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"Reflect and Connect" is an interactive debriefing session with an important added implication. Each person on the team consciously tries to link the lessons learned with improving performance to reach the common goal. This acticity is a critical process often missing from corporate programs when a mission is successful. When things go wrong, the activity usually occurs in an atmosphere of blame and guilt. Regardless of the duration, importance, success, or failure of a project, be sure you allocate time and invest quality thinking in the reflect-and-connect process. Appreciate the acts of reflecting and connecting with your team as integral parts of the project. THE TEMPLATE * Reflect-and-Connect Template* Date/Duration: To use the template, always begin by recording the fundamentals of the project - the date, duration,
Mission: one-line description of the mission, and
Role: the role you played.
* OBSERVE (What did you see?)
Team TLC: What did you observe about the teamwork, leadership and communication within the group? Radical honesty is required! Here are some questions, for starters - Did people hand each other equipment when they needed it?
- Did team members show respect for each other''s ideas?
- When it came time do do a 360, staying alert for MODD, did people systematically observe the sitation/ Where they focused on their quadrants or distracted by something else?
- What style of leadership did the leader use (directive, participative, delegation)? Did it change?
- What did the leader do under pressure that was effective? Ineffective?
- Did you feel connected to/inspired by the leader? At what timewas it most evident?
- Did you communicated well verbally with your teammates? (Same BOW). Give an example
- Did you notice different sorting styles in the communication of/with your teammates? Give an example.
- How did different people use different senses in communication?
My TLC: In this section , record what you observed about the teamwork, leadership and comunication operating within yourself. Again, be completely honest! - Did you help others without their having to ask?
- Did you listen actively? When? How did that show up?
- Did you get distracted from the mission at any point? How?
- If you were the leader, what styles of leadership did you use? Did it change? Why?
- When do you think you were most effective?
- Did you feel you motivated others?
- Did you communicate well verbally with your teammates? (Same BOW)
- Did any one tell you something you didn''t understand about your role, or the mission, or how to do a taks? Did you say that you didn''t understand, or did you fake it?
- How did you use different sense in communicating information to your team?
* FEEL (How did you feel?)
During Planning
- Did you rehease enough to feel confident?
- Were you bored or energized durign the planning?
- Was the planning a participatory experience, or did you feel your ideas were excluded?
- Did you feel comfortable with the final plan?
- Did the plan contain elements that confused you?
During Mission
- Did you feel annoyed or angry at any point? Why? Did anyone share that feeling?
- Were you excited, anxious, eager? Why? Was it just you, or did anyone else feel the same way?
- Did your feelings, good or bad, get in the way of your communication with others? Did they distract you from the task at hand?
* REFLECT - Record your recollections of the mission, or the mission to this point in time. Draw some conclusions. To focus your reflections, go back to the principles of teamwork, leadership and communication. Think in terms of how you helped each other, or fell short, in using SALUTE to capture information for your project, and whether you kept each other updated enough on progress - that is, used SITREPS - to do your jobs well. * CONNECT apply what you learned. What are you diong to do differently because of what you learned? What will you do the same? What specific actions will you take to prevent certain problems from recurring?
After each mission, the PL conducts after-action reviews. People who blame themselves for a big mistake during a mission usually find out they are not alone. A "big mistake" is almost always the result of a confluence of errors. Once that''s sorted out, people understand hwo to help each other more during the next mission. So many variables can happen in the course of following a business plan or project plan that it''s easy for a team to go off-track. The plan is not a bread-crumb trail. As a leader, you have to expect to take action deliberately to keep everyone moving toward the goal. The reflect and connect is the occasion to take that action. There are many things you can''t control, but you do know what th egoal is, what your timeline is, and what your resources are. You know the objective, NLT (no later than) and PET (people, equipment, time). By periodically reviewing them with your team while you examine the changing situation, you will be better able to accomplish your mission within the bounds you''ve been given. In short, the reflect-and-connect activity is an important tool to help you stay on the Ranger path to victory: Values and beliefs
Inspiring leadership
Common goals / language
Technical expertise
Open communication
Respect
Yearining and passion Excerpt from the book "Rangers Lead the Way: The Army Rangers'' Guide to leading Your Organization Through Chaos" by Dean Hohl & Maryann Karinch
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