LE06: Three Monks - Team Building

TEAM BUILDING is the most vital part in the formulation towards any goal. It is philosophy of job design in which employees are viewed as members of interdependent teams instead of as individual workers.

This particular video highlights importance of "team building and team management" in the completion of any task. It also describes as to how the any task can be done more efficiently with the help of simple innovation and proper utilization of the available resources.

Now let us compare the three given situations

  1)LONER

In the first situation as shown the task is being done only by one monk and understandably the task is bound to have lower efficiency as the team consists of only one member which can prove to be a bottleneck in face of any crisis. Moreover any innovation in the method of getting water may require more manpower and hence cannot be applied in this situation.

However the presence of a single member contributes to the unity of direction in doing the job which is also a vital factor in any organization.

  2)THE DASHING DUO

In this case the work load has been divided into two equal parts but one important factor to be considered here is the coordination between the two members in the team.

 The root cause for their difference of opinion is that there is no 'standards' or rules for completing the task in a coordinated manner. This is later sorted out when the first monk draws a scale and makes a fair ruling. This principal is also very important with regards to any organization as there is a need to a unity of direction and proper distribution of work for the organization to march towards its goals.

Another thing which needs to be highlighted is that the increase in manpower leads to increase in efficiency as the work-load on one person is reduced.

  3) THE PERFECT COMBO

Initially we see that as the third monk enters the monastery the other two force him to go and fetch water. This particular case is a perfect example of social loafing in an organization where people start exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. Moreover the lack of proper coordination between the members in the team results in complete organizational failure.

Therefore the manager must be adept to judge the development of enmity within the organization and must take necessary action to prevent complete rupture of organizational structure. For example the fall of proper functioning at Maruti’s Manesar plant

But we see that in the face of crisis all the three members forgo their internal differences and work in a synchronised manner to improve the situation. This results in work being properly distributed in which results in highest efficiency when compared to all other previous cases.

This particular instance highlights that the manager must have a strategy for crisis management.

Finally we see that how the work-load is reduced with the help implementation of innovative methods and proper coordination. Thus the management of any company should focus on technological advancement so as to increase efficiency.

Managerial thinking should thus encompass:-

• Crisis management skills
• Unity of direction
• Innovative mindset
• Ability to grasp the situation

Continuous vs. Drastic innovation

In the situation where the two monks were present at the monastery, initially only one went to fetch water .After sometime both started doing the job which increased the efficiency but the work load was improperly distributed. Another change which happened was the rope being tied to the middle of the stick which resulted in proper distribution of load and increase in efficiency. This continuous change which resulted in gradual increase in efficiency is a result of continuous innovation.

Drastic innovation which was depicted in the form of use of pulley to fetch the water resulted in sharp increase in efficiency and reduced the time manifold. This drastic innovation  can also take place in any organization with high technological advancement.