Valley Crossing Problem:Effective Team Building

Today we are going to discuss valley crossing problem and use of management principles in implementing the solution.

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.

Following are the 9 steps to cross the bridge:

A. Safe - Both the legs of the person have full support

B. Half Risky – One leg in the air and the other leg has support

C. Full risky - Both the legs are in the air without any support

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.

All five internal factors have to be present for teams to be high performing. However, teams cannot be high performing unless the necessary organizational and leadership support also are provided. It does not matter how good a team is on thrust, trust, talent, teaming skills, and task skills, it must have the support from the organization and the leadership fit to be effective. During my tenure in Wipro, we come across Agile Software development process where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams.

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. In my previous blog on Khan Academy, Mr. Sal Khan formed a team, whose members have left lucrative jobs to join Khan Academy. Such people, though getting less salary than their previous employers, are more self motivated and more ambitious to perform than others; they become the most productive employees. For them working for betterment of society is more rewarding and stimulating. Their common goal and interest makes Khan Academy a bright example of 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.

Here is the video of Valley Crossing Problem exercised by IM-18 Students.