Teaming together in turbulent times

The world has not fully recovered from the crippling effects of the credit crunch yet. Chaos created by man is also in abundance. Climate changes pose critical challenges in making our lives miserable. These are all signs of an ongoing turbulence.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, turbulent means disorderly or confused, not calm or controlled. It relates to an irregular flow of things. Peter Drucker, in his seminal book titled, ‘Managing in Turbulent Times’ states that, a time of turbulence is a dangerous time, but its greatest danger is a temptation to deny reality. He refers to a collision that takes place in human mind.

According to him, the greatest and most dangerous turbulence today results from the collision between the delusions of the decision makers, whether in governments, in the top managements of businesses, or in union leadership, and the realities.

In other words, there is a gap between the reality as it is and how it is perceived, the way people want. It points to the fact that human beings typically resist change. Yet, as Buddha said a long time back, the only permanent thing in the world is change. What we experience today is a rapidly accelerated change at all fronts, resulting in change, change and more change.

Robert Schuller comes to our rescue in stating “tough times never last but tough people do”. Why some people soar while others sink, in going through turbulence, highlights the range of responses available for people.

As Drucker observes, in turbulent times, an enterprise has to be managed both to withstand sudden blows and to avail itself of sudden unexpected opportunities. Therefore, an organisation should have a “sword” in order to spearhead competition by way of exploring opportunities, as well as a “shield” to withstand ups and downs associated with business. Optimally managing the resources is essential in this respect.

Why teams? Can’t people work as individuals and achieve results? Let’s take a situation. Imagine one’s house is on fire. Father does one thing in panic, and the mother does something totally different, also in panic. The son and daughter are thoroughly confused and just running around. Obviously, the house cannot be salvaged. That has to be a coordinated effort. That’s why teams are essential in facing turbulence.

It reminds me of a particular activity associated with an outdoor training programme. A group of 20 people were asked to get on to a horizontal pole of four meters length, kept one meter above the ground supported by three meters high vertical poles at both ends. We were asked to stand up on the horizontal pole without any additional support, except holding each other. Only those who were at both ends could cling on to the vertical poles. I still recall that experience, where we stood for a while without anyone falling down. The lesson was so simple.

When the task demands a team approach, the need is a collective, coordinated and a committed response. That is exactly the essence of teaming together.

Teams and groups are often interchangeably used to describe a set of people working together. In perusing through the literature of organisational behaviour, veterans like Stephen Robbins and Fred Luthans have identified a group as a set of two or more individuals interacting and interdependent with each other in achieving a common objective. A team is one step ahead. I would simplify a team as a group with synergy.

Stephen Covey, in his bestseller ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,’ describes synergy as follows: “Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It shows that the relationship, which the parts have to each other, is a part in and of itself. It is not only a part, but also the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting part.

“Synergy is everywhere in nature. If two plants are placed close together for growth, the roots improve the quality of the soil so that both plants will grow better than if they were separated. In short, one plus one equals three or more. The challenge is to apply the principles of creative co-operation, which we learn from nature, in our social interactions… The essence of synergy is to value differences – to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses.” (Covey, 1991:263).

I have seen that most of the leading business organisations in Sri Lanka promote team work as a core value. It is easy to wear a t-shirt showing that one belongs to a particular team. But is team work only confined to the t-shirt? The issue is how much emphasis is paid on the concept of synergy, in consciously moving beyond a mere group of employees. This is more relevant in turbulent times where the need to cling on to each other for survival is high.

What types of teams are available? How can we ensure team effectiveness? What are the critical success factors of team performance? Answers for these vital questions will be discussed in detail in the next column of Humane Results.

(Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri is a Senior Faculty Member and a Management Consultant attached to the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He also serves as an adjunct faculty in International Human Resource Management at the Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, USA. He has over two decades of both private and public sector working experience in diverse environments including Unilever and Nestlé. He has engaged in consultancies in more than 10 countries. He is a Commonwealth AMDISA Doctoral Fellow and Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow. He holds a Ph.D. and an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. He is also a member of the Chartered Management Institute, UK.)