THE EFFECTIVE LEADER REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER SESSION INSTRUCTIONS This activity will provide learning opportunities for each student to reflect upon and analyze, from an objective point of view, an interpersonal interaction they recently experienced or expect to experience, with a less than positive, effective outcome. Additionally, everyone will get practice providing feedback to others after assessing opportunities for improvement in interpersonal interactions. The goal of this exercise is to identify how the theories, models, concepts, and skills we have studied in this class might be applied to change the underlying assumptions, and thus the behaviors and potential outcomes, during similar interactions in the future. The ultimate goal of reflecting back on an interaction (or forward to an anticipated one) is to become more aware of what your underlying assumptions were/are and to think about how those might be changed to improve future interactions. As an effective leader you will want to increase your comfort in adjusting your behavior as necessary during the course of the myriad interpersonal interactions you engage in every day. Follow these steps to prepare for and conduct your Reflective Practitioner Sessions with your team: 1. Prepare your own case - you will be examining a challenging interaction with one or more people that (a) you have already experienced, or (b) you realistically expect to experience in the near future. (Refer to the sample case on the following pages) 2. Begin the description with a brief Overview of the case - a paragraph about the purpose of the interaction, the setting, the people involved, and contextual details 3. Next, write about what your Strategy was in the situation. What were your objectives in this interaction, how did you intend to achieve them, and why did you select them? 4. Follow that by writing a few pages of the Dialogue that actually occurred or that you expect to occur. Use the following format: On this side of the page, write what was going on in your mind while each person in the dialogue is speaking (including yourself) On this side of the page, write what each person actually said or what you expect them to say. Continue writing the dialogue until you believe your major points are illustrated. 5. Finally, reread your completed case and look beneath the actions, words, and even the thoughts to examine your motives in the situation (similar to what we did with the intention point on the Awareness Wheel in the P.E.A.L. exercise - however this should be done in greater depth this time). Then, describe the Underlying Assumptions that you think you held about effective action going into this case. Online November 2015 a. Indicate any specific areas where you would like feedback from your teammates b. Include any other contextual information that will help your teammates understand your case c. Upload your case into your original posting as a Word document so your teammates can review and comment on it 6. Download and review your teammates' cases and be prepared to provide feedback in the discussion designated specifically for your team. When reading the cases shared by your teammates, look for opportune places to apply the various EQ, team, and relationship concepts that we have addressed in this class. For example, someone's case dialogue may indicate that they were being defensive, or they were not asking effective open-ended questions, or they weren't using the most appropriate conflict management strategy, or their social awareness appeared low because they were missing social cues, or they were not effectively managing their emotions, etc. Pay particular attention to their underlying thought processes and assumptions so you can point out where changing their thinking - and subsequently their actions - might result in a more positive outcome in the situation. Be sure to address the areas where the writer of the case has requested feedback. 7. All team members will respond to each of their teammates' postings about their case. They will offer their observations as to the efficacy of the case writer's underlying assumptions. They will offer suggestions for the application of principles / skills learned during this class that might lead to different assumptions and behaviors when the case writer finds themselves in similar situations in the future 8. When possible, use the feedback format we practiced in previous exercises: 9. Your assumptions and actions in this case were effective because . . . Your assumptions and actions would have been more effective if . . . Everyone should remain open to their teammates' suggestions and acknowledge each of them without becoming defensive. Graciously accept it for the learning opportunity that it is. 10. Considering your teammates' feedback and applying what we have learned in this class, make a final entry in the discussion to address how you plan to alter your assumptions and change your behavior when you encounter similar interpersonal interactions in the future. Online November 2015 SAMPLE REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER CASE STUDY Adapted from: Agyris, C. & Schon, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness, (pp. 60-62). Jossey Bass: San Francisco. Overview: (briefly explain the situation, the people involved, and the purpose of the interaction) I am the marketing manager for Company A. Several other representatives of the company and I were asked to inform the president of Company B that two customer service representatives assigned to Company B are being promoted and two new ones are being assigned. I predict that this action will upset the president because his firm depended on the two representatives for important technical assistance in installing and using the complicated systems Company B has bought from our company. Strategy: (what were your objectives and how did you plan to achieve them?) My strategy going into the meeting was: 1) to review current progress to confirm that things were going well; 2) to announce the new assignments; and 3) to correct the president's expected feeling that Company A was not concerned about his company The Interaction: (enter actual dialogue first, then go back to enter your thoughts at the time) My Thoughts (enter this second) Actual Dialogue (enter this first) Take the initiative and define the job to be done Marketing Manager: I would like to review the purpose of today's meeting Oh no! The four of us have triggered President: Yes, what is the objective of today's off questions in his mind. My meeting? Why are four of you here? strategy of beginning with a review is going to have to be changed. He senses that there are more important reasons, so I'll just have to come to the point Marketing Manager: There are two purposes for today's meeting. One, obviously is to review the status of your account with you. Second, and the most important reason for the meeting is to review a change that we are making on the account. From time to time, excellent opportunities come up for our customer service reps. When that occurs, we do not want to block deserving individuals. We obviously cannot control the timing of these opportunities and such an opportunity has appeared for representative 1. We are very pleased to advise you that he is being promoted to a new job. Online November 2015 Oh, no! This will really set up back. President: You can't pull him out when I need him most. When he hears this, he is really going to go through the roof. But I have to tell him to make him understand that he cannot change it. Marketing Manager: Your account has a lot of progress; your people are more than self-sufficient. I assure you, the new representative is very wellqualified. [The president is quiet and shakes his head]. Well, we can't control when these opportunities occur, and when an individual deserves a promotion, we should promote them. We're also going to promote representative 2. The president is furious President: No! No! No! you can't do that. It's totally unacceptable. You know I signed with your company because of the support you promised. I knew I could pick up the phone and someone would help us. Now you're doing this to me! No! No! No! I've got to use his own argument against him Marketing Manager: You made the right decision. These changes will give you the opportunity to test our support and commitment to you; let us demonstrate it to you. President: (Probably thinking \"I can't believe they are not giving me a choice and I don't like it. But they have been good so far. I'll give them a chance. What else can I do?\") Listen. I hear what you are saying. I don't like it one bit, especially when you surprise me like this. Alright; I'll go along, but I'm going to make you responsible for proving your claim before we will commit to extending our service contract with you. Underlying Assumptions (based on your assessment after reflecting on your completed case) I knew the meeting was potentially explosive. I went on the offensive immediately so I could take control. I thought this would prevent any emotional outbursts and that I could change the president's feelings and attitudes. New Assumptions / Different Behaviors: The assessment of how effective or ineffective the interaction in the case was (or will be) should play out in the discussion thread about each case. The objective is to propose alternative assumptions that your teammates could have made (or will make) in their case, and suggestions for developing different behavioral strategies that would result in more successful outcomes, while also preserving the quality of your relationship with the person(s) described in your case. Online November 2015 Reflective Practitioner Case Grading Rubric Unsatisfactory: 0-60% Case Study Original Posting Respons e Postings Few or no sections completed Missing description, dialogue, thought process Uploaded late/missing from original posting Minimal or no contextual description No requests for specific feedback Posted late or missing Incomplete feedback to teammates' cases Unresponsive to teammates Did not include relevant, specific concepts, models, skills we studied in class Responses posted late or missing Not completed Posted late Final Posting Needs Improvement: 60-80% Most sections completed Description of the situation Dialogue/though process not fully complete Some contextual description Minimal request for specific feedback Posted on time Feedback that addresses only areas specified by teammates for their cases Response to most teammates and/or repetitive suggestions Inclusion of some relevant, concepts, models, skills we studied in class Responses posted on time Minimal / moderate planned behavior changes Does not address all areas identified as needing change Satisfactory: 80-100% All sections completed Detailed description of the situation Completeness of dialogue / thought process Thorough contextual description Posted on time Response to all teammates In-depth feedback on topics requested by teammates, as well as feedback in additional relevant areas Inclusion of applicable specific concepts, models, skills we studied in class Responses posted on time Comprehensive behavior change plan that incorporates teammates' feedback Includes additional areas not identified by teammates Points Possibl e Points Earne d 25 15 50 10 11/13/15 Total 100 11/13/15