Reflection on Survival Activity
This reflection is based on a Team survival situation where my team went through
after having crash landing on a desert. Luckily just before the pilot informed us on the next
step to take, the most updated information from the plane indicated that the temperature on
the ground level will be 54 degrees. Looking at my team all of us had dressed in light
clothing, in fact, the majority of us had short sleeved shirts, socks, pants and streets shoes.
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Everyone also had handkerchiefs. This meant that we needed to find a way to survive through
as we found our way to the rescue destination. The main objective of the team exercise was to
learn to how to work as a team and also coordinate with one another so as to reach our
destination safely (Boonstra, 2013) . This called for embracing proper communication skills
and collaborative style of making decisions. Application of the big five personalities aspect
would prove to be very crucial.
The Exercise
As part of teamwork, we began by choosing items that were most important to ensure
our survival in the next 20-25 hours which was the time estimated for us to reach our
destination safely. We all sat down as a team and brainstormed on the choices at hand, all of
us had their own time to decide on which item should be priority. It was important to note
that we were able to communicate and coordinate with one another very well in comparison
to other groups in the class (Murphy, 2011) . We came to a consensus early enough because
we discouraged arguing and more of active listening (Hackman, 2012) . And even though our
choice of priority items may not have been correct in the first instance, we all remained
positive that the items we chose would help us survive through the desert.
This made the team appreciate that the most effective way to making a decision was
through communication and actively listening to the opinion of each member of the team. In
addition, by practicing the knowledge we learned in the class also helped each member of the
team to remember (L & Laeticia, 2014) . This activity allowed each member of the team to
choose fifteen helpful tools to use to survive and escape from the crash point to a much safer
place in order of priority (Bell, 2010) .
As a team leader, I was able to make use of the Big Five personality approach in
solving issues that arose from the team (Rubin, 2015) . Where as a leader I was able
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understand the personality of each team member through the five major traits. There were
some members of the group who expressed themselves through extroversion; they would
stress their points with a lot of energy (Archad, 2012) . For these people I would listen to them
more as the team leader, there were also those who were agreeable to everything, for this part
of the team (Wyatt, 2014) . I would ask them questions in order to understand what they felt,
another team member was also conscientious, this member of the team would repeatedly ask
us to get to the end of the discussion, for this member I would constantly update on what the
discussion entailed, there was also one member who expressed neuroticism (Lencioni, 2011) ,
he was always negative in all the choices we made, I would contain this person in order not to
allow him influence other member negatively (Bennis & B.Nanus, 2010) .
The Big Five personality model allowed each member to feel that his or her
contribution was important, forexample, as we made the decision about which tool would be
the most important, we had two different opinions (Johnson & Johnson, 2010) . I suggested
that a bottle of water would be the most important, the reason was that we were facing harsh
temperature of about 53%, this means that the most important thing was to keep hydrated so
that we could not die or lose time resting due to dehydration (Smith & Lehman, 2010) .
Another member of the team however, believed that the cosmetic mirror was the most
important because it would be used to reflect with the direct sunlight and enable a flying
plane to spot us (Johnson M. , 2011) . As a result after actively listening to one another, and
the reasons for their choice, our group was able to agree on priority items for survival. We
ranked the priority items as follows: Cosmetic mirror, Top coat, water, parachute, Jack-Knife,
Plastic raincoat, Caliber Pistol, Sunglasses, compress kit with gauze, magnetic compass,
sectional air map of the crash area, book, Vodka and lastly the bottle of salt tablets (Nester,
2012) .
Conclusion
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From the exercise, I learnt a lot about the importance of communication in solving
problems in a conflict situation with my team (Jay, 2013) . I was also able to learn that the
most effective way of making a better decision would only be derived from communicating
with one another and actively listening to the needs and opinions of each member of the
team.
References
Archad, M. (2012). The Communication Skills Handbook: How To Talk To Anyone &
Become A Powerful Leader (Strong & Powerful Communication Skills) . Amazon
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Bell, J. (2010). Social Intelligence: A Practical Guide to Social Intelligence: Communication
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Harper and Row.
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to Successful Organizational Change. Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition.
Hackman, R. (2012). Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances . Harvard
Business Review Press; 1 edition.
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