3 Idiots Crossing the Valley

           

                  Teamwork is "work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole" .

                    This brings us to the next learning objective in Principles of Organization Management. Our next lecture consisted of understanding the dynamics when 3 people help each other in crossing a valley. Each person depends on the other two for his life as there comes a time when he is fully unsafe while crossing the valley. The situation would be more clear with the picture shown below.

                    As seen from the picture, the first person ends up taking the risk first. The situation where each one of them finds himself into could be depicted by 9 outcomes. Each outcome could be further sub-divided into 3 outcomes thereby giving us a total of 27 situations.

                    After the situation was clear, a discussion ensued where we had to figure out what a manager has to do in such situations. Another important point put forward was who in this case could be the leader! Is it the first person or everyone in the group is a leader. One example that we discussed was that of Dhoni. Though Dhoni comes down the order and is a finisher, does it take away the credit of a leader from him? I guess no. So a leader is one who takes the mantle forward when the chips are down. Designating leadership to an initiator or for that matter through organizational hierarchy is a false assumption.

                   

                    Now let us look at the team ingredients required for the entire team to succeed:

1) Shared Vision : It is necessary in an organization that the subordinates have a clear indication from their manager as to where the organization is heading to. A blurred vision is an ingredient to distrust among team-mates as well as towards the management.

          Actions: Leaders have to be deliberate and have a plan on how to communicate the vision :

• Leaders need to share the vision and tie it into the daily tasks every day in their conversations. 
• People need to be clear what needs to be done and why.
• Leaders need to include others for comments, clarifications or additions. This way they get others “fingerprints” are on it.
• Leaders need to remember involvement = commitment.

2) Trust among members : It is natural for an individual to trust his own team or his own department. But one should develop a sense of understanding with other departments too in an organization for the organization to achieve the set goals.

          Actions: Leaders develop trust by trusting their people.

• Leaders develop trust by being vulnerable and admitting their mistakes.
• Leaders make and keep small promises.
• Leaders set high expectations for their team and encourage risk taking and direct feedback.

3) Established Expectations and Guidelines : What is natural is to assume that co-workers are on the same page and that they understand the desired results. What is unnatural yet necessary is to be very deliberate in clarifying reciprocal expectations and establish guidelines fro how to work together effectively.

         Actions: To be a team the individuals need to co-create expectations for themselves and feel their                 input was heard and valued.

• Leaders and the team need to decide on how they are going make decisions, i.e. majority, minority a “tell” or content expert, unanimous or consensus.
• Expectations need to be clarified, leader to the team, team to the leader and team of each other.
• Meeting and team guidelines are established that flow out of the expectations, such as “One conversation at a time,” “Stay focused”, and “Defer judgement.”

                    This is a simple video which I have shared which depicts the true essence of team work. Do go through it to understand the importance of team work and interdependence in an organization.

                    Till then, happy learning and happy blogging!