Reflection Guideline

In the rhea.framework, flows are observable interpersonal interactions between a person holding a leadership function and one or more team members that impact team performance in a work context. Leadership is hereby seen as functional - supporting the longevity and performance of a team. It is not necessarily related to specific formal team roles.

Elemental to each flow is a particular tense situation and interpersonal interaction to impact involved tensions. Significant interpersonal situations frequently:

  • appear to be mainly described by adjectives with emotional connotations.
  • are frequently expressed in superlatives.
  • appear to precede a shift in a situation. The situation is described to be perceived differently afterwards.
  • appear to be repeated several times in the course of an interview.
  • appear to form, shape or align to some sort of ideal - an ideal value, or an ideal self or situational imagination.
  • seem to form mental representations for comparison with other personal experiences.
General Suggestions

Find a place where you can comfortably reflect and write - maybe in your office, on your couch at home, or in a café - whatever suits your needs and preferences best.

Actively schedule time to reflect on your work situation. Assembling a flow can take 30 minutes and more in the beginning, and less time, approximately 15 minutes, if you are more comfortable in your writing process.

Use the Flow Template and this guideline in a manner you find suitable. They are intended to provide helpful anchors in reflecting work situations, not to be rigidly followed.

Come back to your flows to refine, or change your descriptions whenever you consider worthwhile. Use the template to sketch out your insights.


Flow Template Facets

Title

The title of a flow.

A proper title may emerge only after a flow is described.


Description

A flow description may include the following reflection anchors:

Intent

A significant interpersonal situation involving the project team with team members or associates in a leadership function impacting team performance. A focus is set on the personal perception of the situation as well as personal motivation for interaction in it and related feelings.

Context

Circumstances in which this particular situation of interpersonal tension emerges in the team and its environment (including e.g. interpersonal team atmosphere, team history, team size, project phase, company core values, organizational process structures, ...).

Tensions that are perceived to influence or establish the situation (may be listed).

(Intended) Solution

A leadership team interaction that (is intended to) impact(s) the tense situation.

Consequences (or Resulting Context)

The (contingent) destinies of involved tensions risen through (intended) interaction.

Questions

Asking yourself questions such as the following may facilitate describing the situation:

  • How would this stakeholder perceive the situation?
  • What would that specific team member say about it?
  • How does colleague A perceive his/her relation to colleague B concerning the situation?
  • If the situation allows it and you feel comfortable with it, involved participants could be asked for feedback - in the group, one to one, or anonymously.

If you feel that the situation and involved tensions are sufficiently described, continue to outline consequences and (intended) solutions!


Keywords

3 to 5 expressive keywords may be added to a description to highlight flow key points.


Picture

An image may support recognizing the meaning of the interaction description.

An image could be a diagram that represents some relations or workflows, or a metaphoric representation (such as a drawing or a collage) of the issue.


Resources

Further reading, links to online tools contributing to the flow description.


Categories and Relationships

To relate a flow to other flows in the rhea.framework reference model, it can be categorized. Relating flows may support flow linkability.

Categories include:

  • Leadership Behaviour Categories - e.g., Team Member Selection, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Coaching, Vision
  • (Project) Risk Categories - e.g., Orientation, Funding, Motivation, Team Atmosphere, Change
  • Unified Process Life-Cycle Phases - Inception, Elaboration, Construction, Transition

Besides taxonomy categorizations, related flows can be listed here.


References
  • C. Alexander, Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Harvard University Press, 1964.
  • G. Booch, J. E. Rumbaugh, and I. Jacobson, "The unified modeling language user guide - covers UML 2.0, Second Edition.," Addison-Wesley object technology series, 2005.
  • D. Haselberger, "A literature-based Framework of Performance-related Leadership Interactions in ICT Project Teams," Information and Software Technology, vol. 70, no. C, pp. 1–17, 2016.
  • J. Kriz, Self-Actualization. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH, 2006.
  • A. von Schlippe and J. Schweitzer, Primer on systemic therapy and counselling I: Basic Knowledge, no. 1. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016.