar or google books and type in ‘Benefits of group work’ to find some quality scholarly sources to cite.

Step 3. Explore the general challenges group work can cause

Step 3 is the mirror image of Step 2. For this step, explore the challenges posed by group work.

Students are usually pretty good at this step because you can usually think of some aspects of group work that made you anxious or frustrated. Here are a few common challenges that group work causes:

Time Consuming. You need to organize meetups and often can’t move onto the next component of the project until everyone has agree to move on. When working on your own you can just crack on and get it done. So, team work often takes a lot of time and requires significant pre-planning so you don’t miss your submission deadlines!
Learning Style Conflicts. Different people learn in different ways. Some of us like to get everything done at the last minute or are not very meticulous in our writing. Others of us are very organized and detailed and get anxious when things don’t go exactly how we expect. This leads to conflict and frustration in a group work setting.
Free Loaders. Usually in a group work project there’s people who do more work than others. The issue of free loaders is always going to be a challenge in group work, and you can discuss in this section how ensuring individual accountability to the group is a common group work issue.
Communication Breakdown. This is one especially for online students. It’s often the case that you email team members your ideas or to ask them to reply by a deadline and you don’t hear back from them. Regular communication is an important part of group work, yet sometimes your team members will let you down on this part.

As with Step 3, consider adding more points to this list if you need to, or selecting one or two if your essay is only a short one.

8 Pros And Cons Of Group Work At University

Pros of Group Work	Cons of Group Work
Members of your team will have different perspectives to bring to the table. Embrace team brainstorming to bring in more ideas than you would on your own.	You can get on with an individual task at your own pace, but groups need to arrange meet-ups and set deadlines to function effectively. This is time-consuming and requires pre-planning.
Each of your team members will have different skills. Embrace your IT-obsessed team member’s computer skills; embrace the organizer’s skills for keeping the group on track, and embrace the strongest writer’s editing skills to get the best out of your group.	Some of your team members will want to get everything done at once; others will procrastinate frequently. You might also have conflicts in strategic directions depending on your different approaches to learning.
Use group work to learn how to communicate more effectively. Focus on active listening and asking questions that will prompt your team members to expand on their ideas.	Many groups struggle with people who don’t carry their own weight. You need to ensure you delegate tasks to the lazy group members and be stern with them about sticking to the deadlines they agreed upon.
In the workforce you’re not going to get along with your colleagues. Use group work at university to learn how to deal with difficult team members calmly and professionally.	It can be hard to get group members all on the same page. Members don’t rely to questions, get anxiety and shut down, or get busy with their own lives. It’s important every team member is ready and available for ongoing communication with the group.

You’ll probably find you can cite the same scholarly sources for both steps 2 and 3 because if a source discusses the benefits of group work it’ll probably also discuss the challenges.

Step 4. Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced

Step 4 is where you zoom in on your group’s specific challenges. Have a think: what were the issues you really struggled with as a group?

Was one team member absent for a few of the group meetings?
Did the group have to change some deadlines due to lack of time?
Were there any specific disagreements you had to work through?
Did a group member drop out of the group part way through?
Were there any communication break downs?

Feel free to also mention some things your group did really well. Have a think about these examples:

Was one member of the group really good at organizing you all?
Did you make some good professional relationships?
Did a group member help you to see something from an entirely new perspective?
Did working in a group help you to feel like you weren’t lost and alone in the process of completing the group work component of your course?

Here, because you’re talking about your own perspectives, it’s usually okay to use first person language (but check with your teacher). You are also talking about your own point of view so citations might not be quite as necessary, but it’s still a good idea to add in one or two citations – perhaps to the sources you cited in Steps 2 and 3?

Step 5. Discuss how your group managed your challenges

Step 5 is where you can explore how you worked to overcome some of the challenges you mentioned in Step 4.

So, have a think:

Did your group make any changes part way through the project to address some challenges you faced?
Did you set roles or delegate tasks to help ensure the group work process went smoothly?
Did you contact your teacher at any point for advice on how to progress in the group work scenario?
Did you use technology such as Google Docs or Facebook Messenger to help you to collaborate more effectively as a team?

In this step, you should be showing how your team was proactive in reflecting on your group work progress and making changes throughout the process to ensure it ran as smoothly as possible. This act of making little changes throughout the group work process is what’s called ‘Reflection in Action’ (Schön, 2017).

Scholarly Source for Step 5

Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action . Routledge.

Step 6. Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

Step 6 is the most important step, and the one far too many students skip. For Step 6, you need to show how you not only reflected on what happened but also are able to use that reflection for personal growth into the future.

This is the heart and soul of your piece: here, you’re tying everything together and showing why reflection is so important!

This is the ‘action plan’ step in Gibbs’ cycle (you might want to cite Gibbs in this section!).

For Step 6, make some suggestions about how (based on your reflection) you now have some takeaway tips that you’ll bring forward to improve your group work skills next time. Here’s some ideas:

Will you work harder next time to set deadlines in advance?
Will you ensure you set clearer group roles next time to ensure the process runs more smoothly?
Will you use a different type of technology (such as Google Docs) to ensure group communication goes more smoothly?
Will you make sure you ask for help from your teacher earlier on in the process when you face challenges?
Will you try harder to see things from everyone’s perspectives so there’s less conflict?

This step will be personalized based upon your own group work challenges and how you felt about the group work process. Even if you think your group worked really well together, I recommend you still come up with one or two ideas for continual improvement. Your teacher will want to see that you used reflection to strive for continual self-improvement.

Scholarly Source for Step 6

Step 7. edit.

Okay, you’ve got the nuts and bolts of the assessment put together now! Next, all you’ve got to do is write up the introduction and conclusion then edit the piece to make sure you keep growing your grades.

Here’s a few important suggestions for this last point:

You should always write your introduction and conclusion last. They will be easier to write now that you’ve completed the main ‘body’ of the essay;
Use my 5-step I.N.T.R.O method to write your introduction;
Use my 5 C’s Conclusion method to write your conclusion;
Use my 5 tips for editing an essay to edit it;
Use the ProWritingAid app to get advice on how to improve your grammar and spelling. Make sure to also use the report on sentence length. It finds sentences that are too long and gives you advice on how to shorten them – such a good strategy for improving evaluative essay quality!
Make sure you contact your teacher and ask for a one-to-one tutorial to go through the piece before submitting. This article only gives general advice, and you might need to make changes based upon the specific essay requirements that your teacher has provided.

That’s it! 7 steps to writing a quality group work reflection essay. I hope you found it useful. If you liked this post and want more clear and specific advice on writing great essays, I recommend signing up to my personal tutor mailing list.

Let’s sum up with those 7 steps one last time:

Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is
Explore the benefits of group work for learning
Explore the challenges of group work for learning
Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced
Discuss how your group managed your challenges
Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 19 Top Cognitive Psychology Theories (Explained)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 119 Bloom’s Taxonomy Examples
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ All 6 Levels of Understanding (on Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Self-Actualization Examples (Maslow's Hierarchy)

2 thoughts on “How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay”

Great instructions on writing a reflection essay. I would not change anything.

Thanks so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. – Chris.

My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample

📄 Words:	1361
📝 Subject:
📑 Pages:	5
✍️ Type:	Essay

Teamwork Efficiency

What i learned from the team, what team members learned from me, team success factors.

The Most Challenging Aspects

Communication Technologies’ Effects

Advice to Next Semester’s Students

I believe that my team was effective in working together on the project. First of all, the planning of the project was very efficient. In the initial meeting, we devised a clear plan and created a schedule for every team member to follow, which allowed everyone to stay on schedule and submit parts of work on time. We also decided that it would be better to break down every person’s work into smaller parts to avoid doing the project at the last minute.

This ensured that we had enough time to check the work and make any corrections if required. Secondly, we determined communication channels, using online collaboration tools, such as Google docs and instant messaging chats. This helped us to support each other and to enhance the decision-making process. Throughout the project, I could consult my teammates if I had any questions or concerns about my part, which was useful. Finally, I believe that the assignment allowed each team member to show his or her skills and abilities, while at the same time enhancing our knowledge of workplace communication tools that are used by different companies.

Working in a team was an exciting opportunity for me to learn new skills and improve my ability to work in a group. One of the key differences between working alone and working in a team for me was the need for collective decision-making. Working in a group requires all members to contribute to decision-making. While working on this project, I also discovered the value of effective leadership in teamwork. Our group leader was Josie, and she worked really hard to ensure that everyone submitted their part of work on time, while at the same time remaining very kind and supportive to all team members.

She organized each meeting to ensure that we stay on schedule and communicate with each team member to check on the project. Having such an effective team leader was motivating and inspiring, which is why I enjoyed working in a group more than working on my own. In addition, working as part of a group, I learned about conflict resolution and cooperation. There were some problems and challenges that we had to solve collectively in order to finish the project successfully, and I believe that the experience of solving conflicts within a team was very useful.

Throughout working on the project, I tried to participate in all aspects of teamwork, such as meetings, online discussions, and more. Apart from working on my part of the project, I also shared my thoughts about the project with others and helped my teammates where possible. However, I did not try to influence their decisions or take on a leadership role, as this was Josie’s responsibility. I think the key skill that other team members could have learned from me was effective participation and support.

In addition, I believe that I acted efficiently during any conflicts. On one hand, I tried to contribute to finding the most beneficial solution; on the other hand, I allowed my teammates to come to a compromise with the help of the team leader rather than attempting to influence the conflict. Overall, I believe that the project allowed me to convey my views on effective communication strategies to other team members.

There were four main factors that allowed our team to complete the project successfully. First, Josie’s effective leadership helped to ensure that all team members stay on track with their work and participate in all aspects of the project. Josie managed to promote effective communication and helped to resolve any conflicts regarding the choice of topics and tools to be reviewed. Josie’s remained supportive throughout the project, which helped us to stay motivated and complete all work on time. Secondly, determining various online communication channels helped us to promote decision-making and create a supportive working environment.

Instead of waiting for the next meeting, we solved the majority of issues online within a few hours, which helped us to devote more time to research and analysis of information. Lastly, the diversity of skills and abilities of team members was very useful. When one team member struggled to find information or could not find a particular feature, there was always someone willing to help. Supporting one another and following the plan carefully helped us to resolve most of the challenges that our team faced.

The Most Challenging Aspect

One of the most challenging aspects of the team project was balancing our schedule and other commitments to organize meetings. Initially, we could not find a perfect time to meet up and became concerned that we would not be able to work on the project effectively. However, as we started to discuss various options, we found a way to compromise and to alter our schedule in a way that would permit us to meet on a regular basis. Another challenge we faced was the choice of tools.

Most of the team members wanted to write about tools they were familiar with, which led to a minor conflict as we could not decide on the allocation of tools. However, our team able was able to solve the problem by assigning tools randomly, which was fair to all team members. Finally, it was rather difficult to decide on which parts of work to include, as the amount of research we produced far exceeded the project requirements. In this case, we held a group discussion to identify the most interesting aspects of the work done and included those parts into the final project.

As part of the project, we investigated a wide variety of online collaboration tools with regards to their functionality, ease of use, benefits, and potential challenges. Overall, we found that most of the tools provide a lot of benefits for collaboration, specifically by supporting virtual team communication. For instance, Microsoft Skype for business can be used for business meetings in case, not all the workers are on-site, whereas Google Calendar can help the team to stay on track with the project schedule and regular meetings. However, with the variety of different tools available, it is crucial for the business to choose the ones that suit its current needs and can be implemented easily.

For instance, in order to use Microsoft Skype for Business effectively, it is crucial for all the participants to have high-speed, stable internet access. Google Drive, on the other hand, might influence the layout of documents, which could create difficulties if the team needs to follow a specific template in their work. Overall, a correctly chosen online tool that fits the goals and abilities of the team would be efficient in supporting virtual team communication, whereas a tool that does not suit the team’s needs might hinder the process.

Advice to Next Semester’s Student

The key advice that I would give to the next semester’s students is to create a detailed project plan and a project schedule right in the first meeting. For us, creating a project plan and schedule was very effective, as it helped us to stay on track with the work and ensure that we finish the project in advance. Moreover, it is also crucial to choose a good team leader who has a lot of experience in leading group work.

Josie was quick and efficient in resolving any conflicts or issues, which was one of the key factors allowing us to succeed. Finally, I would also recommend future students establish online communication channels. Not only does it allow to ensure quick and effective decision-making, which contributes to success, it also provides additional insight into the research of the use of communication tools, which helps to add value to the research conducted.

Cite this paper

Select style

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

BusinessEssay. (2022, June 9). My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample. https://business-essay.com/team-working-and-learning-experience/

"My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample." BusinessEssay , 9 June 2022, business-essay.com/team-working-and-learning-experience/.

BusinessEssay . (2022) 'My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample'. 9 June.

BusinessEssay . 2022. "My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample." June 9, 2022. https://business-essay.com/team-working-and-learning-experience/.

1. BusinessEssay . "My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample." June 9, 2022. https://business-essay.com/team-working-and-learning-experience/.

Bibliography

BusinessEssay . "My Experience Working in a Group: Essay Sample." June 9, 2022. https://business-essay.com/team-working-and-learning-experience/.

Information System and Inventory Management Connection
Business Issues in Hewlett Packard
Knowledge Management at Johnson and Associates: Case Study
Google Inc.’s Organizational Performance and Social Media
Dubai Port World Company’s Ethical Management
European Holding Company’s Management Consulting
Kraft Foods Group Applying Porter’s Strategies
Café Team Reorganization and Effectiveness
United Parcel Service’s Information Technology Use
Emirates Airlines: Marketing Analysis

InterviewPenguin.com – Your best job interview coach since 2011

Tell me about a time when you were a part of a great team. What was your part in the success of your team?

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that you will almost always face some questions about teamwork in your job interview . A small team is a basic structural unit of every organization in the world, big or small. You will share both the workplace and goals with these people, and your level of success in the job (and often also your remuneration and career growth possibilities) will be determined by the success of your team , at least to some extent. So what do they want to hear in your interview? And how should you answer this question when applying for your very first job ? We will try to find the answers on the following lines.

First of all, regardless of your previous working experience (or lack of it) you should embrace working on a team . Emphasize that you like the feeling of belonging somewhere , and having a sense of responsibility for fellow team members. Knowing that you do not try hard only for yourself helps you with your motivation . And it is also easier to cope with challenges when you have someone to share your worries with, someone who can support you, and you can pay back the favor another time.

Secondly, you should focus primarily on the success of a team as a whole in your answer. Many job seekers misunderstand the question, talking about a situation when they actually stood out from the team , and did better than other team members. But that’s not really what they want to hear from you in the interview… Let’s proceed to 7 sample answers to this intriguing question. Below the answers you will find some additional hints on how to impress the hiring managers with your words. Do not forget to check them out as well.

7 sample answers to “Tell me about a time you were successful on a team” interview question

I recall a great example from my last job in retail. Holiday season was approaching, and we were behind with sales. We knew that our year-end bonuses, as well as our personal satisfaction from the job , depended a lot on whether we would reach the sales goals. And so we really motivated each other as a team, and tried hard with every customer. No opportunity was left on the table, we tried to up-sell everyone . We worked hard, overtime, sometimes barely had time for lunch. But we worked as a team, motivated one another , and eventually we reached the target sales volume for Q4. I have to admit that it was a taxing experience , but I still enjoyed it profoundly.
This is my first job application , so I cannot really talk about an example from work. But I remember the times at high school, and the local soccer team I played for . We didn’t have any stars, or professional players on the team. But we were true friends , and we enjoyed spending time together, and trying to better our results. One season we surprised everyone in the city finishing second in the table, just three points behind the winning team. People did not expect that we’d do so well, because they underestimated the power of team spirit . Everyone in the team was ready to suffer for their teammates , and we always gave 100% on the pitch. Eventually we managed to end the season at second place, surprising everyone. This experience taught me a lot , and I hope to apply the lessons in the workplace.
My second to last job in a game studio is a good example. I belonged to a small agile team of seven people. Some coders, designers, testers, and a manager of course. We were under a lot of pressure , because we knew we had to release the game before our competitor would release a similar product, though they had more money and a bigger team onboard. Interesting thing happened: Everyone in the team took it personally. We made it our mission to beat the competitor , because we wanted to prove that we were better programmers and designers. And so we logged in some long days and weeks, and focused 100% on the task , eliminating all distractions. You could see how hard everybody worked, which was incredibly motivating . Eventually we released the game one week before our competitor, and succeeded as a team. Big celebration followed as you can imagine…
I had just basic jobs before. Kitchen assistant in a restaurant, crew member in a fast food place. But I still think I’ve learned a lot about teamwork in these places. Because in such a fast-paced working environment , where processes relate to one another, you are in a way dependent on your colleagues . What I try to say here is that you can hardly make the customer satisfied with your work as a cashier, when they have to wait five minutes for their burger because someone does a slow job in the kitchen… Was our team successful? I wouldn’t necessarily say so. Because these types of jobs for students attract all sorts of people, and not everyone felt the responsibility towards other crew members , just like I did. Well, what can I say? I tried my best, encouraged other team members. Sometimes it worked and we did a great shift, and sometimes it didn’t, because someone was texting on their phone all the time…
Speaking honestly, I am still waiting for my first success on a team . In my last and only job I was more of a lonely wolf , the only person in the store, responsible for everything. Because it was a small store, and we didn’t have more than ten customers in an hour, so you had time to stock the shelves, clean the place, and everything. I must say though that I missed something in the job –words of encouragement from a colleague, a nice joke here and there to ease the tension, a helping hand when suddenly many people came to the store at once, and so on. Judging by my results I was successful in the job, but I still decided to leave it. Because at heart I am a team player , and I knew I needed a different working environment. That’s why I am here today.
First and foremost, I try to stay humble and always try to improve on my results . Was I successful in my last corporate job, as a part of an FP&A team? That’s hard to say, and perhaps my manager, or the FP&A director, would be the right person to answer your question. I tried my best, but one thing I realized during my time in the company is that in these big corporations, it is sometimes hard to see the impact of your work … You spent nine hours a day in front of a computer screen, collecting data, doing some analysis. For sure it has a meaning, and someone else in the company benefits from your work, but sometimes it is hard to see how. Anyway, the profit of the company kept growing , so we likely did a good job in the FP&A team. But now I am looking for a position in a smaller company, in which it is always easier to see the impact of your work.
My last job in social work is a great example. We had many difficult cases: Broken families, problems with alcoholism and depression, violence–definitely not a great environment for children. But I belonged to an amazing team of social workers. All of us saw the meaningful purpose of our job, and we didn’t give up on any case , regardless of how hopeless it initially seemed. Progressing step by step with everyone involved in each case–parents, children, teachers, guardians, and so on, we helped to improve the situation in many families. But I knew I would never achieve the same level of success working alone , because job of a social worker is mentally taxing, and you really need someone to be there at your side, and to help you cope with the challenges this work presents…

Final thoughts

Regardless of whether you have fifteen years of working experience under your belt, or apply for your very first job, you can always find some teamwork experience in your memory. Think school, sports, extra-curricular activities, volunteering , anything. It doesn’t matter much for the hiring managers whether you talk about an experience from work, or from school. Your attitude matters the most for them.

As long as you demonstrate (with your example) that you are ready to work hard for the success of the team and sacrifice something, that you feel the responsibility for other team members and it motivates you to try your best (since you do not want to let them down), and that you enjoy teamwork in general , they will be satisfied with your answer.

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:

Are you a team player?
Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone else to achieve a goal.
What does teamwork mean to you?
Do you prefer to work independently, or on a team?
Recent Posts

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Personal Experience / A Reflection on My Teamwork Experience

A Reflection on My Teamwork Experience

Category: Life , Business
Topic: Personal Experience , Success , Teamwork

Pages: 1 (558 words)

Downloads: -->

--> ⚠️ Remember: This essay was written and uploaded by an--> click here.

Found a great essay sample but want a unique one?

are ready to help you with your essay

You won’t be charged yet!

Toyota Essays

Nestle Essays

Uber Essays

Google Essays

Swot Analysis Essays

Related Essays

We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you.

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Your essay sample has been sent.

In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper.

samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->