VALLEY CROSSING- TEAMWORK EXERCISE

In the last class I had an unconventional learning experience.  Dr. Mandi asked us to perform valley crossing (VC) in a group of three. At first I thought it was more of a team building activity, but slowly & gradually I realized the importance of the same. The VC had an hidden agenda of Organizational Management. 

We should use teamwork and do the mentioned task in the best way.

The task at hand required a group of three people to move from left side of the valley to the right side with the help of a pole. 

The task demanded a good conceptual knowledge of the problem at hand & building an effective strategy to implement the same. The strategy required setting of SMART goals that were specific for each team member, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. We closely analyzed the task & broke it down into 9 sub-tasks.  Post analysis of the VC problem, the key ingredient to success was coordination among team members & efficient execution of the strategy devised.
With all the strategies & processes in place we went ahead with the execution. But while executing what was found that the Trust factor among team members was missing. The Unity of Command a key ingredient for team success was not adhered to.

Breaking up the task into 9 sub tasks:

In various levels of this task the team members needed to consider the following aspects:
Brainstorming: What should be exact position of holding the rod..?? such reasoning will definitely help in better performance.
Communication: It meant that the team mates discuss the problem and communicate their issues to the superiors as well as to their peers. They must have a clear understanding of the situation before attempting the task.

Conflicts resolution among team member: Optimizing different opinion and come up with a most feasible solution and come up with one member that should lead the group.

Clearly defined standards - Team members must know what is expected of them individually in quantitative terms and not qualitative and vague terms like "positive attitude" and "high growth", as these words are ambiguous in their meaning.

Commitment – “Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

The Learnings:

1. TEAM WORK-   The essence of Team Work lies in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of every team member and utilizing them to achieve optimum efficiency
2. EFFECTIVE STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION-  Strategy and planning are futile without effective implementation
3. TRAINING- Proper training is essential to achieve the desired level of results
4. GOAL- There should be a well defined goal and every team member should have absolute clarity about it
5. TRUST-  Mutual trust and belief are the foundation of a good team
6. LEADERSHIP- Leadership and team work aren’t two separate entities. Collective leadership from the team delivers optimum results
7. ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY- Every team member is accountable and responsible for the job at hand
8. INNOVATION- There has to be openness in terms of new ideas and suggestion