What Is Metacognition?
Metacognition is essentially an awareness of one’s own cognitive processes. This is the single, most powerful tool for effective reasoning, learning and problem-solving. It often refers to the ability to reflect upon the task demand and independently select and employ the appropriate reading, writing, math or learning strategy.
So why is metacognitive awareness important?
Metacognition is an imperative aspect of learning, no matter what the age. It involves self-regulation, reflection upon an individual’s performance strengths, weaknesses, learning and study strategies. This is the foundation upon which learners or students or even professionals become truly independent readers and writers as one example. Metacognition can also underlie the student’s abilities to generalise math problem-solving strategies.
Metacognition in the workplace
Metacognition is a skill that can be applied to an array of situations. Leaders with well-developed metacognitive ability will reflect on their assumptions about situations, events and people and ask “why do I think this way?” The self-awareness and questioning of existing traits that come from metacognition can help leaders to improve their interpersonal and leadership skills. There is also a link between metacognition and emotional intelligence. Being aware of your own thinking can help with understanding the thinking and emotions of others. Teams with high levels of emotional intelligence will demonstrate advanced social and communication skills.
How metacognition can help you get the best out of your team
If you wish to retain your staff, then you need to make the most of them individually. Everybody is different, and everyone has something valuable to offer. If you look to train your staff, you traditionally look to ability, prior knowledge and motivation. There is a factor however which is commonly overlooked or missed. This is metacognition.
Although it sounds very academic or perhaps complicated, it isn’t. Knowing how to teach people in the right way is the key to unlocking the very best out of any individual; some people learn better than others or rather in different ways than others. Intelligence does not explain the difference. A good learner cannot explain how they do it but they have simply just figured out how to learn. They have acquired a set of skills that the experts call metacognition (which by definition means “beyond knowledge”).
There are five isolated metacognitive skills, and these are planning, tuning, selecting, connecting and monitoring. With our assistance and guidance, we can help you apply these strategies for your organisation’s training, and you will improve retention and, ultimately, results. We go further to encourage an interplay between optimism and metacognition within the workplace. The core meaning of metacognition is “thinking about thinking”, or rather simply put mindfulness. This affects the basic cognitive process.
How can you improve metacognition in the workplace?
It’s always important to set time aside for evaluating work, no matter what form that work takes. Only then can we learn from the positives and the mistakes made.
When people go back and evaluate their work, they can gain an understanding of how they approached a task, including the planning and processes that underpinned it. Employees should be encouraged to explain why they performed a task in the way they did, tracing their steps back. Routines should be challenged and alternative strategies should be explored to see if they can achieve better results.
Of course, when you’re trying to implement metacognition in the workplace, it’s vital to explain what it is and why you’re introducing it. Point out that employees will gain a better understanding of the way they think and learn, which can greatly help their own professional development.
How can agp help you improve your metacognitive awareness?
Through our mentoring and executive coaching services, we’ll give you invaluable insight into your strengths, weaknesses and leadership style. After working with us, you’ll gain the ability to take a step back and examine the way you think – and how it influences your decision-making.
By working one-on-one with you, we’ll get to know you well, understanding what makes you tick and charting your thought processes. We’ll equip you with a greater awareness of the patterns behind your thinking, so you challenge your own behaviours. You’ll become adept at recognising your thought processes at work, modifying them as needed.
Get in touch with us today to discuss our executive coaching and mentoring services in more detail and learn how we can help you apply this within your organisation today.