Team Spirit

(STRENGTH IN SYNERGY)TEAM SPIRIT				a clear indication of hard work and their sincerity
BY PROF. M.SRINIVASA RAO				can not be questioned. Where as the team B,
Andrew Carnegie said, "Team work is the ability				planned well, coordinated properly, ground their
to work together toward a common vision. The				axes, worked smartly and got the result much
ability to direct individual accomplishments toward				before the deadline. It is a clear indication of
organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows				smart work. And in this growing technological and
common people to attain uncommon results".				competitive world it is not the hard work but the
Formation of homogeneous group out of				smart work that counts.
heterogeneous for achieving organizational goals				Merits of Team Work:
and objectives can be defined as team work.				According to Herb Kelleher of South West Airlines
Working in teams is a fun and frolic. Team work				- "Team play is a fundamental concept
touches upon our hidden talents. It is here people				Ã¢Â€Â¦.. If you want to succeed, if
communicate more freely and work together in a				you want to win, you have to play as a team."
team resulting in more efficient and effective				The results can be maximized and expedited due
results. It is nothing but synergy of strengths of				to the strength in synergy. When the team
diversified people. Every individual is blessed with				members consult one another during the process,
unique qualities, abilities, talents and skills and when				they learn to come out openly and learn to
they work in teams with passion, we can expect				respect others' ideas. Members start believing with
unique results. Although numerically one plus one is				each other shedding their inhibitions and hesitations.
two, but in team work it gives rise to more than				The outcome will be in exponential proportions.
two. It is here where people of diversified				There will be supplementary and complementary
backgrounds and faculties come together to do				of skills and abilities. At times, the team members
their best forgetting their egos, differences of				come out with ideas which they themselves
opinions, views and ideas so as to keep the				never thought of, from their subconscious minds.
objectives of the team paramount. Effective				The member also realizes his strengths and
team work develops team spirit, flexibility,				weaknesses vis-Ãƒ -vis other members and
openness, adjustability and adaptability.				tries to overcome his weaknesses and
Characteristics of an Effective Team:				strengthens his strengths.
Basically a team must possess four elements				People working in teams develop using two letter
such as purpose, duration, structure and				word 'we' instead of one letter word 'I'. Stephen
membership. The leader or the manager must be				Covey, in his book, 'The Seven Habits of Highly
very clear in his or her goals and objectives to				Effectively People' wrote about the terminology
avoid ambiguity. He or she must be a risk taker				of synergy and it is one of the greatest habits
for conducting such an exercise. Creation of				across the successful people in the world.
conducive and relaxed climate is an imperative to				Working in groups or teams promotes esprit de
get desired results. The entire members are to				corps (loyalty), camaraderie, and problem solving
be interdependent and independent to make the				ability. People, when work in teams develop the
team building exercise relevant. There should be a				ability to resolve the conflicts amicably. Due to the
provision for positive and creative ideas. All				physical proximity in teams, the members derive
members must be free to air their opinions and				job satisfaction by various means and they
ideas. There has to be collective responsibility and				gradually develop multitasking abilities. By way of
accountability.				discussions and dialogues, bags of information are
How to Build an Effective Team?				generated and team members become more
It is basically the team leader or manager who				knowledgeable. It is here cooperation replaces
should create. He must know group behavior and				competition with in the team members. Ability to
must be good at group psychology. He must build				stay focused is an efficient trait; the members
the team so as to achieve the organizational goals				tend to hit the bulls' eye accurately. No repetition
and objectives which are measurable, realistic and				of the work takes place as all are aware of what
attainable. He needs to be an excellent jockey till				is going on right under their noses.
the race is completed. Resolving conflicts in the				Employee turn over is thorny issue in all sectors
team, encouraging relevant meetings, sharing				of the industry and it can be minimized by
goals and objectives, creating a conducive climate,				inculcating team spirit as people do not feel to quit
clear demarcation of the roles and responsibilities ,				their organizations when they develop good
providing adequate training, strengthening bottom				relations with their colleagues. Optimum utilization
lines, communicating effectively and efficiently - a				of time and available resources can be ensured.
powerful team can be built. There is a team				There will be enhancement of qualitative work
facilitator who provides required guidance and				and the recognition of hidden potential amongst
support to the team members. An efficient team				the employees.
member can become a successful team facilitator				Team Spirit as a Skill Tested In Interviews:
and then as a team leader. The leader must build				When the students go for employment, the
members who believe in smart work rather than				employers look for the team spirit. The
hard work.				employers will be on the look out for this trait and
There is a subtle difference between smart work				they try to examine whether the candidate
and hard work. For instance, there are two teams				possesses this characteristic. Non possession
each containing three members and are asked to				becomes a major liability and the candidate gets
cut two different trees of same size shape and				rejected. The psychologists and other interviewing
width. The members of team A immediately took				officers try to find out this ability by posing
their axes and started cutting the tree at the				questions from different directions and dimensions
root as the time frame fixed is one hour for both				and when the candidate demonstrates constantly
to complete the task. Whereas the members of				then only there is a possibility to get into the slot.
the team B took around 15 minutes to grind their				All organizations whether it is civil or military
axes and then they began cutting the tree. And				organizations lays great emphasis on this quality.
they could cut it with in 15 minutes of starting the				Soft skills are a cluster of many skills and abilities
activity and finished with in 30 minutes by cutting				and it is said that possession of team spirit is one
at the base of the tree. The team A began				of the major skills. In order to inculcate this
cutting the tree but failed to do with in an hour				quality, the students must learn to work in teams'
and took more than that to fell the tree. Here the				right from their childhood itself by participating in
difference between the team A and B is: The				sports, cultural activities, in academic careers to
team A did not plan well, coordinate well and on				avoid displeasure at the time of interviews. To
the other hand they worked very hard but could				put it in the words of Stephen Covey, "Strength
not achieve the result with in the time frame. It is				lies in differences, not in similarities".

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Team Spirit