The Power of Reflective Thinking

No matter what your role is in your organization, you can become someone who models reflective thinking, and help people get more comfortable with giving and receiving feedback. 

You will also be the leader in helping the group pull the key learnings out of experiences, tasks, projects, and activities where time and energy has been spent. 

How often do we complete tasks and then just check the box without reflecting on what actually happened, celebrating what went well, and learning from where we struggled? 

In our fast-paced work environments, I’d venture to guess that we move from one initiative to the next without so much as a moment to reflect.

Here is one simple way that you can be the role model for reflective thinking:

At the end of a meeting, phone call, project or task, ask the other parties involved these simple questions:

• What do you think went well in this process?

• What do you think was challenging?

• What might we do differently next time?

Initially, people may be hesitant to participate or resistant to focus on what was challenging. You may have to call on each person individually at the start. But over time, they will get more comfortable and see the benefit. 

If you are someone who sets the agenda for meetings, I recommend including time for questions near the end of each meeting. 

This kind of reflective process not only gets others more comfortable with feedback, it also helps provide important data that makes relationships stronger and effort more productive. 

As you take the lead on this kind of reflection, others will see the benefit and it will spread as a worthy initiative.

Let me know how it goes and what benefits you see.