Valley Crossing

We have been discussing about the valley crossing in our lecture classes for quite some time. There are organizational lessons to be learned from the valley crossing. The first thing which comes to my mind is team work.A team of 3 members had to switch over from left side of the valley to the right side of the valley by taking the support of the pole, this exercise wasn’t exactly done in the way as shown in the cartoon but the most important managerial concept was explained with the help of this exercise.

Teamwork has been defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole." However, there is no universally-accepted definition of "teamwork" in the academic literature.

Team work is very important in each and everyone’s life. It has been witnessed many times that a good team can win many difficulties and achieve great heights. It becomes easier when team members help each other and make other’s job easier. Another important aspect is that while working in a team, a bonding  and unity is formed which really helps to fight odd situations. Hence it helps us to achieve excellence in together effort.

Team Effort helps to equally distribute the load. It is another very important aspect in team work. It helps 

In one study, teamwork quality as measured in this manner correlated with team performance in the areas of effectiveness (i.e., producing high quality work) and efficiency (i.e., meeting schedules and budgets).Team members’ ratings of their satisfaction with a team is correlated with the level of teamwork processes present

This particular exercise was to be performed in groups of three members each. Task given to  a group is to  switch over from left side of the valley to the right side of the valley by taking  the support  of the  pole as shown in the cartoon. Direct jumping and attempts are considered FATAL and not welcomed at all. The basic motto of the task is to enable the students to understand the teamwork and Organization and Management  through experiencing this task. 

All the three members  have interchanging roles in the completion of the task .If we look closely at the table of the steps of the exercise we would notice that the here friends have equal distribution of risky ,half-risky and no-risky. Therefore all three members roles are designed “EQUALLY STRONG”. A big part of this exercise is in the preparation of the exercise. All the movement must be properly synchronous for proper completion of the task. All the three members while crossing the river communicate and coordinate with each other through sound/signal. We also see that the structuring of the Team Roles is very important the completion of the task.

As a manager one need to come out with step by step plan in order to help the three members to cross the valley. In order for the three persons to cross the valley the width of the valley must be slightly larger than a single step of one person but must be smaller than two steps. Moreover few technical specifications must be taken into account i.e. strength of the pole, creating markings on pole etc. The managers needs to specify the variety of roles when the three cross the valley.