Valley Crossing!

Problem Statement:

Task given to a group of three people is to cross 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.

Calculation of width of valley: As per the problem statement, direct jumping is not possible; hence the width must be greater than 1 footstep of a team member. Similarly the width should be less than 2 footsteps otherwise there won’t be any feasible solution to cross the valley with the help of 3 member’s team. Hence ideal width of valley is between 1 footsteps to 2 footsteps.

Vision: To design a process of simple steps so that everyone to cross the valley.

Mission: To implement a solution for a team of 3 members and can be extended to any 3+ member’s team.

 

Sometimes a picture says more than words. When Dr. Prasad started discussing this picture in class, we had little idea that we can learn this much from this picture. We also simulated this activity in classroom. It was a fun filled exercise full of insights.

Organisations are made of Teams. Good Teamwork is essential for high performance in any business.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan

Here, as we see in valley crossing exercise, 3 people have to cross a valley. It is wide enough that they can’t jump to other side. So, they form a Team. They get connected with the help of a pole (metaphor for an organisation). In the end, they are able to cross the valley. It looks simple, but it is not. When we started doing this activity in real, it needed a lot of iterations to complete it successfully. Let me list out the ingredients required for successful completion of this task. These are the same things required for a good team work.

Planning: - We were 3 people. We were provided with a pole and we had to cross the valley. Our 1^st step was  to formulate a plan. The plan should be focused on how we can leverage our strength as a team. 

Proper communication: - Communication is very important both in Planning and executing period. Everybody needs to understand their role clearly. There should be a smooth flow of communication even at the time of executing task. As, we saw during activity, assuming the solution to be simple, people didn't allocate proper time to understand their role clearly. It resulted in bad co-ordination. One person moved one step ahead while other person stood at same place. Effective initial communication can avoid this situation and proper communication during task performance will ensure a successful task 

Responsibility: - Everybody in Team needs to be accountable. Suppose, if one person either in front or back leaves the pole while 2^nd person is hanging in middle, both 2^nd and 3^rd person will not be able to cross the valley.

Trust: - As a Team member, we need to trust other team members. In the valley crossing exercise, if all three people do not trust each other, nobody will get ready to hang on pole in the valley with their life at stake. Trust is build over time and as a manager we must ensure to create an environment where one team member can trust other.

Coordination :- Coordination is the important factor in making the crossing successful. Every team member need to be equidistant. They must move step at same time. They also need to cover equal length in every step. They must be aware of timing when they need to put extra effort, also the amount of extra effort required. For good coordination,Team need to do proper planning, have good communication,take responsibility and trust each other.

Execution and Analysis of the Solution : 

 Before starting with the analysis of the solution, I would like to describe the meaning of the states that I would be using :

·         Safe State : Safe state is the one in which both the feet of the person are on the ground and he is in no danger.

·         Half Risky: Half Risky is the state in which one leg is in the air and the other one on the ground

·         Full Risky: Full risky is the state in which both the legs of the man are in air and his body weight is supported by the other two men.

Persons	First Person	Second Person	Third person
Steps
1	Safe	Safe	Safe
2	Half Risky
3	Full Risky
4	Half Risky	Half Risky
5		Full Risky
6		Half Risky	Half Risky
7			Full Risky
8			Half Risky
9	Safe	Safe	Safe

1) At the first instance , the first person would take a step forward and would have one feet in the air while the other one is on the ground. (Half Risky).

2 )  In the second step the first person would be fully in air and his weight would be supported by the rest of the two persons.

3) In the next step , the second person would be have his front leg in air while the back leg on ground whereas the first person would have his front leg on ground and the back leg in air ( Both in half risky state) .

4) After this step, 2nd person would have both the legs in the air while the 1st person would have reached the other side of the valley and would be safe by now.

5) In the next step , the 2nd person would be in half risky state as one of his leg would be in air while the other one on ground and also the 3rd person would be in the same state.

6) In the subsequent step 2nd person would land on the ground on the other side of the valley whereas the 3rd person would be completely off the ground and his body weight would be on 1st and 2nd person.

7) Following that the 3rd person would now be in half risky state as he puts one of his legs on ground while keeping the other one in air.

8) Finally the 3rd person would also land both his feet on the ground and would be in safe position as would be the other two.

 

Here is the management learning from the valley crossing exercise:

Valley Crossing is a typical experiment of Team Effectiveness. Several factors determine the effectiveness of a Team. According to Lombardo and Eichinger who developed the T7 Model in 1995 to represent the key facets that influence the performance of work teams:

The five internal team factors include:

• Thrust – a common purpose about what needs to be accomplished or team goal(s)

• Trust – in each other as teammates

• Talent – the collective skills of the team members to get the job done

• Teaming Skills – operating effectively and efficiently as a team

• Task Skills – executing successfully or getting the job done

The two external team factors are:

• Team-Leader Fit – the degree to which the team leader satisfies the needs of the team members

• Team Support from the Organization – the extent to which the leadership of the organization enables the team to perform

If we compare T7 model with our valley crossing experience, the three team members have a common goal i.e. to cross the valley. Without a common goal, an organisation cannot perform effectively. Employees may have different sub-goals like higher remunerations, good appraisal etc, but their broader goal always in line with the organisational growth; without which their sub-goals cannot be fulfilled.

Trust is another important factor. The team members without the trust of

each other cannot cross the valley as each team member’s life stakes on other two members’ actions. Interdependence among the three members is crucial and maximum and without trust factor, interdependence cannot guarantee a fruitful result. All modern organizations are decentralized with maximum co-ordination and co-operation between each department through Enterprise Resource Planning and trust is one of the main factor for effectiveness of ERP.

Talent as individual and as a team: In valley crossing problem, every member is efficient and equal in all aspect. Specialization leads to efficiency and works are divided according to the specializations that the employees possessed.

Similarly Resource Management, Team Learning, Decision Making, Conflict Resolution, Team Atmosphere and Managing Process are the attributes of Teaming skills. One of the main barriers in effective team performance is social loafing and it can be mitigated through proper teaming skills .Social Loafing is the phenomenon of people exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. This is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. 

According to Dan J. Rothwell, it takes "the three C's of motivation" to get a group moving: collaboration, content, and choice. In our valley crossing experiment, each team member is assigned specific responsibility (choice) and through collaboration (co-ordination) everyone is bound to perform his/her duties in order to cross the valley.

It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. It represents one of the most interactive frameworks of team work and inter-dependence between members is maximum. Here if you notice, all the attributes of T1 model i.e. Thrust, Trust, Talent, Team Skills and Task Skills are incorporated along with adequate support from the organization.

Researchers have long known that any successful team is focused on performance. The team has a well-defined set of goals and agreed-upon methods for achieving them and members hold one another accountable for the performance of the whole group. These characteristics are called team cohesiveness.

A team cannot be built without the help of managers. Especially at the time of team inception, the team members need maximum help in terms of resource management, goal setting and team co-ordination. However as the process is streamlined, the role of manager diminished and he may find that the team doesn't require ongoing involvement. And what we will get is an Effective Team for the organization.

 

 

 

Thank You!!!