BSBCRT311

Apply critical thinking skills

in a team environment
Prepare to address workplace
problem

1.1 Identify and select

workplace problem to
address within scope of
job role and team
members
 How is critical thinking beneficial
in a team environment?
Over a three year period between 2012 to 2015,
employer demand across all industries in Australia for
critical thinking increased by 158%. Being able to
demonstrate this skill was also linked to higher potential
income, with employers willing to pay up to AU$7,745
more per year for workers with critical thinking.

Source: www.fya.org.au
 Critical thinking
Critical thinking is a discipline that will encourage you
to stop and think deliberately before you take any
action. It will give you the skills to understand your
thought process and help you make connections, which
in turn will help you see everything in a more balanced
way.
 Critical thinking
Critical thinking has four main parts:
 Posing questions, gathering, organising and processing
information and ideas
 Imagining possibilities, suggesting alternatives, seeking
solutions and putting ideas into action
 Talking about and giving reasons for your thinking and
applying knowledge in new situations
 Applying logic and reasoning, drawing conclusions and
designing a course of action, and evaluating procedures and
results.
 Critical thinking can help you:
 Develop workplace relationships
 Change your mindset
 Work towards a common goal.
 Common workplace problems
Common workplace problems include:
 Lack of training
 Ineffective lines of communication
 Lack of facilities
 Lack of motivation
 Not feeling appreciated
 Bullying.
 Effects of workplace problems
Problems in the workplace can make working life
miserable for everyone involved. It can cause people to
become less motivated, less enthusiastic and less
willing to work in collaboration with other team
members.
Problems at work can affect our mental well-being and
damage our confidence and performance.
 Effects of workplace problems
By sharing experiences of workplace problems and
applying critical thinking skills you may discover that
you can work together to create positive experiences
and find successful long-term solutions.
 Own job role and responsibilities
It’s really important to know the boundaries of your
own job role and responsibilities.
If you are ever unsure, the details of this can usually be
found in your job description. Your job description will
include a list of duties and outline the full
responsibilities of your role.
If you find that your job description is unclear, vague or
undefined you should always get clarification from your
manager.
Activity 1A
Prepare to address workplace
problem

1.2 Identify
organisational and
legislative frameworks
applicable to selected
problem
 Organisational frameworks
Organisational frameworks are policies and procedures
within a workplace that outline the ‘dos’ and’ ‘don’ts’
of the organisation. These documents will usually be
found online, so they are accessible to everyone at any
time.
The frameworks in place are to make
sure that everyone in the organisation is
treated fairly and to help maintain a
harmonious working environment.
 Legislative requirements for
workplace issues
 Legislative requirements can include setting
standards and controls to govern the actions of
people and groups in the public and private sectors
 Legislation is valuable to setting societal standards
and norms and can serve several purposes. It is used
to regulate activities, authorise certain actions,
supply resources such as funding, implement
sanctions and permit or deny certain activities.

Source: www.reference.com
 Legislation related to the
workplace may include:
 Fair Work Act 2009
 Work Health and Safety Standards (WHS)
 Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012
 Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987
 Disability Discrimination Act 1992
 Age Discrimination Act 2004
 Racial Discrimination Act 1975
 Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
Activity 1B
Prepare to address workplace
problem

1.3 Develop questions

to identify key issues
and challenges of
selected problem
 Develop questioning techniques
Questioning
Questioning is often an underrated skill, and it is much
more than just asking what you feel in the moment.
When dealing with a problem in the workplace, you will
need to consider the situation carefully and developing
your questioning technique will help you do this.
 Different kind of questions
Closed questions require a yes or no answer only. They
will leave little room for elaboration.
Open-ended questions will give the person being asked
the question the option to elaborate.
Probing questions are used to obtain further
information.
Summarising questions are used to clarify or
ensure understanding.
Using questioning to solve problems in the
workplace
Questioning techniques help you to learn about a
problem in more depth, help understand your
colleagues better, perhaps help to calm a situation
down if necessary, persuade people and help solve an
issue. The more you know, the better equipped you are
to overcome a problem.
 Applying critical thinking to
questioning techniques
Questioning skills are at the centre of critical thinking.
Applying critical thinking and questioning techniques
will enable you to work more closely with your
colleagues to address problems in the workplace.
 Identify key questions to help
apply critical thinking
 Who is involved in the problem?
 Who needs to take responsibility for the problem?
 Have all participants been able to share their
perspectives?
 Is the problem preventing colleagues from focusing
on their work?
 Does the problem fall outside of the boundaries of
your role and responsibility?
Activity 1C
Prepare to address workplace
problem

1.4 Consult key

stakeholders using
questions to gather
information on selected
problem
Key stakeholders could include:
 Collecting information from
stakeholders
Stakeholders must feel involved in the process in order
to achieve positive outcomes. It means ensuring that
they are kept informed and updated on work-related
issues throughout the process. Additionally, seeking
information from stakeholders will help you gather
relevant information and give you a wider perspective
on specific problems that occur in the workplace.
 Questions to consider
 How accurate is the information?
 Is the information based on facts or opinions?
 Are my questions solution-driven?
 Do my questions encourage relevancy?
 Do my questions help me to see the bigger picture?
Activity 1D
Evaluate solutions for workplace
problems

2.1 Identify a range of

critical thinking
techniques to generate
solutions to selected
problem
 Critical thinking
Critical thinking could be described as the process to
engage with an idea in an independent and reflective
way. This means that instead of accepting something at
face value, you will use your skills to re-think an issue
by asking questions, consider the bigger picture and
look for any inconsistencies to be able to reach the best
possible outcome.
 Approaching a problem
Using critical thinking skills will help you:
 Think about a topic or issue in an objective and critical
way
 Identify the different arguments there are in relation to a
particular issue
 Evaluate a point of view to determine how strong or valid
it is
 Recognise any weaknesses or negative points that there
are in the evidence or argument.
 Applying critical thinking
techniques
The best approach for this is to think about the
techniques in different steps:
 Research
 Read between the lines
 Look for relevance
 Identify biases
 Identify facts and opinions.
 Applying critical thinking
techniques
To help you differentiate between fact and opinion,
ask yourself the following questions:
 Can the information be proven?
 Does the information contain a biased view?
 Is the information based on an assumption?
 Is there any misleading information being given to
you, and if so, is this unintentional or on purpose?
Activity 2A
Evaluate solutions for workplace
problems

2.2 Develop solutions

using knowledge and
experience of team
members
 Team members
It is really important to remember that all team
members will bring their own knowledge and
experiences to the problems you find in the workplace.
It is essential to recognise that everyone involved
should feel appreciated and valued in a team
environment. If not, it could cause a limited view of the
situation, and will be much harder to find a solution
that works for all involved.
 Benefits of knowledge sharing
Benefits of knowledge sharing can:
 Help team members grow in confidence
 Help team members work towards a common goal
 Increase motivation
 Create a sense of respect and belonging
 Encourage creativity and expertise
 Strengthen the team’s interactions and
connection with each other.
 Using shared knowledge to
develop solutions
This can be done by thinking about the following
steps:
 Appreciate all perspectives
 Make a clear list of all the possible solutions you have
in front of you. Use critical thinking to decide which
solutions could be the most effective
 Finalise your decision on the solution that you think
will be the most effective for a specific problem.
 Begin the development process
for individual solutions
You could consider:
 Mind mapping the ideas with your team members as
this will encourage everyone to have an active role in
creative thinking
 It will also help link all your ideas together and
ensure inclusion by acknowledging individual ideas
and perspectives.
Activity 2B
Evaluate solutions for workplace
problems

2.3 Explain development

process for individual
solutions generated by
team members
 The development process of
individual solutions
Once every member of the team has been consulted you
should know what is making the team unhappy,
frustrated, or angry. It is also essential to look closely at
the possible solutions, thinking about the potential
outcomes, and clearly defining what this might look like.
This can be done by considering the following points:
 What the root cause of the problem is
 Acknowledging every perspective.
 Planning for obstacles
Keep an open mind and accept that obstacles will exist.
When you come across obstacles, it will prove you are
working hard for a solution, and you have the ability to
put the focus on overcoming these and that you can
bring a problem to a successful close.
 Planning for obstacles
Possible restraints could include:
 Timing
 Team members reactions
 Communication challenges.
Activity 2C
Evaluate solutions for workplace
problems

2.4 Apply agreed criteria

for selecting most
suitable option in
consultation with team
members
 Outlining a criteria
When you are considering different solutions to a
workplace problem, you need to make sure that you
have agreed a criteria to help you select the most
suitable option with your team members. It is
important to recognise that every problem will have a
variety of elements that you will need to consider,
however, there are specific questions that you could
apply to any problem to help you clarify the details of a
solution.
 Outlining a criteria
You could ask yourself the following questions:
 Can the solution solve the problem effectively?
 Will team members accept it?
 Will it work in practice?
 Is it cost-effective?
 Is it reliable?
Using negotiation to reach an agreement

Once you have established the criteria needed to select

the most effective solution, you may need to negotiate
the requirements with all the relevant people involved
in the process.
This will be with your team members as previously
mentioned, or with any other stakeholders, such as
managers or clients.
 Communication techniques for
negotiation
 Actively listen – to make sure you hear and
understand the thoughts and feelings of others
 Be polite and patient – this will ensure negotiations
are professional and fair
 Reframe points of view if necessary – this will ensure
you reach everyone involved.
Activity 2D
Evaluate solutions for workplace
problems

2.5 Critically evaluate

solutions generated and
select solution to be
implemented
 Critically evaluate solutions
Using critical thinking skills will give you the tools to
evaluate possible solutions and decide on the best
option that you feel should be implemented.
When you lead a project at work, it is important to
consider the following points:
 Be sensitive to other people’s feelings
 Consider different challenges
 Avoid conflict
 Select solution.
 Making a final decision
Making the final decision can be difficult; we all want to
be confident when we make decisions at work and have
successful outcomes. Critical thinking skills will help to
build your own confidence to ensure you are making
clear and confident choices.
Activity 2E
Finalise and review solution
development process

3.1 Present solution to

relevant stakeholders
with explanation of
critical thinking
processes involved
 Presenting the solution
Once you have completed the process of collecting all
the relevant information, organised and evaluated the
possible solutions available to you, it would be time to
present your findings to the relevant stakeholders.
When you present the information to your
stakeholders, it is important to consider the different
ways in which you can do this.
 Presenting the solution
Different ways to share information:
 Electronically
 Video conference call
 Face to face.
 Applying critical thinking
Once you have decided on how you are going to
present your information to the stakeholders, it would
be time to consider the steps you will take to explain
how you have completed the development of your
ideas and how you have applied critical thinking to the
process.
 Applying critical thinking
The steps should include:
 How you collected the information
 You have been inclusive throughout the process
 Organising your findings.
Activity 3A
Finalise and review solution
development process

3.2 Respond to
challenges and questions
from stakeholders
 Responding to stakeholders
You will need to be fully prepared to explain that you
have taken a measured and methodical approach to
specific problems.
This will include
 Collecting all the relevant information
 Ensuring that everyone involved has had their say
 Gaining a clear understanding of the problem
 Choosing the best approach to find a long-term
solution.
 Responding to stakeholders
When responding to challenges and questions from
stakeholders, consider the following questions:
 Have you analysed all points raised?
 Have you determined root cause?
 Have you determined a plan of action
 Have you understood the value of the
stakeholder?
 Responding to stakeholders
It’s also really important that you can demonstrate your
ability to apply your own attributes when responding to
stakeholders’ challenges and questions too.
You can do this by:
 Responding openly and honestly
 Being transparent
 Being relevant
 Being respectful
 Being accurate.
Activity 3B
Finalise and review solution
development process

3.3 Evaluate critical

thinking processes with
team members and
using feedback received
 Sharing and evaluating critical
thinking processes
There are clear methods that help you develop your
critical thinking skills.
These are:
 Interpret
 Infer
 Analyse
 Explain
 Evaluate.
Activity 3C
Finalise and review solution
development process

3.4 Identify critical

thinking learnings to
apply to individual and
team situations
 Critical thinking skills
Now we are at the end of the unit, It is important to
evaluate what you have learnt about critical thinking
and determine how you can use it in the future.
Critical thinking skills are transferable to any situation
and will give you the best opportunity to use your
independent thinking, to be more self-disciplined, and
to have more empathy and clarity for other people’s
perspectives.
 Critical thinking skills
Some relevant attributes are:
 Honesty
 Objectivity
 Patience.
 Conclusion
Overall, your ability to apply critical thinking skills to a
workplace problem will show that you can be insightful,
it will show your ability to reconsider different
decisions, recognise if something is not progressing,
and have the confidence to change the direction of the
outcome.
Activity 3D
 Summative Assessments
Summative assessments consist of:
 Skills Activity
 Knowledge Activity
 Performance Activity.

Your assessor will provide you with further guidance on

how and where to complete these assessments.
 Summary and Feedback
 Did we meet our objectives?
 How did you find this session?
 Any questions?