Teamwork:Valley Crossing

Valley Crossing


The idea behind performing this exercise was to learn the importance of "Teamwork". To succeed at the task in hand everyone involved needs to combine their efforts. If everyone does their job well, then it increases what the team can accomplish. This teamwork has to be recognized by everyone and know that great things can happen if individuals master the fundamentals and work together as one unit. Everyone has their own unique role, but each person's individual role must be recognized and appreciated.


Teamwork is something that must be a high priority and given constant attention. Every player needs to understand how important it is for them to work smoothly together if they want to be successful. Each player must be dedicated to the whole team and be willing to act unselfishly. When challenges arise (as they always do), the team needs to have the resources, accountability and commitment to deal with them in a constructive and positive manner. A sense of teamwork will play an integral part in this.


Remember T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More!!

As the picture shows, the exercise has to be carried out by 3 members. 3 members were supposed to carry a rod on their shoulders. They are supposed to cross the valley while carrying the rod. The distance of the valley is more than 1 and less than 2 steps. To carry out this exercise, the whole activity was divided into 9 steps : (Every person had 3 stages : safe, half risky, risky)




Idea behind performing this exercise was to understand the imporatnce of teamwork. Main points that I understood were:


Management by objectives :
a. Goal setting : To cross the valley safely with the use of the rod.
b. Big Objective : Subdivide it to achieve it. In this activity, we divided the whole activity in 9 different steps.

Step	State of 1st Person	State of 2nd person	State of 3rd person
1.	Safe	Safe	Safe
2.	Half-Risky	Safe	Safe
3.	Full-Risky	Safe	Safe
4.	Half-Risky	Half-Risky	Safe
5.	Safe	Full-Risky	Safe
6.	Safe	Half-Risky	Half-Risky
7.	Safe	Safe	Full-Risky
8.	Safe	Safe	Half-Risky
9.	Safe	Safe	Safe

Teamwork : 
This activity requires all the 3 team members to be in sync with each other. All 3 members should work as a team to accomplish the desired goal of crossing the valley. As shown in the table, at every stage, somebody is at risky or half risky position. Hence, they should work as a team. One mistake can cause problems for the whole team.

Dependence :
As we see, all the three members are dependent on each other to cross the valley safely. Hence the roles of every member are interlocked. Higher the dependency in the organization, higher is the success rate.


Communication :
Good teamwork starts with a shared understanding of its importance. Communication is what bridges teams together. It allows teams to understand each individual's view. Communication helps the team to work effectively and efficiently. When a team is not communicating well, there work is at stake. 


                                       
                                                 Miscommunication in Teamwork.


Effectiveness :
Effectiveness is doing right things at right time. In the exercise, we came with many solutions. But finally, we executed the solution that suited the conditions. It not only help in achieving the goal but also increases the productivity.