Excelling as a Team !

 

I had heard that an MBA teaches you a lot, but it’s not only about classroom teaching but also a lot about peer learning. The first task that I was a part of after joining a B-School, I had to lead a team of 8 brilliant people to devise a Business Strategy for a start-up. It is only then I realized what a team is all about, what makes it successful, although 4 hours isn’t a huge timeframe but yes, I could draw conclusions. I’ve summarised whatever went through my mind and the things that I learned when I introspected those 4 hours after successfully pulling off the task.

 A team is stronger when everybody delivers on their individual roles. Dependability encompasses the team’s ability to rely on one another, trust that work will be delivered on time and of high quality. Like my team which had a genuine belief in the value of the work we were investing in and that it mattered, again, influenced the success of the team. Also, every one of us believed that great managers must be committed to their services. They should understand what makes a product or service great is an ongoing commitment to excellence.

Building a successful team was about more than finding a group of people with the right mix of professional skills. Team members should be viewed as unique people with irreplaceable experiences, points of view, knowledge, and opinions to contribute. And we utilized it to our fullest, after all the purpose of forming a team is to take advantage of the differences. 

Thriving teams do value diversity. Great teams recognize each individual’s strengths and their preferences to assign tasks, and ultimately to boost performance. Each team member needs to be valued for their unique talents and skills. Collectively, a diverse skill set, way of thinking, varied experiences, idea generation and problem-solving helps the lot to make an effective team and thus enhances the results.

It’s well said that the overriding factor which differentiates a group of people from an effective team is a clear goal. However, this goal needs to be more than an organizational objective: it needs to matter to the team, to be something that the members will value and see the benefit in achieving. Each member should know the value of their personal contribution to the team goal. I believe when individuals focus on the critical differences, only they can instigate, results increase and teams become effective and successful. A team is one that collectively agrees on the deliverables and sets goals together. From there, a plan is devised for goal completion. What to do, who to do it, how to do it, when to do it. Each member is accountable and responsible for the team’s overall success.

The team showed a great implementation of their expertise in each domain, be it design, fund allocation, and general execution of the task at hand. We didn’t have much idea of pulling off a rock-solid Business Strategy plan before.

I would take a stop here and like to quote the famous Helen Keller, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much".

Nothing suits the synergy of my team than this, the efforts were well-coordinated and complementary to each other. Right from the ideation of the problem at hand to the precise nitty-gritty, the execution was from the team was immaculate. At last as being elected the leader of the pack, it was an absolute pleasure working in this TEAM.