Ravi Ramanathan

. Teams Have you ever played the game of ‘broken squares’? Or watched one being played? It is a game I came across years ago, in a training program for young managers. From the group of about 25 managers, the facilitator called for 5 volunteers, who were placed around a table at the head of the class. The remaining participants in the class were asked to observe the actions of the volunteers. The facilitator then handed out one closed envelope to each of the volunteers, and said – “The envelopes contain pieces of cardboard, which must be joined together to form a perfect square. No envelope contains all the pieces required to make one square. Each envelope contains one or more pieces which may be required by ayour neighbor to complete her square. “Your task is for each one of youvolunteer to make a complete square, using pieces from yourher own pack and any that are given to you her by a neighbor. You may not talk to one another, and you may not ask a neighbor for particular piece of cardboard. You may pass on one of your own pieces to a neighbor if you think she needs it. You have 15 minutes for this task.” During the next 15 minutes, a very interesting scenario unfolded, where the volunteers tried to complete their squares. It was interesting to watch the frustration of onea volunteer rise, whenif a neighbor with a required piece failed to perceive her need and was concentrating on fixing her own square. And there was one volunteer, whose envelope contained a piece which was itself a small perfect square. She put that out in front and sat back with hands folded, complacent that she had completed the task – little realizing that her small square was merely a piece of the larger one she was supposed to make. At the end of 15 minutes, the facilitator invited the whole class to give their comments on the actions of the volunteers. A flurry of comments came from the observers – “Alice never understood the task!” “They never looked at what their neighbor was doing, or what the neighbor needed!” “If they had asked for help, they could have finished the task successfully!” The facilitator then summarized the comments by pointing out that one volunteer managed to complete her square when her neighbor had correctly identified and passed her the pieces she required. That it is important to anticipate the needs of your fellow members in the team. Further, had they been able to ask for pieces, all the volunteers may have completed their own squares – i.e. when you need help, ask for it. This game was presented to emphasize both the importance of teamwork, and of being ready to ask for and receive help, in order to achieve the team’s goals. And it is teamwork – some aspects of it – that I am going to talk about today! I can feel you thinking, “Here’s one more on Teams – will they never tire of that?” No. It is very unlikely that people will tire of writing about teams and teamwork and equally unlikely that people will stop reading about teams. You may also be thinking, “What is so great about teams, I work in teams day in and day out!” It is true that most of us work in teams every day. Some of us are team leaders, and some of us are just ordinary team members. If you are the CEO of your company, hopefully you realise that the entire company is your team. When it comes to work, we are generally able to appreciate the importance of teamwork. We know that it is important to be a team-player, that the team’s goals take priority over one’s personal goals. In spite of knowing this, some team members will persist in pushing their own personal agenda, often jeopardizing the team’s efforts. Like in a football match I happened to watch recently. One player was so focused on scoring a goal, that he missed several opportunities to pass the ball to a teammate who was better placed to score. The result was that the opposite team won. Invariably, the team’s success depends on each member appreciating the team’s goals and understanding his own role. But perhaps more importantly, it also depends on each member understanding and appreciating the roles and needs of other team members, and assisting the other members whenever possible. All this is also true, when it comes to sports. Be it football or hockey, cricket or a doubles game of tennis, unless each player anticipates the needs of the other team-members, and plays with the victory of the team in mind, the team is bound to fail. When it comes to work or sports, most of us understand and appreciate these principles, and follow them fairly adequately. Let us now turn to a somewhat different topic – of mixing work and home. We have all heard that one should leave one’s work at the office when heading home and that one cannot carry domestic problems to the office. AIn principle, all that is very commendable principle. But these days, for most of us, this is a near impossibility. Unless you are an airline pilot, or a neuro surgeon – in which case you obviously cannot carry work home – you are tied to your job almost 24 hours a day, however hard we may try not to be. Sometimes however, we take the advice not to take work home too literally. We also neglect to take home some principles we may learn at work – like the principle of teamwork! Some of us seem to forget that our families are the first team that we belong to. We are all born into this team, and grow up in this team. Each family is a unique team, like no other. As we grow, the team also grows, changes. There may be additions, departures and separations. We manage to move along in the way we know or learn best. This ability to work with the family comes from the family values, from what we manage to learn from our parents. It isbecomes the responsibility of the parents, to manage conflicts between siblings, and all such issues while running the family. Sibling rivalry can be complicated, and take a lot of effort to resolve. This also provides a platform for the children to learn the basics of teamwork – though you may not be expressing it as such. From the actions of their parents, the children learn how to behave with one another and how to resolve or manage conflicts. Often, children also learn the benefits of co-operating with each other to attain a common goal! Like when a brother and sister conspire together to play a trick on their mother, or an unsuspecting visitor! At that time, they forget their own conflicts, and concentrate on carrying out the trick! They learn that the team’s goal takes precedence over their personal conflicts! However, we often we find that even within a nuclear family of two, just the husband and the wifein the absence of sibling rivalry, conflicts often ariseerupt between spouses. Sometimes, these conflicts can be over very simple, or trivial matters. Like the one between Renu and Guha, the other day. Both returned home from work rather late, and were too tired to cook. Without realizing it, soon they were arguing about whose turn it was to cook! After a long argument, they finally compromised, and ordered food from a restaurant. Given that they were already tired, and had spent time arguing, they hardly relished the food, and had to put away much of the food was wastedit. The result was a meal that neither of them enjoyed, and which caused an unplanned dent in their monthly budget. It is here that it is important to apply our workplace learning about teamwork to the domestic situation. If the spouses realize that the goals of the family take importance over their individual goals, then most of domestic conflicts would either be resolved amicably, or better still, not arise at all. In order to achieve the family goals, it is important for each spouse to always keep those goals in sight, and concentrate on doing what is right instead of rather than worrying about who is right. In our example of Renu and Guha, if either of them had rustled up a quick dinner – understanding both their needs, and not worrying about whose turn it was to cook – they would have been spared the argument, and the expense of the outsourced dinner. Teams, and working in teams is a great learning ground! Be it at work, or at home. 1250 words + 4 “Teams! What’s in a team for me?” you may ask! May be you would do better to ask “Who’s in a team for me?” The simple answer is, YOU are in the team! And that’s why you should care about working in a team, and practicing teamwork always! Before I go on to share my views on practicing teamwork, let me tell you a short story. A group of young managers was going through a routine training programme. Sharma, the facilitator, walked in to the class room, and after greeting the participants, called for 5 volunteers. Arti, Bindu, Chetan, David and Edward volunteered. Sharma bade them sit around a table at the head of the classroom, and handed out one closed envelope to each one. Sharma said, “The envelopes contain pieces of cardboard, which must be joined together to form a perfect square. No envelope contains all the pieces required to make one square. Each envelope contains one or more pieces which may be required by your neighbor to complete her square. “Your task is for each one of you to make a complete square, using pieces from your own pack and any that are given to you by a neighbor. You may not talk to one another, and you may not ask a neighbor for particular piece of cardboard. You may pass on one of your own pieces to a neighbor if you think she/he needs it. You have 15 minutes for this task.” During the next 15 minutes, a very interesting scenario unfolded, where the volunteers tried to complete their squares. It was interesting to watch the frustrations of Edward rise. He could see that he could use a piece of cardboard that his neighbor, Arti, had. But Arti failed to look at his pieces, or to perceive his need. David, on the other side of Edward, thought Chetan could use a piece from his pack, and passed it on to Chetan. Bindu too found a piece that she thought Chetan could use. She passed it on to Chetan. Chetan could now rearrange his pieces to make a square, though he had 2 pieces that would not fit. He put them back into the envelope, not checking to see if David or Bindu could use it. He sat back, happy his square was complete. In the meantime, Bindu found a small square amongst her own pieces of cardboard. She put all other pieces back into the envelope, and sat back, with a sense of accomplishment. Even after seeing Chetan’s completed square – which was much larger – Bindu failed to realise that her small square was only a small piece of the larger one she was expected to complete. After fifteen minutes, Sharma called the volunteers to re-join the class, and asked the observers for their comments. “Bindu never understood the complete task!” “Chetan took help from others, but failed to pass on leftover squares to his neighbours, who could have used them!” “Neither Arti nor David perceived Edward’s needs!” Sharma then summarized, and brought out the concepts he wanted to convey. “The task was for the team – not to individuals. And the task was for each one to complete a square. If we translate what happened here just now to what happens in an office, you will see that the team’s goal was ignored. Some people, like Bindu, concentrated on their personal goals. The needs of teammates were not well understood by one another. If these mistakes had not been made, the team’s goal would have been achieved!”