Valley Crossing......as a TEAM

This blog is about the lesson learnt about teamwork through a valley crossing exercise. In this case there is a valley which cannot be crossed by an individual alone because it is 2 steps wide. Now the exercise shows how if 3 people come together and a pole of sufficient length is provided using innovative thinking all 3 people can cross the valley.

Situation

The situation is that persons have to cross the valley. As the picture suggest there is a ditch in between the two mountains. It can be easily deciphered that single person alone cannot cross the valley. In simple terms the task (of crossing the valley) cannot be completed without involving a group of three (min.) persons. The current situation is tantamount to the case in a company wherein the employee has to work in a team to finish  a specific task. Even though the employee may be efficient but when you are working in a team its the team effort, coordination, commitment that counts rather than individual personality traits. Here, in this situation the employees have to complete the job of getting to the other end of valley safely.

Team is aptly signified by :-

                                             T  - Together

E - Everyone

A - Achieves

M -     More   

    

I am sure you have definitely heard or read the above extended form of the word TEAM many times. Together Everyone Achieves More, itself conveys the importance of teamwork in the workplace and elsewhere.

Why is Teamwork Important ?

The importance of working in a team are many. It involves the joint efforts of a number of people to achieve a common goal. Therefore every organization should emphasize on the importance of teamwork for the overall growth of the company.

Fast Learning
You tend to learn things at a faster rate, if you are working as a team. the faster you learn the faster you tend to perform in the team. The experiences and knowledge of the older team members help you to grasp new concepts quickly. At the same time it proves to be an added bonus for you as you avoid mistakes at work.

Workload Distribution
Working in a team has an advantage of the workload getting distributed among all the team members. With work properly distributed, you can concentrate on a single activity till the time you gain expertise in it and you do not feel stressed out due to work.

Building Bonds
Continuous interaction with the team members, working with them for the day, having your meals with them, sharing your joys and sorrows helps in building a strong bond between each other. The team members build strong relationships of trust and understanding which can invoke loyalty for the team and work place as well. In this way, you can even make friends for a lifetime.

Healthy Competition
Just think of a situation where people are competing with each other and trying to excel better than the other. At the same time they are helping and assisting each other in work-related as well as personal difficulties and problems. Wouldn't that be a great sight! Well this is possible when you work as a team, as everyone is emotionally bonded to each other.

Exploring Creativity
While working in a team you will never be alone, you will always have some or the other person to suggest you good things. Suggestions and advice can help you in generating new ideas and bring out the creativity in you.

Job Satisfaction
Teamwork is one of the most important reasons for employee job satisfaction. This is because working in a team improves employee performance as well as makes the work enjoyable. This is also conducive to employee motivation.

Increased Speed of Work
With many people handling a single project and doing the assigned work properly, the overall work speed increases and your team can complete the project well within the given time frame. 

The above-mentioned benefits of teamwork were team specific. But teamwork is even beneficial at the organizational level. Effective teamwork in the workplace benefits the organization by increasing the productivity which is important to meet the targets and fulfill commitments. Also, teamwork ensures maximum use of manpower. This is the reason companies are promoting teamwork in the workplace. 

Working as a team can benefit you as an individual, as a team as well as an organization. For some people it might be a bit difficult to adjust in a group initially, but I am sure, they will gradually learn to adjust and work as a team. Effective teamwork motivates an individual to grow into a responsible citizen and accomplish individual as well as organizational goals.

In the present day globally competitive market, the real success of a firm lies in the performance of its team. A dull, demotivated team lacking in coordination leads to the downfall of an organization whereas a company with well organized employees charts out the path to success. HR policies of the company are hence always directed for the betterment of the employee so that their performance can be maximized. So, next time, your team lands up with a project, remember the motto: "Together We Can".

Management Lessons from THREE MONKS

THREE MONK STORY

"One monk will shoulder two buckets of water; two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water" is the basis behind this film.

This movie is dialogue less.

It doesn’t have any conversation.  

Each monk is presented by a different music.

PLOT:

A young monk lives a simple life in a temple on top of a hill. He has one daily task of hauling two buckets of water up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chore. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candleholder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM AWARD WINNING STORY:

   1.   CONFLICT RESOLUTION:  Complex Problems, Simple Solutions - This is the motto of decision making for any manager or team member in an organization. When the first two monks were trying to push the weight of the bucket towards each other, we in the class were asked to give a possible solution to the problem. And well, a simple solution was suggested by one of the student that they should mark the middle of the stick so that they do not fight. For marking purpose, they should use the standard scale so that, there is  no any conflicts remaining.

There were a lot of other possible alternative solutions given by others too like:

One person getting water one day

Two persons more bucket

Two sticks, four buckets

Divide the work in half

Get a motor and connect a pipe

Attitude problem - Brain wash

But in an organization, the above mentioned alternates cannot be applied. We have to think rationally and not in a bounded territory.

   2.   ORGANISATION AND TEAM WORK SHOULD HAVE HIGH PRIORITY OVER INDIVIDUAL GOALS: Teamwork can lead to better decisions, products, or services. The quality of teamwork may be measured by analyzing the following six components of collaboration among team members: communication, coordination, balance of member contributions, mutual support, effort, and cohesion. Teamwork quality as measured in this manner correlated with team performance in the areas of effectiveness (i.e., producing high quality work) and efficiency (i.e., meeting schedules and budgets).

 

  3.   TEAM MEMBERS ATTITUDE PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE IN SUCCESS OF TASK:  When the two monks were trying to divide the load of the bucket equally, the taller monk used his bigger hands to show that the bucket should be hung closer to the first monk, but the presence of a measuring instrument helped them get the exact centre and resolved the problem. Hence it is important for a team and a manger to have the right attitude.

CONCLUSION:

    1. One monk carrying water every day will become boring after a while but two

    monks carrying water will not be boring and productivity will not be   hampered.

         2. Disputes and conflicts are bound to arise but they need to be minimized so as to make the most out of the available resources.

   3. Team work and coordination is the key to success.

                  "Solution comes from problem and experience."

Goal Settings and Pygmalion Effect

Hi All,

Another Session started with the concept of SMART Goals. Here we made aware of the following parameters to be considered before goal setting :

1) Goal Set

2) Goal Achieved

3) Goal ( Historical )

4) Potential

Here we understood that Goal Set > Potential > Goal Achieved > Goal ( Historical ).

Here SMART is an abbreviation which can have many meanings. I would be listing a few to get an idea.

S - Specific, Simple, Sensible

M - Measurable, Motivating

A - Achievable, Ambitious

R - Rational, Realistic

T - Time Bound, Tangible

Goal setting is something which manifests itself  in so many ways in our lives. On a personal level, setting goals helps people work towards their own objectives—most commonly with financial or career-based goals.For Complex Organizations, Management by Objectives, or MBO , is a concept expressed by Peter Drucker more than 50 years ago. This strategy for managing people, which focuses on managing teams based on their ability to complete individual and team goals. Talking about the goals Drucker suggested that they should be SMART i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound.

       PERFORMANCE = SMART GOAL SET X SMART GOAL ACHIEVED.

The Pygmalion effect was discussed extensively in the lecture. I have done some internet research on the same and here are some of my opinions about the Pygmalion effect.

Pygmalion basically refers to the phenomenon where an individual raises his bar when he is expected to do well by his mentors/teachers. This is one of the common scenarios in Schools/ colleges. Teacher expects a lot from their favourite students and the student delivers par or above expectation. It is because the expectation instils confidence in the individual and also makes him aware of his responsibilities which always keep him on his toes. Here, it teaches that every person is special and it is just a matter of realising his/her potential.

For example, Suppose there is an international football match between England and Brazil being played in England. England would play well above their potential because they have their fans backing them all the time. The support and expectation of the fans create a positive vibe amongst the England players and help them perform better. Take one more example of Indian cricket Team. They finally became the world champions in 2011 on their home turf because the expectation was such. The same thing applies to any other sport like tennis, hockey, athletics etc

The Pygmalion effect also explains the teaching culture in the top colleges of World. They develop an atmosphere where expecting a lot out of the student becomes a norm. I am in support of such culture and I feel that miracles do happen in life its only about believing in it.

               "With higher expectations, people perform well."

CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ORGANISATION

CRAFTMANSHIP

In this class Professor Dr. Mandi taught us about importance of craftsmanship and organisation. A craftsman is one who makes his own articles with his manual skills. A tailor, cobbler are the example of craftsmanship. Our aim should be for excellence.

Parameter	Craftsmanship	Organisation
Number of Employee	1	> 1
Work	Non Parallel	Parallel
Kind Of Work	Generic	Specialization leads to greater results
Nature Of Work	Satisfaction	Alienation
Control	Worker	Non Worker
Skilled	Skill	De-skilled
Definition Of Role	No role defined	Roles are exactly defined for individuals. Roles are tied to particular worker.

                                          OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT

 He taught us that how the three E’s are related to each other. Concept of Excellence, Efficiency & Effectiveness:

Excellence = Effectiveness x efficiency

Efficiency is the ability to do things right and effectiveness is doing thing right or we can say choosing the right goals or targets.

To achieve excellence I should be effective as well as efficient. So, for excellence both efficiency and effectiveness are required but if I am not working effectively then however efficient I may be I will not be able to get the desired goal or output. For example- As a manager if I am producing petrol based Cars when the demand in the market is of Diesel car then however efficiently I am making the petrol cars I will not get the desired output from the market.

Be effective: do the right things; focus on end/ result to be achieved.

Be efficient: do the things the right way. Focus on means. Faultless and Speedy use of the means is the measure of efficiency.

Efficiency, like rules and procedures, is relevant only to facilitate effectiveness. It is more important to do the right thing than to do things right.

And Excellence is the combination of both Efficiency and Effectiveness.

So in the words of RANCHO (3 Idiots), one should always run for EXCELLENCE.