Shevek Pring

The Importance of Reviews:

Without the review process the use of teambuilding tasks becomes largely redundant. Although the tasks themselves are hugely influential in the formation of team dynamics and the creation and practise of skills, without the review section there is no framework for these important elements. How do you discuss what has been learnt, what could be improved or the wider context the skills could be applicable to if you do not hold a review. A large portion of the good work you have been doing in the tasks is lost through lack of understanding and lack of contextualisation of skills learnt. It is vital therefore to use the review process as fully as possible; it is the key to unlocking the potential of groups and individual team members. The reviews do several things of benefit for the process of group formation.

They can increase the effectiveness of communication within groups.

They make the processes learnt in the tasks more explicit as skill sets learnt. They reinforce both the teamwork and the processes learnt in activities

They look at the wider context and application of the skills learnt

They allow the instructor to draw valuable learning experiences and points out of the activities undertaken

Although the review process is crucial this does not make it any easier. It will take a while for the concept of reviews to sink in for many teams; they will not easily open up in front of other team members. It is not an easy thing to be honest about mistakes, listen openly to criticism or communicate without getting defensive. All these need to be learnt as part of the process and they will cause issues and arguments. Two things are important to these problems being overcome: the continual use of reviews after every task, and the openness and honesty of the instructor. Firstly, let us look at using reviews more often. It is key that team members get used to the review process and become familiar with the way the process works. By becoming familiar with the review process team members become accustomed to the idea of having a slot in each activity where they can speak openly and freely about the task, the team, and the individual. Secondly, this process is greatly enhanced if as an instructor you are able to be open and honest about the team, individual and the task as well.

Obviously, it is important to do this in a different way to the team members; as an instructor you need to do this through questioning and discussion. This allows the team to see your involvement in an open and honest way; they see you trying to genuinely help the team and see you less as an authority figure. This means that the team are more able to become autonomous; more process focussed and takes more ownership of the tasks. The more these three are implemented the more the team formation is helped and therefore the greater the chances for the review system to work. The team will naturally start off feeling defensive about the whole process which will lead to minimal responses and short answers. It may also make the team as a whole or individual team members feel uncomfortable to begin with. Persevere, talk about the processes and the skills used and learnt, talk about the task and its wider context, do not focus on the team or individual aspects of the process until the group are comfortable with this. Add more and more emphasis to these sections as you progress through a series of reviews and the team will learn both the process and the benefits of reviewing in this way. In order for the group to realise the benefit of reviews it is important that every member of the group feels they have a voice.

As an instructor you need to begin reviews by allowing each individual to speak. This is not to say they all will, but by being asked in turn if they wish to contribute, they feel validated and when they do have something to say they know they will have the opportunity to do so. It is a difficult and unnatural process for teachers and instructors to grasp to begin with that there needs to be a review. This is because the natural course currently is for the educator to sum up at the end. This is valuable in its own way but does not allow the team to have the autonomy, processual approach or the ownership required for them to excel. It also requires patience for the review to happen, there will be times when the team go off subject, or simply do not speak. When the average time between an educator asking a question and then qualifying it to illicit a response is less than a second, these pauses are disquieting to a degree and can lead to a feeling that the job is not being done effectively. There is no need for you as an instructor to feel this; allow awkward pauses and silences, allow each individual the chance to speak and allow the group to go off subject for a while before bringing it back on task. This is how the team will learn to assume ownership of the process.

It is also important to be aware that as an instructor team members will look to you to give key feedback. It is important to give this validation and support, but it must be at the end of the review if you are to avoid the review simply being a variety of paraphrases of your key points. Allow the group a voice and creative input first and you will often be surprised at how insightful their conclusions can be. You may even learn something important yourself! I am aware that the review process is difficult for all involved at the beginning so in the interests of helping the process both for educators and students I have included here some key tips and a variety of review questions as a starting point for review sessions. Do not think these are prescriptive, they are ideas only and the more you add variety and tailor questioning to groups and task outcomes the more you will gain from each review. As I stated earlier you know yourselves and your teams better than anyone else could.

Top tips for reviews:

Always stand back from the process, facilitate rather than guide and allow all members the chance to speak. Leave your summary of key point until after the review session to ensure all team members contribute rather than copy your input
Be prepared to leave awkward silences and pauses if necessary, allow team members to think about your question without you qualifying it
Begin reviews simply and then progress through a series of reviews to more difficult content; along the lines of task and skill focus, to team involvement in tasks to individual contributions, lessons and personal responsibility.
Give the group ownership, let them run the review themselves and just observe
Try to help teams channel frustration and failure through the review process, do not end a review until there is a clear understanding of what has been gained from a task, even if it is perceived by the team as a failure
Be honest and open with teams during review sessions, let them see that their progress is as important to you as it is to the team; do not take on an authoritarian role for this process.
30 Review Question Ideas:

1. ‘I would like one positive, one negative and one thing learned from each member of the group’
2. ‘What have you learned today?’ Make sure they are explicit with answers
3. ‘How would you do the task differently if you were to do it again?’
4. ‘How well did you work together as a team?’
5. ‘I would like one thing each team member thinks they could do better to help the group’
6. ‘What did the task teach you about how the group works?’
7. ‘What new skills did the task teach you?’
8. ‘I would like you to identify one or two team members who you feel did a brilliant job and explain why’
9. ‘Where would you be able to use the same skills you just learnt from the task?’
10.‘Rate yourselves 1-10 for commitment to the task’
11.‘Rate yourselves 1-10 for commitment to the team’
12.‘Give an example from the task of where you helped another team member’
13.‘Give an example from the task of where you encouraged the team or helped to boost morale’
14.‘What one thing could you have changed to make the task easier to complete?’
15.‘How well did you use the group skills in the task?’
16.‘What was the most challenging thing about the task/day?’‘
17.’Think carefully about the activity, what was the most important thing you did to achieve it?’
18.‘Why did the task fail?’
19.‘Identify your own role in the group from when you were on task and explain to the team what it was and how it was  important’
20.‘What could you have done personally to make the task a better success?’
21.‘What do you think the most important skill was for completing the task and why?’
22.‘How did/could you make sure all team members were involved?’
23.‘How did it go?’
24.‘What do you think the point of the task was?’
25.‘Did you feel like part of the team? Why?’
26.‘Give one thing that you could have done, and one thing the team could have done to make the task more of a success’
27.‘As a group come up with the top 3 skills used for the task’
28.‘As a group come up with the one improvement that would make the task simpler to complete’
29.‘How do you feel the task went?’
30.‘How do you feel the group worked and communicated?’

Within these 30 review questions there are a range that focus on several things. Firstly, there is a focus on the different aspects, the individual, the team, and the task. Secondly there are higher and lower-level questions, list or give examples are specific, whereas something like ‘how did it go?’ requires a more complex answer and more in-depth analysis for a suitable answer to be found. All these questions and many like them are important and useful and can begin the process of effective reviewing. Use questions as a tool for starting group discussion and individual input.

Note: If you are interested in learning more about team building my book will give you a much deeper insight and lots of practical examples and activities as well.