Training Module On Team Development: Tata Iron & Steel Company
Training Module On Team Development: Tata Iron & Steel Company
Training Module On Team Development: Tata Iron & Steel Company
Aishwarya Ramdas
6/21/2009
TRAINING
It is a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, abilities, sharpening of skills,
concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviors to enhance the performance of
employees through professional development.
• It’s not what we want in life, but it knows how to reach it.
• It’s not where we want to go, but it knows how to get there.
• It may not be quite the outcome we were aiming for, but it will be an outcome.
• It’s not what we dream of doing, but it’s having the knowledge to do it.
• It’s not the goal we set, but it’s what we need to achieve it.
So in all, training is about knowing where we stand (no matter how good or bad the current
situation looks) at present, and where we will be after some point of time.
TRAINING PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
It is clear that in today’s fast changing complex environment we need to collaborate effectively
in groups or teams to achieve results. One of the key questions we need to address is when is a
team important? There are times when organizations invest time and money in building teams,
when that is not required. Also, there are times when team building is not the right tool to use
there is a greater need for team development than team building. Today the main aim of the team
building activities should be the development of work teams. The diagram below indicates the
correlation between the nature of work environment and the level of complexity of task
complexity in today’s modern world.
Successful team building has far reaching ramifications in an organization. Improve the way
team members interact and you improve their ability to solve problems. Better problem–solving
means better efficiency in general. Increased efficiency tends to boost morale and productivity. It
also helps to decrease stress, turnover and operating costs. And all of these improvements bolster
the organizations public image. Once established an effective team becomes self perpetuating.
EXAMPLE
Raymond Bickson, chief executive of The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces — whose flagship
hotel in Mumbai, India, was attacked by terrorists last November — noted how reaffirming it can
be to come together as a team. In a February 2009 interview in The New York Times, he
described the hotel's reopening, in which spiritual leaders led prayers for the assembled staff and
the names of all 1,700 employees were read aloud. "It united us in a way that went deeper than
the usual team-building programs," Bickson said.
TRAINIG MODULE
This would be a structured training.
Target Group:
The target groups for this session are the new recruiters or the fresher’s of the supervisor’s cadre.
Ice Breaking Session SPAGHETTI TOWER (40 mins.)
Small teams are asked to build the tallest, most cost-effective, free-standing tower using a packet
of dried Spaghetti and a packet of jelly babies within the set time limit.
Ask the teams to work out and calculate their points (as below). The team with the highest
number of points is the winning team. Do not show the team the scoring procedure before the
activity takes place.
Scoring:
Points will be awarded as follows:
CASE STUDY
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship (2008 Euro Cup) saw a Spanish team that
took many keen observers of the game by surprise. The side which, over the years, had earned
the tag of 'underachievers' in the international arena despite having some of the most talented
individuals and the best domestic clubs in Europe, played superbly to win the 2008 Euro Cup,
its first triumph in such major tournaments in 44 years.
Experts felt that the Spanish national team's sub-par performance in major tournaments was
primarily due to a lack of team spirit and the killer instinct.
The lack of team spirit was a result of the intense rivalry between different regions of Spain as
the various regions were divided in terms of culture and political outlook. In such a situation, it
was very difficult for the members of the team to play as a unit, according to them.
Spain's stellar performance in the 2008 Euro Cup and the team spirit they displayed in the
tournament was largely attributed to the brilliant management and leadership of coach, José Luis
Aragonés Suárez (Aragonés). Aragonés' appointment came shortly after Spain's debacle in the
2004 Euro Cup. The new coach put in much of his effort into team building and instilling a sense
of team spirit into the fractured team that was also short on self belief.
Though the team failed to perform well in the 2006 World Cup, its overall performance record
under Aragonés' leadership was very good culminating with the success in the 2008 Euro Cup.
However, the feat was not an easy one as Aragonés had to take some very tough decisions along
the way which dented this popularity among the public and the media and attracted a lot of
criticism. However, with the team breaking the 44-year jinx, Aragonés' team building initiatives,
strategy and tactics, management skills, and leadership came in for special praise.
This case will help to understand various issues/concepts in management and organizational
behavior and generalizations can be made based on this case which could apply to the corporate
setting.
» Understand the issues and constraints in team building and team management.
» Understand and make generalizations on the various concepts of group dynamics, change
management, conflict management, leadership, etc.
» Understand the issues and constraints in coaching and make generalization in coaching in the
corporate setting.
Post lunch the people would feel lethargic to read hence engage them into a game to get rid
of their laziness and let them enjoy and have some fun.
GAME FOR TEAM BUILDING AND STRESS MANAGEMENT
This is a helpful and non-threatening way to show the effects of stress and confusion, especially
in teams, and by implication the effects of stress on productivity, organizational performance and
healthy working.
Ideally for teams of eight to ten people or can be less also Split larger groups into teams of 8-10
and establish facilitation and review as appropriate, appointing and briefing facilitators since
each team requires facilitation.
You will need for each team about five balls of various sizes, compositions, weights, shapes,
etc., depending on team size and the team's ball-handling skills. Five balls are probably adequate
for most teams of eight people.
Using very different balls makes the exercise work better (for example a tennis ball, a beach ball,
a rugby ball, a ping-pong ball, etc - use your imagination).
Form each team into a circle.
The aim is to throw and catch the ball (each ball represents a work task/objective) between team
members - any order or direction. The ball must be kept moving (the facilitator can equate this to
the processing of a task within the work situation).Allow the team to develop their own
methods/pattern for throwing the ball between members if they find this helpful. A dropped ball
equates to a failed task (which the facilitator can equate to a specific relevant objective). A held
ball equates to a delayed task.
When the team can satisfactorily manage the first ball, the facilitator should then introduce a
second ball to be thrown and caught while the first ball remains in circulation. Equate the second
ball to an additional task, or a typical work complication, like a holiday, or an extra customer
requirement. Continue to introduce more balls one by one - not too fast - each time equating
them to work situations and complications.
Obviously before not too long the team is unable to manage all the balls, and chaos ensues.
Avoid creating chaos too early by introducing too many balls too soon. Allow the sense of
increasing stress and confusion to build, according to the ball-handling capability of the team.
Introducing balls too quickly will not allow the stress to build.
This game apart from stress management would also have team building in it as in order to catch
the ball each team would definitely plan out a definite flow in which the balls have to be thrown
and the new balls that are introduced at the regular intervals.
End with a good conclusion and the fill in the feedback forms from the participants to measure
the effectiveness of the training program and also tell the organization to involve the group in a
lot of team projects so that they continue what all they have learnt during the training
programme.
The first half of the training module can be conducted indoors and the second half can be
conducted outdoors to act as a source of entertainment.
EVALUATION OF TRAINING PROGRAMME
3.) Behavior (on observation basis after the trainees have undergone the
training programme)
Feedback form: