POM Course - A Memorable Experience

My take away from the Principles Of Management course at NITIE, a memorable experience of my life. 

THE THREE MONKS – PRODUCTIVITY & TEAMWORK

Introduction

It is a Chinese animated short film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio.  It is also known as The Three Buddhist Priests.  It has been shown to us in our latest lecture which brought subtle concepts of organization management. How Teamwork and Productivity go hand in hand. So, let us start with the story of the movie first:-

                                                           3 MONKS - PART 1

                                                          3 MONKS - PART 2

The Story

Movie starts with a little monk who lives at a Buddhist Monastery at the top of a hill. Every day, he used to fetch water from a river at the foothills. The first day, the little monk used to carry two pales on either side of the stick. He used to do this in a hassle free manner thinking it as his responsibility.

The second day, another monk came up to stay at the Monastery. The little monk offered the left over water to the second monk. So, the second monk decided to fetch water down the hill but took the little monk to go along with him. Now, then lies the CONFLICT MANAGEMENT between the two, as the little monk being shorter, tries to raise the bar up making the bucket to slip over to the other monk’s end and the other doing the same on his end. So, there was a conflict in deciding the responsibility of carrying the bucket among them. Finally, the decision was made with the help of a ruler which divided the stick in two equal parts.  

The third day, third monk joined them.  After drinking the water left at the monastery, no one was willing to go down and fetch the water. Incidentally, a rat came to the monastery and knocked the candle holder lead to a devastating fire in the monastery.  The three monks then united forgetting the animosity, distributed the tasks to put out the fire by fetching water from the river, where one monk would fetch the water from the river into the bucket, the other would pull it up through a pulley and third monk would then receive the water for storage and handover the second bucket.  This increased the productivity as they worked as a team.

Was there any alternative among the monks to fetch water as a team?

As discussed in the class, they could follow any of the following alternatives:-

a) Work could have been divided on an alternative basis, where every monk could go down hills and fetch water in the buckets on alternative days.

b) Make a point at the middle of the stick and keep following the process throughout the week.

c) Divide the work into half among themselves.

But none of the points had been adopted by the monks due to lack of Teamwork and standard practices which were not followed by them.   

So, what we have learned from the Film?            

1) PRODUCTIVITY

It is an economic term defined as output per unit of input. Workplace productivity is about how firms can utilize labour and skills, innovation, technology and organizational structure to improve the quantity and quality of their output. For e.g. in the above example, if two monks would have carried one bucket instead of single monk carrying two buckets, would have increased the productivity.

2) TEAM BUILDING

Any team would be successful if each and every team member has mutual understanding with each other. Many organizations prefer teams to complete certain projects or assignments that are difficult to be handled by a single employee. When the project is under a team, it is certain to reach the pinnacle.  Taking example from the movie, when the fire occurred, the three monks got together, shared a common goal, forgot their dispute and worked together to save their monastery.

3) SYNERGY

Synergy is two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable. Have you ever witnessed a wining sports team or a well-rehearsed orchestra and then felt the commitment and energy the team demonstrated? What you saw was more than just teamwork – it was team synergy, a phenomenon that occurs when a team achieves greater results than the sum of its parts. Using learning instruments, hands-on activities, and an interactive team simulation, teams gain a clearer sense of direction, clarify roles and responsibilities, improve operating processes and bolster both interpersonal and inter team relationships.

Valley Crossing

                                                      VALLEY CROSSING

Today,  I got to learn Team Management principles in the class of Dr. Mandi. As expected he came in the class with a prop – ‘a long wooden bar’.  Initially, it was difficult to decipher what was he going to teach using the bar but then he showed a picture of 3 men crossing a valley with a wooden bar. Then, we got an idea of what he was going to teach us in the class.

Steps:

1.      When the first person will take the first step, he will be half risky since one of his feet will be in air and other on the ground, at the same time other two people will be full safe.

2.      Everybody will take one more step at this moment, first person will be fully risky and other two will be full safe. But since other two people will be holding the rod, with proper communication and trust they can cross.

3.      This process will be repeated for other two persons. Every time they will be either half risky or full risky.

If we see the degree of risk for these 3 people we find that each shares equal risk when we see the task in totality:

Person	First Person	Second Person	Third Person
Steps:
1	Safe	Safe	Safe
2	Half Risky	Safe	Safe
3	Fully 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

All the 3 members have equal risk involved, therefore confidence and trust in your team members is most important. If you lack trust, then your team cannot achieve what you aimed.

Now, what was our learning from this exercise:-

Team Work -

 Teamwork is the ability to work as a group Teamwork is the ability to work as a group toward a common vision, even if that vision becomes extremely blurry. Vision is nothing but a SMART goal i.e. Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely Goal. It is always said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships”.

 
Goal Setting –

 
Valley could have not been crossed if each person A, B or C had different goals. Hence, setting a common goal is the most crucial part of an organization. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.

 

Trust – 

Trust among the three people crossing the valley is one of the most important attribute. As, different times, a particular person among them is vulnerable and his safety lies in the hands of the other two people. Same is the case with the organizations. The success of any organization depends upon the teamwork and the trust among them. No trust means a hostile, toxic work environment where productivity is severely limited.

 

Communication - 

Communication is one of the important attribute of achieving the task. Healthy communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions. As in this example, the three persons have to communicate continuously to cross the valley. 

Effective Execution Of the Role Assignment  - 

A very important role is played by the Role Assignment and the execution of that role. Each member at every given point of time is engaged in his role. In a moment of time, a new role is assigned to him and he has to immediately adopt himself according the new role. 

 

KHAN Academy – Transforming Classrooms

Everyone has a dream. For Salman Khan, it was of a Global Classroom where a child from Kolkata can interact with the one in Los Angeles – irrespective of the economical state of either of them. In order to make this happen, Khan Academy was established. A graduate from MIT and Harvard Business School who had been working as a Hedge Fund Manager had an inclination towards socialization which inspired him to do something for the society.

Things always happen for a reason. This is true for Mr Khan, who first created you tube videos for his cousins, just to make them understand the basic concepts.  But after getting the positive feedback from them, he tried sharing the video which got a good feedback from people. Taking it as an opportunity, he started working on the videos, reaching out to millions of students of all ages, across the globe with the sole purpose of making teaching more interactive and fun.   

Gradually, Khan Academy was a vital hit and became prominent in online education industry. Now, after getting the first steps right, there was a need for expanding the service in a better way. So, he started working on Technological advances which made the programme more teachers friendly where they could analyse the efficiency of each student and start working with them in the classrooms. So, here is the innovation of a person who transformed the classrooms from a mere silent to interactive and learning sessions. Check out the video below :-

Salman Khan showcases all qualities of a Y manager. “Dare to Think” is the what he inspires me the most. How things get started in a small scale and in order to reach to each and every person, how expansion took place with the help of Internet. Moreover, keeping the software easy to use, every student can make the most out it sitting in any place around the world.  

Experience Learning Differently

What is the cost of your one day? A surprising though but this is the question which changed my perspective of doing an MBA. Because the answer was 10 times for what I was thinking and moreover, I was oblivious to the situation as this is the cost my parents are spending on me right now.

First class of our Management subject taken by Dr Mandi was totally a remarkable experience. We were given real time examples as to how we can use our knowledge in making simple structures, and sell them in the market. How we can use our knowledge and earn from the same to fulfil our daily cost of doing an MBA. The specific term we use is DHANDA.  I realized that MBA is not only for earning but is also about the Learning and contribution to the society. We should think outside the books and break the process of “Another Brick in the Wall” in our society. Since this class, a few lines which keep on running through my mind are:-

Socho Becho,

  Becho Seekho,

      Seekho Socho.

I.e. think how to sell and earn from the same in the market, learn from the selling as how to achieve more and Think after what is being learnt.

We were being taught that how an organization functions. How important the efficient working of each member is for an organization. For better understanding, we were asked to play a game of A Mighty Tower, where a group had been asked to build a tower by keeping blocks one above the other. For the selection, we had to invest our money in the game. When asked for the participants, only 3 classmates chose to do so. During that stage, I had a bit hesitation which kept pulling me to raise my hand in the class.  

Then began the game and we were being taught the role of each participant and how they resemble like an organization. It was an amazing experience the way we were analysing the activity. As I had served in an organization for two years, I was comparing myself with the person who was building blocks keeping his eyes closed, as a worker. We both had same stress level, the management people had their check on us as they were dependent upon the delivery we were assigned, failing which the task would not be completed. So, that makes a worker the most important role to play.

Then, there was the second person who was an intermediate management in an organization who was helping the worker in completing the task assigned to their team same as done in an organization. This was the manager who has to keep the work going – no matter how tough the difficulty the workers are facing: be it in HR or some other perspective. The third person signified the upper management who was taking care of the other two persons in the company. I really enjoyed the game while experiencing the real time stress environment, the desire to finish the goal (like in this case, building a structure of 18 blocks).

 After the class, I was motivated to think how I can use my knowledge and start earning from now onwards instead of waiting for some people recruiting me to work in an organization. I am very thankful to Sir Dr Mandi who made me look inside myself and pursue to think differently- in order to work for our living from now on wards.

Aaj ki Roti, Aaj hi kamaaenge (Earn today, for today’s food)

Behtar Parai ke liye Kamai (Earn for Better Learning)!!