Reflection on Change Communication

Applying the core concepts to your experiences. This might take the form of 1-2 specific but brief examples from your work or personal experiences that demonstrate (or challenge) the ideas in the learning materials. If you do this, be very clear about how/why this example relates to particular concepts. For instance, if the topic is ‘communicating change', do not simply give an example of a miscommunication incident. Instead, briefly describe the incident but then use the specific concepts or theories that are introduced in the learning materials to diagnose, explain or make sense of what happened, and/or to propose an alternative (i.e. improved) outcome might have been achieved. Avoid stating your opinions without supporting it by theories introduced in the learning materials. In short, focus on using ideas in the learning materials as ‘tools’ that can be practically applied to things that you experience, observe or become aware of;
Brief responses to 1-2 of the following questions which you find especially relevant to you. Don't just 'go through the motions' of answering every question. Choose carefully question/s relevant to you and respond thoughtfully in ways beyond the obvious. For instance, discuss the implications of the question and the theories to your experiences, to other topics that we have studied, and/or to content from other subjects:
Try any of the assessment tools provided at the end of chapter 12 (you can also access the resilience assessment tool on the Week 11 page). Reflect on the results by linking them to your own life or work experience. Don't forget to use any of the relevant frameworks or theories presented in the chapter.
Do you feel you have resilience required to operate effectively as a (future) change manager? If necessary, what steps can you take to maintain and strengthen your resilience? Link your answer to the concepts and observations made in the chapter.
If there was one main idea that you took away from chapter 12 (required reading for this week) that you believe can be of most use to you as a (future) change manager, what would it be and why?
Real-world examples (e.g. media reports) that relate directly to the ideas in the Textbook and other learning materials. As with the previous points, be sure to explain connections between examples you include and specific relevant theories/concepts;
1-2 questions that the learning materials cause you to consider (e.g. unanswered issues that your preparation for a class has provoked in you), and why these might be important to your career or future. Be sure to provide sufficient context to demonstrate that you have thought about this issue (i.e. don't just list half a page of vague questions);
Relating the content to additional resources that you find, including relevant good quality academic materials. If you do use additional materials, be sure to reference and cite these fully using APA referencing style . and be sure to demonstrate that you have read and understood the referenced work – please do not list references that you don’t actually read; and/or
Any ideas or insights that the learning materials have triggered. These may relate to, for example, your organisation, your own life experiences, or issues from the broader media (e.g. newspaper, television news).

General comments on your reflective writing
In the following points, I comment on some general areas for improvement in your reflections:
(1) Too much learning materials (summarising, generalising)
First, the students explained the concepts, frameworks and theories by summarising some of the major points and sometimes the observations which they found interesting. However, they did not link these general ideas with some specific experience, real-world scenario or question which the learning materials made them raise. This means that the text was rather a summary of the textbook (or the article). Some students even used sentence starters "in my opinion" but then just presented a concept by saying that "it is important". For example, "in my opinion, diagnosis is an important tool during organisational change" - why do you agree? any examples? You need to persuade the reader why you think it is important - this is where evidence (for instance, your own experience) is a very useful tool. For example, you might support your general statement by some specific event/incident/situation that happened to you, at work or because you have read something about it in the daily press. You can be creative in your reflections.
Linked to my previous point, in your reflections, you do not need to provide lengthy definitions. Some students spent half a page describing Gap Analysis. Instead, you should go straight into explaining the relevance of this framework to your own life/work experience or something you observed (in the daily press, for example). You might also provide your assessment of this tool – how it is helpful or what its limitations are (again, linking to your own specific situation, not summarising the general characteristics of the model).
(2) Too little learning materials
In the second type, the students provided a very interesting story or example of some business case, but the link to learning materials was not clear and was left to the reader to figure out which concept or theory the student is reflecting on. I know that when you are writing your story you have a specific concept in mind (for example, that market competition is a form of external pressure for a change), but you need to mention this also in your writing.
(3) Missing your own voice
Third, some students applied a certain framework (e.g., Elements of Strategy or Gap Analysis) to a specific situation in rather superficial way (without relevant details of what happened, what are the consequences, and implications). I often commented on these cases as ‘missing your own voice’. This means providing your own opinion, critical evaluation (what is missing, contradicting, not obvious) or relevance to your own life.
(4) Reflecting outside of weekly learning materials
The fourth type of reflective writing is when students addressed a topic in the textbook chapter but did not use the interpretation relevant to the weekly content. For example, chapter three discussed 'pressures and drivers for change', yet some students wrote about change and its (general) omnipresence in organisational life.
(5) Lacking depth
And finally, I found that some of the examples are too broad or general - such as when a student writes about organisational diagnosis and then mentions that the element of data collection is important for organisations to successfully manage their change processes. This is simply providing a partial definition of the concept that helps a reader to understand it; however, this is not reflective writing. I found that this is happening often to students who try to cover too many things in one reflective entry – focus on one main idea and go in-depth.
Comment on referencing
Make sure you do not forget to reference the concepts, theories or other observation from external sources; these would include also the textbook. You should insert in-text references and create a bibliography at the end of your reflection (APA referencing style). Nevertheless, while you need to cite, certainly do not overcite.