Name: Elizabeth Liu
REFLECTION # 2
UW ID: 20352471
FINAL SUBMISSION
1. Background
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Type your name and UW ID at the top of the first page.
Describe the team you are working with. The team may be a formal team, or it could be the
group you have worked with, either regularly or periodically, over the first half of the work term.
Also describe what you have been doing in the last half of this work term.
Keep this section brief; limit yourself to three to five sentences.
My name is Elizabeth Liu. For the past 4 months, I have been working at my first work term as an
Accounting & Financial Management co-op student at N. S. Retsinas Professional Corporation, a
CATO accounting firm. I regularly work with my six-person team, which consists of the owner of the firm
named Norman Retsinas, the office manager, the receptionist, a forth year University of Waterloo
Accounting & Financial Management co-op student on her third work term and previously worked at this
firm, and a second year University of Waterloo Accounting & Financial Management co-op student on
his first work term. Throughout the entire work term, my role in the team is to prepare tax returns and
assist in the day to day operations of the firm.
During the first half of the term, my work mainly consisted of preparing T4 and T5 slips for
corporations and preparing T2 corporate income tax returns. During the second half of the term, I
focused on preparing T1 personal income tax returns. As stated in my midterm reflection, I was also
responsible for the following tasks throughout the entire term: sorting and organizing files, acting as a
receptionist when needed, researching tax changes and regulations, drafting letters, and calling clients,
banks, and the CRA. The atmosphere at the office is a unique balance of approachable colleagues and
demanding yet fast-paced workloads, which helps maintain a positive and productive atmosphere.
2. Stages of Team Development
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Describe specific events that have happened in the stages you have experienced since the midterm reflection (the focus should be on the later stages).
How has the time spent on the individual stages, since the midterm reflection, compare with the
time spent prior to the midterm reflection?
The stages of team development consist of 5 stages: forming, storming, norming, performing,
transforming/adjourning. During the first half of the term, my team went through the first stage of team
development. In the first stage, the forming stage, my team started to develop while everyone tended to
avoid conflicts.
Since the midterm reflection, my team experienced the storming and norming stages of team
development. During the storming stage, my team was assigned numerous tasks in order to meet the
deadline for corporate tax returns and make preparations for hundreds of personal tax returns. Since
my team scrambled to complete every task, we sometimes had to work out disagreements to promote
efficiency.
For example, as part of preassembling a T1 package to save time, I put business cards and
envelopes into blue folders. However, the receptionist later replaced those envelopes with new
envelopes, which doubled the assembly time. So, since my team needed efficiency and my midterm
reflection feedback suggested that I leave my nervousness behind, I dealt with this disagreement by
asking the receptionist why she was replacing the old envelopes. She explained that the checklist on
the old envelopes was different from the new envelopes, which cleared up my confusion. The simple
explanation prevented us from becoming frustrated at each other for having to redo work.
Another typical trait of the storming phase is that the team opens up and confronts each other’s
ideas. For example, in a team meeting where we focused on improving our entire team’s efficiency,
every member put out their own ideas, we discussed the practicality of each idea as a team, and came
to a mutual consensus within an hour since our team was small. We decided that Norman, the sole
partner of the firm, would only check finished tax return and talk with clients with complicated situations.
The rest of the firm would start a list of questions to ask him once or twice each day. This system ended
up saving Norman a few hours of time each day, which increase our productivity.
During the norming stage, my team had another team meeting, where the owner of the firm
established the goal of having each co-op student complete at least five personal tax returns per day,
which included getting the return done, reviewed, and printed. The entire team was committed to this
goal. For example, I stayed at the office until 1 am to get the personal tax returns to the printing stage.
My colleagues and I frequently stayed past 11pm so that we could support each other to meet our
established goal. We also sacrificed our weekends to meet our goal and complete clients’ personal tax
returns in a timely manner.
During the work term, I spent almost 2 months in the forming stage with my team. In contrast, we
spent one and a half months in the storming stage, and about two weeks in norming stage. To put this
in perspective, I usually spend 2 to 4 weeks in the forming stage during the study term, and the rest of
the term is spent in the storming stage.
I believe the difference in time spent in the various stages during the work term is because during
the forming stage, everyone wanted to make a good impression in a small team; during the storming
stage, everyone was so overloaded with work that it became easy to lose sight of the team goals and
be caught up in disagreements; and during the norming stage, the disagreements and looming deadline
brought everyone together to truly want to work towards the team goal.
As for comparing the time spent in each stage in the work term and an academic term, large class
sizes did not promote or permit entire classes to form a team because after the initial forming stage
where everyone wanted to form a good impression, classmates realized that they will never meet the
same people in the future, so large classes never moved on from the petty arguments of the storming
phase.
3. Functioning Effectively as a Team Member
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Since the midterm reflection how have you improved your effectiveness as a team member?
The areas where improvement could occur are: leveraging individual differences between team
members, your commitment, dealing with your biases, getting all team members to participate,
and listening skills. Use specific examples to support your points.
Since the midterm reflection, I have improved my effectiveness as a team member through
improving my communication and listening skills, and my commitment to the team.
I have improved my communication and listening skills because in the first half of the term, I was
still nervous about discussing my coworkers’ mistakes and wrote down every task the partner assigned,
while in the latter half of the term, I openly discussed my coworkers’ mistakes and listened more closely
to the details of the tasks that I was assigned to save time from having to write down every task.
I also gained a deeper sense of commitment to my team during the second half of the term because
as the team worked together longer, we grew closer through getting to know each other better and
helping each other with work. I supported my team by working even later, sometimes as late as one in
the morning, and working even more during the weekends.
I also continued to pay attention to details in my assignments, helping colleagues with tasks such
as searching for misplaced files, asking questions, and improving the quality of my work when my
supervisor provides constructive criticism.
4.
Developing Effective Working Relationships
 Discuss a situation that either demonstrated or questioned a working relationship. If you
questioned the relationship, what would you do differently now, if you were faced with a similar
situation?
One aspect of my working relationship with my team is that I tried to limit personal discussions with
my coworkers to lunch and dinner breaks, or even after work. This conscious action not only helped me
focus on completing my tasks at work, but also helped my keep friendships from interfering with my
working relationships and meeting tight deadlines.
For example, when the receptionist started to discuss personal issues with me, I would listen but
tried to find a polite way to ask them to continue during a lunch break. Another example is that the other
co-op students and I would often discuss personal issues while we were waiting for our bus after work
to maintain productivity during work hours.
5.
My Personal Teamwork Question
You were asked to create your own question on teamwork as part of your initial submission.
 What is your response to this question?
What is one major accomplishment that you have achieved during this work term?
One major accomplishment that I have achieved during this work term was improving my customer
service skills. Since I was also assigned the task of acting as the receptionist during my work term, I
directly dealt with clients by interacting with clients to foster an intimate relationship with the firm,
making appointments, and taking payments to improve customer satisfaction.
This was my major accomplishment because this role was not part of the job description, but as it
turned out, was the part of my job that provided me with the most challenges and satisfaction because I
had to constantly adapt myself to adjust to serve the various needs of clients.
6. Accepting Constructive Feedback
 What did you think about the feedback you received on the Interpersonal Behaviour component
of the evaluation?
 How did this feedback compare to your own assessment of your teamwork skills, both from your
reflections in AFM 131, along with any teamwork experiences since then?
 Describe how this information might explain your interactions with and reactions to individuals in
the workplace.
On the Interpersonal Behavior component of the evaluation, I received “Congenial and helpful.
Works well with associates. Seen as an asset in furthering co-operation and group harmony.” I think
this is a fair and accurate feedback because through working in a small firm, I had the opportunity to
develop a more personal relationship with my employer and colleagues.
This feedback has improved since my own evaluation of teamwork skills in my AFM 131 reflections.
I believe the improvement is due to the growth in this area gained from various teamwork experiences
since my AFM131 reflections, such as class group projects (AFM241), extracurricular activities
(Accounting & Finance Orientation Week leader), and my work term.
This information might explain my interactions with and reactions to individuals in the workplace in
several ways. First, my role as an orientation week leader helped me to become more open to
generating ideas with the team and become more receptive of all ideas. This led me to use a more
relaxed approach that allowed me to contribute to the effortless and cheerful atmosphere in our firm’s
team. This helped to increase efficiency because once we established a simple and effortless
atmosphere, everyone became more likely to contribute ideas to the team and decrease the time spent
on brainstorming.
7. Piece of Advice
 Thinking back on this work term, what one piece of advice would you give to 2A students on
how to develop their teamwork skills over their first work term?
One piece of advice that I would give to 2A students on how to develop their teamwork skills over
their first work term would be that you should never hesitate to ask questions. As I stated in my midterm
reflection, one question could allow the student to gain knowledge and work more effectively, at the
same time, provide the person who answers the question the opportunity to reinforce and update their
own knowledge. Since I feel that this lesson is very important, I wanted to include it in the final reflection
report, too.
This lesson is important because questions generate learning opportunities when superiors answer
the question and bring students and their superiors closer when the superior can not provide an answer.
For example, when I asked the partner at my firm about a specific situation about tax law, the partner
taught me to search for the answer through a tax manual so that I could search for future answers
myself and increase productivity for both of us. Thus, my greatest insight regarding teamwork in the
workplace is that whenever team members help each other solve difficulties, both parties reap the
benefits of increased knowledge and productivity.
8. Re-visiting Your Individual Skills Worksheet / Valuable Learning Experience
 Referring to the Individual Skills Worksheet (attached), re evaluate yourself and respond to the
requirement you see highlighted in red.
 Explain what you have found to be the most valuable learning experience in terms of teamwork
in your program to date. This could be a particular course, a particular lecture, a particular
incident that happened during your academic terms or during your work term.
 How have you used that experience to date?
 How will you use it in the future?
Referring to the Individual Skills Worksheet, I believe that I have experienced growth in the areas of
listening skills and skills to receive feedback from team members in the past year and a half. I believe
that I have improved my listening skills because at the beginning of my first year, I listened more to the
words that a person said, but now, I am trying to focus on what a person wants to communicate to me
through their words.
This new method of listening helps me to better understand people’s intentions when they are
talking to me. I believe I have improved my skills to receive feedback from team members because of
my improved listening skills. At the start of my university program, I could not adequately incorporate
feedback into my own improvement because my listening skills did not allow me to understand people’s
words as clearly. Now, I am focused on the message and intentions behind the feedback and I can
specifically target areas that need improvement.
In terms of teamwork, I found that the most valuable learning experience in my program to date was
the first time that I took the client’s payment for a tax return that I prepared. I felt pride at the fact that I
had completed the client’s tax return and assembled the package. I felt amazing when the client took
out his credit card and paid because it showed that my knowledge and work was trusted and valued.
This experience has not only driven me to work harder during the remainder of my work term, but it has
also made me want to pursue my academic studies with more determination and passion in the future.
9. For the Balance of the Work Term
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Refer back to your plans from the mid-term reflection and comment on the progress you have
made.
How will the feedback you received from your employer and from the mid-point reflection impact
your future plans?
Going forward, what areas of your teamwork skills do you want to improve on, and what are
your specific plans for improvement? (again, apply the SMART approach)
In my midterm reflection, I made plans to create a list of traits that I enhanced during the first half of
the term and a list of traits I need to improve during the rest of the term, refer back to these lists every
two weeks, and make notes on any improvements. I have made progress on this plan through utilizing
these lists and notes to focus on the areas that I wanted to improve the most. For example, this plan
was the reason that I improved my listening skills, as specified above.
In the midterm reflection feedback, I received feedback that repeatedly suggested that I was still
nervous at work. This feedback made me realize that sometimes, my cautiousness prevent me from
obtaining a higher productivity. For example, in the first half of the term, if I had asked more questions, I
would not have needed to waste time making corrections to a file that needed to be overridden nor
would I have wasted half an hour waiting for the owner to arrive and open the door to the firm. So, in
the future, I plan to consciously override my cautiousness when questions arise.
The feedback I received from my employer will impact my future plans because they outlined my
weaknesses from an objective view. So, I will focus on working on becoming more detail oriented and
budgeting time more effectively.
Going forward, I plan to work on the leadership area of my teamwork skills by consulting books for
advice on leadership and testing suggestions in team situations. I want to focus on improving only one
area at a time so that I can put all my energy into improving this area. My goal is to be able to motivate
and direct my team to complete a task when my team does not have enough determination to reach the
goal of completion by itself by the end of this term. My success will be measured by frequency of my
teammates to complete tasks with my leadership ability to motivate and direct my teammates.
INDIVIDUAL SKILLS WORKSHEET
Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about
your team related skills. Rate the items using the following scale:
1 = Strongly Disagree
4 = Strongly Agree
Highlight areas of growth in the past year and a half. How do you know that you am improving
in the indicated area?
I need to improve my…
Listening skills
1
2
Skills to evaluate the performance of other
team members
✔
Skills to provide constructive feedback to
team members
✔
3
✔
Skills to receive feedback from team
members
✔
Coaching skills
✔
Negotiating skills
✔
Skills to communicate with other team
members
✔
Skills to manage a team project
✔
Skills to be a team leader
✔
Skills to adapt to differences in team
members’ work styles
✔
Skills to adapt to different cultural norms of
team members
✔
4
As I mentioned previously, I improved my listening skills through focusing on what a person is trying
to communicate to me with words rather than listening to the actual words that a person said. This
increased my understanding of what colleagues were trying to say to me. This directly impacted my
ability to comprehend feedback, communicate with my team, and gain a greater understanding of
cultural differences, which subsequently increased my ability to act on my newfound comprehension
with more precision.
Through my work term, I was responsible for taking on the role of a receptionist during weekends
and evenings, which provided me the opportunity to hone my negotiation skills by dealing directly with
clients in a fast-paced environment where quick and accurate decisions were required. Thus, I develop
my negotiation skills by observing and learning negotiation skills from the regular receptionist and
applying and adapting my observations to best serve and negotiate with clients in an amicable manner.