What if there was a way to deepen understanding, embed a culture of continuous development and foster beneficial behaviors as part of your corporate training strategy?

Proven by scientific research and gaining traction among many businesses, reflective practice is fast becoming the meta skill of 21st-century leaders.

Mindfulness techniques came to the forefront of many organizations’ well-being and mental health strategies as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite in the first few months after lockdown. But there are also significant benefits when introduced to more corporate areas of the business.

Reflective practice is about looking inward to find a way past a stumbling block, life challenge or anxiety by understanding what has happened and processing it into a positive action. It builds self-awareness and mental toughness, enabling wiser choices and gaining clarity at times of stress or complication.

Self-reflection has many potential benefits, from greater clarity of thought, to coping with stressful situations, to preventing negative emotion overriding pragmatism — it works with everyone from front-line workers to high flyers in the boardroom.

The Benefits of Reflective Practice

With the impact of international relations on supply chains, and the cost-of-living crisis on individuals contributing to the swirl of constant and unpredictable change that has become the norm in the business world, the cultural impact and benefits of incorporating reflective practice into professional development can be significant.

Some of these benefits include:

A Mature Learning Culture

With self-directed learning and continuous improvement becoming the preferred approach to learning cultures for many organizations, allowing time for reflective practice gives people the psychological safety and space to consider what drives them and their personal learning preferences. Building trust and banishing a blame culture, reflective practice is a technique that gets to the root cause of a situation.

Instead of repeatedly sending people on a training course to address understanding or behaviors, reflective practice can quickly get to the heart of the matter, giving individuals a sustainable tool to aid their progression and personal development.

Minimal Investment

It can be tempting to steamroll toward expensive solutions, when the first port of call should always be gaining personal insight. To-do lists, deadlines, action plans and endless meetings fill calendars, giving people little space to consider whether they’re on the right path, going through the motions or just doing things because it’s what they’ve always done.

But taking little time and with virtually no cost, reflective practice permits people to take a step back and reflect before jumping into action and can easily slot into learning and development (L&D) strategies alongside (and within) more traditional training methods. There’s no need for new L&D modules, training sessions or carving out large slots of time — instead, the individual takes ownership and accountability.

And there’s no need for expensive experts either — using a few simple tools, reflective practice can help training teams embed a coaching culture, enhancing mental toughness throughout the organization, and in turn the team’s credibility.

Easy to Implement

Reflective practice does not need to be over-engineered or process driven. Instead, it’s about building a cultural narrative, encouraging individuals to ask themselves questions such as what’s gone well, what they can do differently and how they could improve.

The STEP model is a great place to start:

1. Step back: This is where people should look at the “what.” Here they should take time to think about and describe what’s happened and what the situation, problem or opportunity is that they’re facing. Sometimes just going back to the beginning can help clear the clutter.
2. Step in: This is where people reflect on the “so what?” of the situation. Thinking about what has caused the situation and how it really impacts them, the team or the organization can put everything into perspective. For example, how much will this matter in six months’ time?
3. Step forward: This is where people move into the “now what?” phase, finding solutions. Often, people make the mistake of diving into this straightaway when the value really comes from the insight gained from the first two stages. By thinking about this last, change really sticks, action really happens, and people have full control.

Whether being introduced to a subject matter expert, conglomerate or not-for-profit, the STEP model is easy to implement — and quick to provide results. Piloting it first with key project teams or even teams that have demonstrated a need for improved teamwork and communications can be a great way to prove its value. Once the results are evident, work with senior leaders and managers to roll it out in a more formal way that suits the organization.

This is where senior leadership teams can and should lead by example. By showing how they reflect upon activities and actions, they embed this practice into the company culture and show its value firsthand. This can be as simple as incorporating into meetings, or into one-on-ones, project reviews and appraisals.

Dealing With Challenges

Of course, there can be challenges, especially in more traditionally orientated organizations who may dismiss reflective practice as fluff. In this case, find a like-minded sponsor in the senior leadership team who can give it a go and then extol the value and results amongst their peers.

It’s also natural for people to report struggling to get going when first using reflective practice. It takes time to get into the habit and at first, they may feel uncomfortable or indulgent. Yet dedicating just 1% of the day equals less than 15 minutes to think about what’s gone well, what could have been better and what could be done differently.

From greater collaboration, a more emotionally mature approach to problem-solving to informed and considered decision-making, the benefits of incorporating reflective practice into training and development strategies are potentially endless. The beauty of it is that it’s scalable and can be customized to suit you and your organization.

And arguably, it is a must-do, especially during these times of complex volatility and change.