Goal Setting: Tower Building

Tower Building Exercise: Two important pillar of an organisation are Employees and Managers. Goal setting by the managers has great impact on the performance of employees and in return on the financial condition of the company. Effective goal setting done by the managers, taking into consideration the needs of the employees, will go a long way in maintaining a good bonding of the employees with their company. It is rightly said that “Most of the employees don’t leave a company but they leave their managers”. So if the goals set by the manager are good, then employee will work to his strength.

 

Tower building exercise was to demonstrate the importance of goal setting in an organisation. Dr. Mandi gave some small cubes and asked us to come forward for the exercise......wait but you have to pay for to be the performer. So one of my friends dared and he extended the bid to 500 which started from 100.

This exercise involved piling up maximum number small cubes one over the other without collapsing the structure. It had to be done by a single person. All the students were asked to estimate the how high the tower can be built. Students came with varied number of estimates ranging from 10 to 30. The tower height achieved was 16. Then the next task was to redo the same project but this time it had to be done blindfolded. Other 7 guys were there to help him, but condition was that they can’t touch him and not even cubes. The students were asked again to estimate the maximum height the tower could achieve. In the end he was able to make only 7 this time.

Conclusions were noted as follows:

1. More than 90% of the students lowered their targets since they thought that the blind folded person will not be able to build a tower higher than the one initially built. In an organization, such employees are considered as “Back Folders” since usually, targets should never be revised after having realized your potential and working effectively towards it. The more we gain knowledge and skills working in the organization, goals should be revised in an upward direction.
2. Some students increased their target this time since they realized their true potential after having performed the exercise at least once. Such minds are called the “Progressive Minds”. Speaking from an organization perspective, it is important for it to have as many "Progressive Minds" as possible.  Having worked in Tech Mahindra, I am aware about how the organization flourished during tough times. It was only possible because of the progressive mind of our Leaders and they made the employees follow the same path.

Being a future manager, I learnt how important it is to set the goals properly for the well-being of the employees and the organization and help the company achieve outstanding performance. Employees should be evaluated on the basis of their skills and their participation in helping the organization achieve its objectives.

So if we keep our goals high for ourselves and though we couldn't meet them we would be definitely landing in a place which will be far better than what we are at the current position :)