The Psychology Behind Reflection

New Year Reflection: A brief introduction to the psychology behind reflection.

As Blueprint’s new Sales & Marketing manager (and accredited psychologist), I thought it fitting to actively encourage our team to reflect on 2018. For many of us, 2018 seemed to go really quickly and that left little time to reflect on the year and projects we have been working on. It is easy to get stuck into work and forget about leaving time aside to reflect; at Blueprint we ensure reflection is a key part of any process which is often implemented into our project reviews.

Psychological studies have proven that sitting back and taking even a couple of minutes reflection can considerably increase performance. By stepping back, you are allowing yourself to re-evaluate situations and change your plan according to any changes that have occurred.

It is the change that reflection brings, whether that be adjustment of behaviors or the realization to keep doing something in a particular way, that is key to personal/team development. It has been found that change requires two variables:
– A goal
– An awareness of where one currently is

In order to reach our goal destination, we must assess the discrepancy between the two. By reflecting on our experiences, what we did, how we felt, what the outcomes were etc., we are able to gain an understanding of where we currently are and re-evaluate what we should do in order to reach our goal.

Here are a few reflective thoughts from our team as we enter 2019:

Olivia (me): Last year we made our first trip to Nanjng, China for the CITTC conference. It was a brilliant experience and opened our eyes to the knowledge transfer opportunities available. We are continuing to work with a number of Chinese companies and look forward to our second visit, continuing with collaboration.

Ronis: As a small business, it is essential be reactive in relation to the economic and political climate; the uncertainty of Brexit has effected new product/technology investment and funding. Our ability to adapt to this in 2018 has truly shown how dedicated and committed our team is, and this has allowed us to get though the ups and downs TOGETHER as one unit and family. We have a very positive outlook for 2019.

I hope you have found this brief article interesting and I would love to hear about any experiences you have had with reflection.

olivia@blueprintproductsolutions.com