Friday Reflection: Three Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves
Being an effective and inspirational leader requires hard work, a genuine sense of empathy, and exceptional interpersonal skills. A good leader not only devotes time and energy to building their skills and driving results but also dedicates their time to gaining a deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of their team members. Sometimes, we can fall short. It can be burdensome to keep track of your progress and performance, maintain open lines of communication, find innovative ways to collaborate with your tea,m and find new ways of working. That’s why pausing to reflect can help leaders keep a level head, prioritize how and where to spend time,e and give attention. These three leader-focused questions will help you (and your team) stay focused and aligned every Friday.
Reflection involves evaluating your actions, analyzing the outcomes, and finding valuable lessons from your combined experiences. By engaging in a personal reflection practice, you can better understand yourself, how you make decisions, and the consequences of your actions.
Learning and growing with others is a personal and professional development component. The benefits of reflecting with your team are similar to personal reflection. Still, they can also unlock new ideas, inspiration, and motivation for your workforce as you share your perspectives and build trust. Your team and peers, along with a few thoughtfully crafted reflection questions, can help you scrutinize the current state of a team, project, or initiative and help identify new ways to solve problems, make decisions, and prioritize tasks. They can also help you build stronger relationships and alignment within your team.
Here are three questions to use to reflect with your team so you can learn and grow together and get closer to achieving your goals.
When to ask these reflection questions?
To see how people feel at the end of a meeting or workshop.
After a significant milestone or project deliverable, see what people are thinking.
On Friday, when considering your week and want to evaluate your efforts.
When you want to check in with your friends, family, or a loved one.
When you are on your own, take time to pause and reflect.
“To truly maximize your effectiveness, it is absolutely essential to engage in the act of reflection.” - Andrew Edwards, designACE
Vote by Comment: Which of this week’s reflection questions are your favourite?
Vote by commenting and tell us which reflection question is your favourite. Bonus marks if you answer the question too!
What was the most important decision or action we took this week, and what can we learn from it?
What ideas do you have that could improve the way we collaborate and work together more efficiently?
What questions do you need answers to next week?
Ask these questions to promote ongoing learning and growth in your workplace. They can lead to introspection and advancement for you and your team.
What was the most important decision or action we took this week, and what can we learn from it?
This question is a great way to captivate the teams' attention and challenge them to think hard about what the actions and decision-making of the team drove outcomes. In addition, discussing success more inventively helps the team remember what they did that made a difference. You might even be surprised by the answers, and what seems minor to you may have been a game-changer for another group member.
Identifying what moments mattered or led to positive outcomes and sentiment gives you an excellent read of how your team best responds to certain leadership styles and decision-making mo, gets buy-in and motivates your team to drive results. Then, you can replicate or apply these actions to future situations and projects.
Why this question is impactful: Learning from success is as important as learning from failure. It can help you identify “magic moments” in the project, processes, and best practices that work well for the team. You can also encourage your team to keep striving for excellence by acknowledging the success of their actions and behaviours that led to meaningful outcomes.
“Successful businesses are often the result of someone making a brave decision at some point.” - Christine Reynolds, designACE
Follow-up questions:
Was there a specific process or model we used to make that decision or take action?
How should we document and repeat these actions in the future?
What other teams and stakeholders could benefit from hearing about our approach and successes this week?
How do we ensure that we are consistent and reliable in our actions as a team?
What ideas do you have that could improve the way we collaborate and work together more efficiently?
This question helps you evaluate and improve how you work as a team. You can share what you think is working well and what needs more attention or improvement in your team’s processes, communication, or collaboration. You can also suggest specific actions or strategies to help your team work better. A great way to further probe this reflection question is to ask if anyone has examples from a past team or project, or perhaps there are some new ideas the team wants to try that they heard about from a peer, colleague, or friend. Dynamic teams constantly discuss, explore, and experiment with new and creative ways to establish team norms, rituals, and collaboration processes. Worst case - it fails, and you immediately cease doing the new thing. Best chance - the team finds harmony in a process or policy they helped co-design.
Why this question is impactful: Teamwork is not a static state but a dynamic process that requires constant evaluation and adjustment. You can invite feedback and input from other team members and foster a sense of ownership and accountability.
“While talent may win individual games, it is teamwork and intelligence that ultimately lead to championship victories.” - Andrew Edwards, designACE
Follow-up questions:
How do we measure our teamwork effectiveness and progress?
What do other teams or companies do to collaborate?
What tool/application/process would you implement on our team if we had no budget or resource constraints?
Are we communicating and connecting enough as a team?
What questions do you need answers to next week?
This question helps stimulate curiosity and creativity for the new week ahead. You can share what you are interested in or excited about learning or doing in the latest week or delve into things that are more worrisome and tripping up your team with a clever follow-up like “what is keeping you up at night related to our project, team, company, etc.?”.
You can also share what challenges or opportunities you anticipate or want to pursue in the new week or shed light on new questions and emerging insights.
Why this question is impactful: Asking questions is a powerful way to expand horizons and discover new possibilities. It can help you clarify your goals, identify gaps, and find solutions. You can also inspire your team to embrace new challenges and opportunities.
“Asking the right question is half the solution to the problem.” Christine Reynolds, designACE
Follow-up questions:
What keeps you up at night related to our project, work, or team?
How do we find the necessary answers or resources to explore our questions?
How might we share our findings and other teams and stakeholders?
What would happen if you could answer that question today?
Putting Your Reflection into Action
Being an effective leader requires open and honest discussion with yourself and your team about ways to work together more effectively and drive better business results. Keep in mind that the purpose of this dialogue is not to point fingers but rather to facilitate clear communication and propel the team toward success.
Pro Tips:
Create a SMART action plan for each team member's tasks and goals.
Track progress, celebrate wins, and hold each other accountable for the action plan.
Take Away
Encouraging a Friday reflection routine can uplift your team's communication, teamwork, and overall progress. Simply initiate open-ended questions that spark creativity and honest conversations. Then, spotlight the week's highs, learn from any lows, and foster collaborative skills.