Team Work: Valley Crossing

Teamwork is defined as efforts done by a group of people to achieve a common goal. In essence, each team member leaves his/her individual priorities aside for a larger cause and works together. A strong team is one in which the strengths and skills of individual team members are combined in an efficient and effective manner to achieve the goals.

To explain the significance of teamwork, our Professor Prasad gave the example of Valley Crossing:

In this, three persons had to cross from left block to right block. Both the blocks were separated by a distance of more than one step of each person thus making it impossible for single person to achieve it individually.

To accomplish the task, we derived a workflow and split the task into 9 steps. Then all the steps were followed and demonstrated in class to achieve the goal.

The above task could be accomplished only by coordination, effective communication, cooperation and shared responsibility making it as teamwork.

Following characteristics of teamwork can be observed on completing the task:

1) Purpose: A clear goal should be present before initiating the task. This helps team members to prioritize their tasks and work efficiently towards achieving the targets. Just like in the task above, the goal was clearly defined to cross from left block to right block.

2) Communication: This one of the most important factors for effective teamwork. Team members should communicate with each other without hesitation and share their experiences and opinions. They should listen to each other and discuss problems or any issues in a healthy manner. This promotes harmony and trust within the team. Like in this task, an efficient way to achieve the goal could not be achieved without effective communication. 

     

      3) Individual Roles: Roles should be well defined among team members. This helps them in understanding their responsibilities and synchronizing their day to day activities with the team goals. Tasks should be evenly divided among team members to avoid overload on one member. Roles need to be defined based on the strengths and skills of individual team members.

      In the task above, all the persons had to do the same task and move in similar way to avoid any overwork.

4) Coordination: In today’s world, there are at times huge teams working together to achieve the common goal. This often leads to inter-dependency among team members. To avoid any conflicting situation members should approach each other without hesitation and provide status of their tasks and any related information. Members should coordinate properly so that nobody lags behind in their task as it will affect the team’s goal also.

5) Managing Conflict situation: At times there can be conflicts within the team. It is important that these conflicts be identified and resolved at appropriate time in a manner which maintains the positive environment and harmony in team.

6) Success and Failure: It is important that team members celebrate the success together and acknowledge each other for their work. It is equally important to work together without blaming others at the time of failures.

7) Team Leadership: It is important to have leaders who can help in boosting the morale of team during bad times. They should try to facilitate communication among members if it lacks and promote cooperation and sense of responsibility among the team members.