Task Group Reflection Paper

I was involved in a task group last summer at my agency; my group was assigned a policy to review and update, in preparation for our quality assurance site visit. The group got off to a rocky start as there were initial disagreements as to how to precede with completing our report. During the process, we also lost two members and the remaining members were tasked with completing the report by the deadline. The outcome was good and we were able to accomplish the tasks, after the initial hiccups and changes. Initially, within this task group, I was the quiet member. I am a very quiet person and am very thoughtful and cautious when offering feedback and ideas; I generally like to take time to process information before jumping in. In contrast, the other group members assigned were very vocal and opinionated; they had many ideas on how they thought the process should
Moreover, I feel that being the youngest and most inexperienced person, also played a part in my selection of the quiet role. As the group progressed, I felt more comfortable suggesting ideas and towards the end sometimes took on the role as gatekeeper, particularly when a suggestion was offered that did not appear to align with our goal. The quiet role is one that I frequently play in other group situations; it is the nature of my personality as I sometimes feel uncomfortable with quick responses and generally take a little longer to process information. I think that I do this to ensure that my responses are helpful and well received. Unfortunately, this can sometimes makes other members uncomfortable; however, as they get to know me, they understand that this is my nature. I feel that this can be both a strength and challenge as I have a great ability to understand the other members, but also have to deal with the perception that being quiet is