THE VALLEY CROSSING ACTIVITY! (A true management insight)

The activity named "VALLEY CROSSING"goes something like this:

In the picture shown above the case is that there is a valley, and a log of wood is need to be carried to the other side, ther are three people designated for this job. Now the concept that would help these three people to actually carry this log to the other side would be like this:

Now, here is the concept that is designed like at a particular time one out of the three people is hanging above the valley dip while other are on the land. Now for the system to be stable following are things that need to be considered:

1. Valley's lenght must be between 1 foot to 2 feet.

2. There must be a very strong element of trust.

But! the system is so perfectly designed that:

1. It doesnot even matter if there are 3, 4, 5 or for that matter any number of people.

2. The size and shape of the person doesnot even matter.

3. The system as such has to just take care of one thing i.e. holding the log. Rest the system is designed in such a way that works get done automatically.

4. The concept of team work, management designing etc are learned very well here!

CONCEPT OF TEAM WORK:

The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.

Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.

This video represents team work very well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s46M7AGG39I

CONCEPT:

In order to understand the importance of teamwork we must 1^st look at the types of people in an organization:

1) Theory X : The managers who assume that the people working under them are lazy and are bound to avoid work if they get a chance. The only way to make people work is by threat and use of power. More often than not this theory does not allow employees to gel amongst themselves and know each other.

2) Theory Y : Contrary to Theory X , lies the motto for Theory Y . This management style assumes that the employees are self motivated and are ambitious. A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work. This allows employees to learn from one another and have a positive attitude towards work.

We can observe in this activity that all the 3 people have crossed the valley without much of a trouble. It has been possible due to teamwork. Had they been walking alone and tried to cross individually, this couldn't have been possible or could have been more difficult and time consuming.

My observations:

In order to comprehend this task, a few things must be taken into consideration:

1. Management tasks should never be desinged for as per the person's structure or ablity, they must be designed in such a way that any one can perform them till any level.
2. Responsibility of each individual must be clear. Load on all individuals must be similar so as to allow smooth functioning.
3. Training individuals to do the task and finally executing it successfully.

Here is the final pictography of the task: