Friday 5 July 2013

Team Work - Problem Solving etc...

TEAMWORK

A team is one wherein all team members work towards a common goal. The communication between the team members should be free from any barriers. It should be well channelized and directed towards team building.
A survey on Shine.com indicates that more than 90% people agree that being a part of a team is one of the best things about their work. As Bill Bethel has put it: A successful team is a group of many hands but of one mind. A team is one wherein all team members work towards a common goal, ideally leaving behind their individual interests and preferences.

10 tips to get the best out of a team:

Effective communication: The communication between the team members should be free flowing, well channelized and directed towards achievement of project success. Also, communication between team members and team leaders should be a two way process. 
Strong leadership: The speed of the boss is the speed of the team. It is vital to have an efficient leader who can exhibit exemplary behavior. A good team leader is one who gives importance to team goals over his individual goals and is capable of showing direction and ensuring that the team members remain focused. 
Efficient delegation: Assigning responsibilities is as important as ensuring it is fulfilled perfectly. Therefore, it is essential to assign work as per the capability of team members. 
Conflict management: It is mandatory to resolve conflicts within the team. Even critical issues, when dealt with maturity, can be resolved easily without leaving a scar. Differences in opinion should not come in the way of the team’s performance. 
Trust: A term vital for any relationship also applies to a team-oriented environment. It is important to generate trust within the team. Team secrets, details of new projects or any new development within the team shouldn’t be divulged unless it is in the interest of the organization.
Common goals: A team obviously is made of individuals with diverse opinions, often conflicting. The focus clearly is attainment of common goals. Therefore, it is vital to set aside personal points of view, be aware of organizational goals and work towards achieving targets together.
Respect: To work in coordination, it is essential to understand and respect others in the team. Respect for each other’s competencies, views and actions will minimize conflicts, ensure smooth functioning and enhance productivity. 
Togetherness: A team signifies togetherness. As a unified unit, it should work on a common platform. It is advisable for organizations to take initiatives and organize team building exercises, excursions and monthly team meetings to strengthen team bonding. 
Avoiding negativity: Shun feelings of negativity, jealousy or ill-will. Do not participate in unproductive or unhealthy discussions. 
Setting a good example: Each team member, through his work, should set an example for others to follow. It can be done by outperforming the target, suggesting new ideas for policies and procedures or by participating in activities at the organizational level.

Make teamwork 'work' for you

Participate
Whether it is meetings, brainstorming sessions, conference calls or any other activities, it is important that you participate wholeheartedly. If someone puts forward an idea, ask questions without restraint.
Says Sunita Chauhan (name changed), a developer with a large IT firm, "One of my colleagues had this annoying habit of keeping quiet during meetings, but would pester others later with his doubts and make snide remarks on decisions that had been taken. His productivity and attitude were so poor that he was assigned to another project." Speak your mind freely but, of course, remember to be inoffensive.

Keep the common goal in mind
The formal definition of teamwork is 'cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal.' The key words here are -- 'cooperative effort' and 'common goal'. Often, individual members of a team seem to venture in their own directions, without considering the overall goal of the project. 
Keep in mind that companies are working on moving towards team-based appraisals. A prominent engineering firm is adopting this approach, in which your appraisal will earn you extra points (or negative ones) depending on how your team has performed.

Be open-minded
Often, you may put forth ideas that will be mulled over by the team as a whole and may eventually be rejected. Be broad-minded and confident enough to accept this. Use this opportunity to get feedback on your ideas such that it helps improve your thinking process for the future. 
Mrinalini, who works in an advertising agency, says, "There were one or two members in my team who believed their ideas were always the best. When those were not accepted, they sulked and landed up adversely affecting the team morale. They even managed to convince some others that the approach being taken was wrong."

Be clear about your role
At the outset itself, the project leader should assign specific responsibilities to people keeping in mind their relevant skills. 
Abhijit Sinha, senior developer in an IT consultancy, says, "When my project started, there were no clear demarcations of roles. Things were going haphazardly, with people just taking up whatever work they liked. As the seniormost person on the team, I landed up doing a large chunk of the work, in addition to guiding youngsters and planning the schedules. I discussed this with the project manager in great detail and he finally sorted out the issue by assigning me the role of team leader and issuing specific tasks to other members."

Help your teammates and your leader
If your peer is stuck with a problem he or she can't resolve alone, assist him in solving the issue by all means. Of course, this doesn't mean you do all his work for him or even that you neglect your own duties completely. 
One of the best ways to help your supervisor is to keep him or her updated at all times about the percentage completion of your work. It may be a short daily e-mail, or even a daily status meeting by which you can do this.

Don't be the dominating one
If one person takes up the floor and tries to steamroll others with his ideas, it can only have a negative effect. The team member who does this is usually the most annoying person, who tries to force his ideas and opinions on everyone. 

Support your leader
All team members must support their project-in-charge whole-heartedly. They need not be yes-men but, once a decision is taken, they must rally behind him or her with complete support. This is especially true if your leader is a woman. 
As a female project leader, I have often noticed a slight tendency on the part of male employees to resent having to report to a lady. They either feel uncomfortable about the idea or are just sceptical of her capabilities.

Don't forget to have fun!
A team should always take the opportunity to meet in a relaxing unofficial environment where there is no talk of a project or its problems, even if it means just going to the office canteen for a cup of coffee. 

And always remember the other popular expansion of TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More.

1. Write a few sentences outlining thoughts on why it is important to cultivate your life
skills. What are the ways in which you can practise and improve your teamwork, problemsolving
and learning skills?
Answer:
Andrew Carnegie says that team work is the ability to work together towards a common vision.
It is the ability to direct individual accomplishments towards organizational objectives. It is the fuel that
allows common people to attain uncommon results.
In today’s world, employees have to work with groups to get desired results. But working with
a team is easy to say but difficult to do it. Many things contribute to the smooth and efficient working
of a team. First, people from different backgrounds and abilities come together for a common purpose
of achieving their targets. The key factor for the success of a team is proper communication. Secondly,
the interaction among individuals creates a sense of togetherness. This helps improve teamwork. This
kind of atmosphere can solve the differences of opinion among them. Everyone in the group works
collectively for their common goal. Above all, everyone gets an opportunity to learn from others and
improve individual performances.
In one of my classes, our English teacher gave us the task of making use of waste materials in
order to come out with a useful thing. We were formed into groups. The work was assigned and the
instructions were given. We took old news papers and cardboard boxes to make decorative pieces.
Initially, we had a problem on how to do it. While we were working on it, we learnt the technique of
solving problems by co-operation and co-ordination of everyone in the team. This resulted in acquiring
learning skills. Finally, we came out with a model. We were appreciated for our collective collaboration.
In another class, we were asked to plan a short class trip. Again, we grouped together and
worked out the logistics involved in it. We pooled up all the ideas and estimated the expenditure for it.
We took everything into account that might go into the trip. All of us were quite excited as we were
progressing on. Finally, we came out with our plan of action. We were all appreciated for our analytical
thinking and adaptability.
In one more class, we were tested on integrity and motivation. We were given an opportunity to
educate the young children in the slum areas. This was entirely a new experience. We took it as a
challenge to transform these uneducated siblings into useful citizens by educating them. One day, we
went to the slums of the city and gathered a few young children. We taught them for a few weeks and
we found great improvement in them. The reason was that these children showed a lot interest in
learning. This gave everyone of us great satisfaction. We have decided to continue such activities for
ever. I honestly believe that we need to give something back to the society as being a part of it. We
have understood that life skills as well as core skills can be inculcated through team work.


Discuss the importance of the ability of problem-solving.
Answer:
In this competitive world, any technical student needs to be good at problem-solving skills.
These skills are acquired easily while working with a group of persons. Working with a team of people
is difficult. A lot of things are involved in it. Communication is an important aspect of it. These skills
have to be acquired from the undergraduate level. The students must develop a habit of working with
a group of friends for a common purpose. This interaction creates among them a sense of togetherness.
In the initial stages, this will help them shed their inhibitions and slowly they start sharing their ideas.
They will also learn certain things from their friends, consult books and meet knowledgeable persons
in that field. The process of learning and applying it will continue till they complete their project. They
will improve their problem-solving skills through learning as they progress. The greatest advantage in
teamwork is that everyone will get an opportunity to learn from others and improve his or her
performance.
While working on a project, the students will realize the importance of teamwork. In a project
work, they will identify problems creeping in. Some students may not be able to solve them. Then, they
will seek the help of other teammates to learn to solve those problems. Gradually their problem-solving
skills along with learning skills will improve by leaps and bounds. All these skills will ultimately come
in handy when they become professionals. Without any doubt, all this expertise will magnify their
talents at workplace.
As a student, I want to share with you one of the learning experiences I had in my class. Our
Maths lecturer gave us a problem and asked us to work on it. We were asked to complete that small
project within a short period of time. We formed into a group and were working together. We also
utilized a lot of resources to solve it. Initially, it was really challenging for us. We tried and tried and
shared whatever the ideas we got. We consulted books and finally, one day before the submission we
solved it. We neatly typed it and handed over it to our lecturer. He did not expect that we could solve the problem. In this way, we learnt the technique of solving problems with cooperation and coordination.
We developed analytical thinking. We did many such projects which were really challenging
to us but our collective efforts proved to be useful in getting over difficulties and obtaining success.