Have you ever interacted with someone and when you later thought about the interaction wish you had handled it differently? Maybe you wish you had argued a particular point more constructively or refrained from getting upset. Possibly, you are even proud of the way you handled it. If you have, you were engaged in reflection. When an employees examine an incident specifically to gain a deeper understanding of it, they can improve the outcome in a future occurrence. This thought process is a form of reflective practice called reflection-on-action.
Reflection on action involves thinking about an experience you have had.
Why Experiences Matter
Imagine you are about to climb Mount Everest for the first time, and you are offered a choice between a tour guide who has climbed it ten times and one who hasn’t. You would likely choose the experienced guide, hoping he has learned enough from his previous experiences to ensure nothing goes awry when you climb the mountain. Similarly, employees amass a vast pool of experiences on the job that employers can leverage for productivity and profitability. Experience is often seen as the starting place for instruction, and facilitators who can help learners connect their experiences with new concepts can help them increase their proficiency in the workplace (Merriam & Bierema, 2013).
Several theoretical frameworks demonstrate the connection between experience and learning in adult education such as Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and Dewey’s Experiential Learning Theory. Donald Schon’s concept of learning from experience (reflective practice) consists of two notions (reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action). He developed the concept as a way for professionals to continually update their knowledge and skills, which is crucial in today’s rapidly evolving work environment. All these theories are rooted in constructivism, the idea that learners learn by engaging in and reflecting on experiences.
Reflection-on-action in Practice
The Experience
Let’s look at an example of reflection-on-action. Lucky for us, a recent TV series, The Resident (Fox), provides a case to consider. Two surgeons performed what they thought was an excellent procedure under the observation of their employer. A complication arose, and the doctors scrambled to save the patient’s life. Fortunately, the patient survived. Following the surgery, the employer arranged for a meeting between the surgeons and a surgical coach.
Provide a Safe Space
The coach provided a conducive learning environment by explaining that her job was to watch the surgeons in ways they couldn’t watch themselves and to point out tiny flaws before they morphed into big ones.
Ask Questions
After they reviewed the footage from the surgery, the coach asked questions that encouraged the doctors to consider their performance in the operating room. Both doctors considered the procedure flawless. One of the surgeons maintained there was nothing wrong with his skill as he had the lowest complication rate in the hospital. Unbeknown to him, it had been inching up each month. The other surgeon insisted that complications occurred because they usually took on complex cases that lesser surgeons wouldn’t.
Accept Feedback
The coach shared that even though one of the surgeons was ambidextrous, he favored his left hand while operating and that using both hands would make him faster and possibly save a life in a crisis. She pointed out that the other surgeon stopped what he was doing to reposition the retractor himself anytime he needed better retraction instead of asking for help. He had let the organ drift out of the operating field in the process. Also, both doctors took instruments they wanted themselves instead of asking the nurses for them, which cost precious seconds that could make a difference when saving a patient’s life.
Learning Transfer
The ambidextrous doctor practiced using both hands on a dummy and became aware that he awkwardly crosses his left hand over his right hand when picking instruments. He practiced refraining from this behavior. During another procedure, both doctors applied the coach’s feedback, and the outcomes were better.
Feedforward
In the end, the coach expressed confidence in both doctors’ ability to continue improving their performance in the future and encouraged them to do so.
Reflective Practice: A Tool for Upskilling
There is likely no module in medical school that teaches ambidextrous doctors how to utilize both hands effectively. Even if there were one, no curriculum, no matter how comprehensive, could cover every scenario an employee might encounter in the workplace. In light of the fact that learning and development professionals cannot predict every learning need an employee will require in the workplace, reflection-on-action can be a valuable technique for equipping workers to improve their performance (Yanow &Tsoukas, 2009).
No learning and development professional can predict every learning need an employee will require in the workplace.
By reflecting on their experience, both doctors’ perceptions of their usual methods and approaches in the theater became clearer. Even more significant than drawing on their experience was how the coach created a learning experience that felt like a personal action plan. This allowed each learner to focus on the skills they needed to improve. When learning and development professionals use reflection-on-action to help employees improve their performance, it leads to upskilling. Upskilling helps employees improve their skills and knowledge in a particular area so they become more competent and relevant in their current position.
Let’s Make the Workforce Mediocre Proof
Employers shouldn’t treat reflective practice as an afterthought but integrate it into planning jobs, executing tasks, and evaluating processes as it is key to helping organizations develop practices that are better than their existing practices. Organizational leaders and employees might be surprised at the insights they uncover when they’re willing to be introspective and place their actions under scrutiny.
It’s important for organizational leaders, employers and learning and development professionals to understand that reflection-on-action can be unnerving when:
Employees feel they have performed below organizational standards (Edwards, 2017).
Employees are unfamiliar with the reflective process (Davies, 2012).
Employees are unaware that their actions are below par.
Employees feel affronted for being asked to reflect on their actions.
When organizations establish a conducive work environment and make time for reflection employees will be motivated to challenge their usual ways of thinking, and, ask and, answer the questions that bring their assumptions, interpretations, insights, and reasons guiding their actions to the surface to be examined and explained. Additionally, reflective practice helps employees cope with the pressure of learning (Hilden & Tikkamaki, 2013), especially given that the skills they need to do their jobs change every few years.
Organizations may need to justify the expense of implementing reflective practice, but they will see a greater return on investment since more effective working practices save time and money (Moody, 2012). Overall, the reflective process helps organizations remain competitive in today’s dynamic world, and for all its challenges, the benefits are immense. Hence all organizations should engage in this practice to inspire their employees to find new ideas and insights that help them perform their jobs more expertly.
References
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Edwards, S. (2017). Reflecting differently. New Dimensions: Reflection-before-action and reflection-beyond-action. International Practice Development Journal, 7(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.19043/ipdj.71.002
Elfond, G. (2021, December 10). Council post: Why employee upskilling and reskilling is so important right now. Forbes. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/12/21/why-employee-upskilling-and-reskilling-is-so-important-right-now/?sh=f10fcde3302e
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LibGuides: Reflective practice toolkit: What is reflective practice? (2021, 30). Cambridge LibGuides – LibGuides at University of Cambridge Subject Libraries. https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit/whatisreflectivepractice
Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice [electronic book]. Jossey-Bass.
Moody, R. (2012). Experiential learning – creating learning experiences with business impact. Development and Learning in Organizations, 26(3), 16- 18. http://doi.org/10.1108/14777281211225767
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Schon, D. A. (1984). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action.
Shaun Coffey. (2020, June 26). Reflection in action: Reflection on action. what is it that we do when we do what we do? Shaun Coffey. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://shauncoffey.blog/2020/06/26/reflection-in-action-reflection-on-action-what-is-it-that-we-do-when-we-do-what-we-do/.
What is constructivism? (2020, October 21). Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-constructivism2005.html
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Yanow, D., & Tsoukas, H. (2009). What is reflection-in-Action? A phenomenological account. Journal of Management Studies, 46(8), 1339 1364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00859.x