How 3 idiots crossing the valley exhibit Teamwork?

The session on Teamwork started with a hitch .The three student from the class were asked to perform the activity of 3 idiots crossing the valley.Everyone in the class came up with an idea of implementing the activity same time with an amplification .The steps followed in activity are as follows:-

In the above figure the position and requirement of leadership may changes in 3 ways:-

• All the time one leader
• All the time all leader
• All the time sometime leader

From this activity we realized the importance of decentralized leadership The leadership needs to be distributed and should have orientation.The given situation states that there are:-

                                        27 Situation ------9 Position --------3 People

Observation:-

1. All three members have equal distribution of different kinds of situation :

•          High Risk 01 times
•          Half Risks 02 times
•          Fully Safe 02 times

2. All three members have the same role in terms of effort and risk. Nobody was overloaded or relaxed.

3. Communication and feedback is essential while working in a team.

4.  Every member is indispensable in completing the task.

5. There were equal instances when one needed each other.

6. The 9 position consist of 6 safe completely,2 half safe and 1 completely unsafe.

Structuring of team:-          

• Role A = Role B = Role C : No differentiation what so ever is built in designing the team tasks
• All  3 members’ tasks  were designed to be - Easy, Lighter, Clear and Systematic
• 3 team members are equally responsible in their contributions for the overall task completion

Psychologist Bruce Teckman came up with five key stages through which team moves. They are:-

Team Network:-

Learning:-

• Pro actively helping members in need.
• Properly communicating the work done to superiors.
• Pro actively using the teams strength for overcoming problems.
• Effective participation in meetings and team events .

Team Dynamics:-  Hope this video will illustrate the following:-

• Work for common goal
• Accountability
• mutual respect
• Commitment
• Interdependence
• Trust
• Communication

    As in this video team dynamics is exemplified:-

Improvement in Team Effectiveness:-

The teamwork is more about designing the work in such a way that there is need for teaming. 

The final learning from the task is :-

 "The 99% manager are made realistic by 1% you"  

14 Bricks of Organization

The 14 steps towards Success!!

Division of Work-- Specialization allows the individual to build up experience, and to continuously improve his skills. Thereby he can be more productive.
1) Henry Fayol has stressed on the specialization of jobs. 
2) He recommended that work of all kinds must be divided & subdivided and  allotted to various persons according to their expertise in a particular area. 
3) Subdivision of work makes it simpler and results in efficiency. 
4) It also helps the individual in acquiring speed, accuracy in his performance. 
5) Specialization leads to efficiency & economy in spheres of business.

Authority-- The right to issue commands, along with which must go the balanced responsibility for its function.

 1)  Authority & responsibility are co-existing. 

2)  If authority is given to a person, he should also be made responsible.

3)  In a same way, if anyone is made responsible for any job, he should also have concerned authority. 

4)  Authority refers to the right of superiors to get exactness from their sub-ordinates whereas responsibility means obligation for the performance of the job assigned.

5) There should be a balance between the two i.e. they must go hand in hand.

6) Authority without responsibility leads to irresponsible behavior whereas responsibility without authority makes the person ineffective.

Discipline-- Employees must obey, but this is two-sided: employees will only obey orders if management play their part by providing good leadership.
1.   According to Fayol, “Discipline means sincerity, obedience, respect of authority & observance of rules  and regulations of the enterprise”.

2.   This principle applies that subordinate should respect their superiors and obey their order.

3. It is an important requisite for smooth running of the enterprise.

4.   Discipline is not only required on path of subordinates but also on the part of management.

5. Discipline can be enforced if -

      a.)There are good superiors at all levels.
b.)There are clear & fair agreements with workers.
c.)Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously applied.

Unity of Command--Each worker should have only one boss with no other conflicting lines of command.

Unity of Direction-- People engaged in the same kind of activities must have the same objectives in a single plan. This is essential to ensure unity and coordination in the enterprise. Unity of command does not exist without unity of direction but does not necessarily flows from it.

Subordination of individual interest (to the general interest)-- 

   1)  An organization is much bigger than the individual it constitutes therefore interest of the undertaking      should prevail in all circumstances.

     2)   As far as possible, reconciliation should be achieved between individual and group interests.

     3)   But in case of conflict, individual must sacrifice for bigger interests.

     4)   In order to achieve this attitude, it is essential that:-
           -       Employees should be honest & sincere.
           -       Proper & regular supervision of work.  
           -       Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual agreement.
                   For example, for change of location of plant, for change of profit sharing ratio, etc

Remuneration-- Payment is an important motivator although by analyzing a number of possibilities, Fayol points out that there is no such thing as a perfect system.
1.) The quantum and method of remuneration to be paid to the workers should be fair, reasonable,   satisfactory & rewarding of the efforts.
2.)  As far as possible it should accord satisfaction to both employer and the employees.
3.) Wages should be determined on the basis of cost of living, work assigned, financial position of the business, wage rate prevailing etc.
4.)  Logical & appropriate wage rates and methods of their payment reduce tension & differences between workers & management creates harmonious relationship and pleasing atmosphere of work.
5.) Fayol also recommended provision of other benefits such as free education, medical & residential facilities to workers.

Centralization (or Decentralization)-- This is a matter of degree depending on the condition of the business and the quality of its personnel. 

Negative shades of Centralization as follows:-

• Dictatorship
• Productivity may go down
• Less flexibility
• Burden of whole organization
• Time log
• Less Innovation
• Impose power leads to corruption
• Lack of accountability

where as Decentralization leads to empowerment and distribution of power to team .It has 0% power.As a Manager one should practice becoming the expertise of both . 

Scalar chain (Line of Authority)—

1)  Fayol defines scalar chain as ’The chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to the lowest”.

2)  Every orders, instructions, messages, requests, explanation etc. has to pass through Scalar chain.

3)  But, for the sake of convenience & urgency, this path can be cut shirt and this short cut is known as Gang Plank.

4)  A Gang Plank is a temporary arrangement between two different points to facilitate quick & easy communication as explained below:

5) In the figure given, if D has to communicate with G he will first send the communication upwards with                         the help of C, B to A and then downwards with the help of E and F to G which will take quite some time and by that time, it may not be worth therefore a gang plank has been developed between the two.

6) Gang Plank clarifies that management principles are not rigid rather they are very flexible. They can be moulded and modified as per the requirements of situations.

Order--Both material order and social order are necessary. The former minimizes lost time and useless handling of materials. The latter is achieved through organization and selection.

1.)This principle is concerned with proper & systematic arrangement of things and people.

2.)Arrangement of things is called material order and placement of people is called social order.

3.)Material order- There should be safe, appropriate and specific place for every article and every place to be effectively used for specific activity and commodity.

4.)Social order- Selection and appointment of most suitable person on the suitable job. There should be a specific place for every one and everyone should have a specific place so that they can easily be contacted whenever need arises.

Equity.--In running a business a ‘combination of kindliness and justice’ is needed. Treating employees well is important to achieve equity.
1.)  Equity means combination of fairness, kindness & justice.
2.)  The employees should be treated with kindness & equity if devotion is expected of them.
3.)  It implies that managers should be fair and impartial while dealing with the subordinates.
4.)  They should give similar treatment to people of similar position.
5.)  They should not discriminate with respect to age, caste, sex, religion, relation etc.
6.)  Equity is essential to create and maintain cordial relations between the managers and sub-ordinate.
7.)  But equity does not mean total absence of harshness.
8.)  Fayol was of opinion that, “at times force and harshness might become necessary for the sake of equity”.

Stability of Tenure of Personnel--Employees work better if job security and career progress are assured to them. An insecure tenure and a high rate of employee turnover will affect the organization adversely.

 1) Fayol emphasized that employees should not be moved frequently from one job position to another i.e. the period of service in a job should be fixed.

2)    Therefore employees should be appointed after keeping in view principles of recruitment & selection but once they are appointed their services should be served.

3)    According to Fayol. “Time is required for an employee to get used to a new work & succeed to doing it well but if he is removed before that he will not be able to render worthwhile   services”.

4)    As a result, the time, effort and money spent on training the worker will go waste.

5)    Stability of job creates team spirit and a sense of belonging among workers which ultimately increase the quality as well as quantity of work.

Initiative--Allowing all personnel to show their initiative in some way is a source of strength for the organization. Even though it may well involve a sacrifice of ‘personal vanity’ on the part of many managers.

1)  There should be proper co-ordination of work at all levels.

2)  Subordinates should be encouraged to develop informal relations among themselves.

3)  Efforts should be made to create enthusiasm and keenness among subordinates so that they can work to the maximum ability.

4)  Efficient employees should be rewarded and those who are not up to the mark should be given a chance to improve their performance.

5) Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are doing is of great importance to the business & society.

Esprit de Corps-- Management must foster the morale of its employees.

1. It refers to team spirit i.e. harmony in the work groups and mutual understanding among the members.
2. Spirit De’ Corps inspires workers to work harder.
3. Fayol cautioned the managers against dividing the employees into competing groups because it might damage the moral of the workers and interest of the undertaking in the long run.
4. To inculcate Espirit De’ Corps following steps should be undertaken -

            ·  There should be proper co-ordination of work at all levels.

      ·  Subordinates should be encouraged to develop informal relations among themselves.

      ·  Efforts should be made to create enthusiasm and keenness among subordinates so that they can work to maximize limit.

      · Efficient employees should be rewarded and those who are not up to the mark should be given a chance to improve their performance.

     ·  Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are doing is of great importance to the business & society.

Hawthrone effect the Matrix way!!

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT

The Hawthorne Effect is a form of re-activity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they know they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.

The economic rewards of work were potentially picayune compared to the feeling of solidarity and worth created among individuals working together toward a common end. A manager’s effectiveness, therefore, could be measured on the extent to which those in the organization internalized a common purpose and perceived the connection between their actions and the organization’s ability to fulfill this common purpose. Management, then, was not about controlling human behavior but unleashing human possibility.
I hope this video will help in understanding the concept of the Hawthorne Effect:-

This effect was observed for minute increases in illumination. In these lighting studies, light intensity was altered to examine its effect on worker productivity. Most industrial/occupational psychology and organizational behavior textbooks refer to the illumination studies^.Only occasionally are the rest of the studies mentioned.Although illumination research of workplace lighting formed the basis of the Hawthorne effect other changes such as maintaining clean work stations,cleaning floors of obstacles and even relocating workstation resulted in increased productivity for short periods .Thus term is used to identify any type of short lived increase in productivity.

The final outcome of the experiment:-

• The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance. Although the researchers give some indication of the physical and mental potential of the individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social factors.
• Informal organization affects productivity.The Hawthorne researchers discovered a group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers carry out directives.
• Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is a fair day's work; however, they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of this phenomenon.
• The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to view the workplace as a social system made up of interdependent parts.
• One of the finding was that a manager's behavior or leadership approach can affect worker's level of performance.

                   ENVIRONMENT + HUMAN = PRODUCTIVITY (Increase)

The 3 monks mirror to Evolution & Revolution

Evolution & Revolution As Organization Grows

The class begun with a concept of Evolution and Revolution and we came with a definition for both terminologies:-                  

EVOLUTION:- Smooth Line shows the recovery of an organization and it more in high performing organization.

REVOLUTION:-The obstruction faced by organization on timely basis. 

To understand the phase of challenges in an organization and how to implement the solution ,there is a need to go through the following question :-

• Typical organizational life cycle
• what stage are we in?
• what problem will we faced next?

And for that the organization needs to focus on 4 quadrant that are People,External,Internal,Performance.It should follow spiral model.

Competing Value Framework

Developing of each quadrant depends on the following:-

• Size of organization
• Age of organization
• Stages of evolution
• Stages of revolution
• Growth rate of industry

The stage of evolution and the stage of revolution can be sub categorized into:-

Relating this with the 3 monk Story :-

Context:-

The story of the three Buddhist Monks is an anime film directed by A Da. The film has got many recognition including:

• Won the outstanding film award at China's Ministry of Culture.
• Won the Best animated film prize at the first Golden Rooster Awards in 1981.

It is a short and beautiful movie with a wonderful message. A must watch for managers and practitioners who try to implement working-teams in an organization without looking at the other side of the picture.

Film:-

Analyzing the  methods being followed in the movie were as follows:-

Method 1:- One monk fetches the water:-The monk fetches the water faithfully and regularly every day. As his needs are limited he doesn't mind carrying two buckets with a stick on his shoulders.   Method 2:-Two monks fetches water:-When the second monk moves in then the first monk thinks of distributing his work. Initially they both fight over how to carry water but later on they find a solution. They find a pole and jointly fetch a single bucket of water every day. Although they work as a team but it seems as if they are not satisfied with each other.

Method 3:- Three monks works as a team to fetch out water:-

When the third monk moves in, both monks try to delegate entire work to the newcomer. In fact  third monk fetches the water once but he consumes all by himself. After arguing with each other constantly over whose turn it is to fetch the water, nobody goes to fetch the water. No water gets fetched even after they all are thirsty.

Learning:-

The movie throws light on some important concepts of management .

1) Productivity - It is a measure of how well an operations system functions. In previous posts we have come across the important equation:-(as discussed in my previous blog)

Excellence = Efficiency X Effectiveness

2) Design of Operations systems : So how do we increase the productivity of a system. One of the most important tool is the designing the operation systems. It includes finding answers to 4 main questions: 

It is a continuous process of optimizing the work so that maximum efficiency can be derived out of it.

 3)Innovation:-Transition from method 2 to method 3 is innovation.When the monastery is on fire they realize that it is better to think in terms of team goals rather than individualistic goals. The monk at the bottom fills the buckets, the middle monk works on pulley system and the third monk at the top douses the fire with water in the bucket. This shows difficult situation inspires ingenious solution.

3)Teamwork:-

Thus we  see a totally new phenomenon that as the number of people increase,the productivity has come down drastically.

So combining the learning of three monk and the theory of evolution and revolution as a whole we can say:-

Without Cooperation, 1 monk can fetch 2 buckets of water, 2 monks can fetch 1 bucket of water and 3 monks will fetch no water at all. 

With cooperation, 3 monks can increase the efficiency of the process to a level previously unattainable. All the above learning plays a very vital role in achieving proficiency in task.

Taking an example from the class of tower building which  had a vision  of " To meet & beat the Height" for that the whole group had to work as a team with cooperation & coordination to attain the maximum height tower successfully.

The DiversE angles to GoaLs & the Magic of Pygmalion effect

From the concept of craftsmanship to modern management and how management leads to productivity. Now it is the time to set SMART goals .The word SMART seems to be harmonic but the question is how?
Going forward with SMART goals , I would like to define the word GOAL .
According to the business dictionary :-Goal is an observable and measurable end result having one or more objective to be achieved within a more or less fixed time-frame.

 Or

According to Merriam -Webster a goal is: the end toward which effort is directed.Goals are dreams and wants except a goal is more specific.
We can categorize goals as:-

And to accomplish the goals we need to do goal setting which is more important than decide goals for individual,team or an organization.Learning how to set goals is as important as knowing what the goal should contain It is important to remember about setting goals is the correct F.R.A.M.E of mind.The goal needs to be focused on the purpose.

"Time is Life .To Waste your Time is to waste your Life;To manage your Time is to manage your Life."---ALAN LAKEIN       

It is important to know what qualities the goals should embody and  here comes the need of SMART Goals.

What do we mean by smart goals?

A S.M.A.R.T. goal is defined as one that is specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.Explaining the following by giving an example:-
Example: By August 1, 2013, implement a new performance management system for company  XYZ, A& P Faculty, and University Staff using clearly defined processes and guidelines so employees and managers can more competently  evaluate performance and develop their careers. 


SPECIFIC:- Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what we are going to do.
                Specific is the What, Why, and How of the S.M.A.R.T. model.

Explanation of Example: 

“Implement a new performance management system for Classified Staff, A& P Faculty, and University Staff” = what
“using clearly defined processes and guidelines” = how
“so employees and managers can competently evaluate performance and develop their careers = why

MEASURABLE:- Goals should be measurable so that we have tangible evidence that  we have accomplished the goal. Usually, the entire goal statement is a measure for the project, but there are usually several short-term or smaller measurements built into the goal.

Explanation of Example: 

 The essential metric is whether or not the system is operational by August 1st

ACHIEVABLE:- Goals should be achievable; they should stretch us slightly so we feel challenged, but defined well enough so that we can achieve them. We must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to achieve the goal.

Explanation of Example: 

In order to reach this goal ,have a skill set, in this case in the area of performance management, that allows to understand the nature of the goal, and the goal must present a large enough challenge to remain interested in and committed to accomplishing.

REALISTIC :-To be realistic ,goal must represent an objective toward which we are both willing and able to work.A goal can be both high and realistic,we are the only one who decide just how high each one's goal should be.But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

Explanation of Example: 

The result of this goal is a process that allows employees and managers to more competently evaluate performance and develop their careers, not the individual activities and actions that occur in order to make the goal a reality. 

TIME-BOUND:- Goals should be linked to a time frame that creates a practical sense of urgency, or results in tension between the current reality and the vision of the goal. Without such tension, the goal is unlikely to produce a relevant outcome. 

Explanation of Example: 

 August 1, 2013 provides you with a time-bound deadline.

In addition to this Goal Setting and Goal Achievement we derive a formula for performance :-

                              GOAL SETTING + GOAL ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE

Goal Achievement should impact Goal setting positively and goal is not meant to reach ,on the other hand they inspire , motivate to reach them

The goal stimulate idea sharing for an employee as shown:-

Here is a small video to elucidate the need to have goals:-