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Learn the true definition ‘team’ from nature – a HR message
Highlights
Human resource function in most corporate engages seriously in developing teams and team spirit among its employees as it is popularly believed that great achievements can be made only through team performance. Most corporate would attach great importance and meaning to the word ‘team’ as they believe that ‘team work’ alone would fetch them success both at the employee and corporate level.
Human resource function in most corporate engages seriously in developing teams and team spirit among its employees as it is popularly believed that great achievements can be made only through team performance. Most corporate would attach great importance and meaning to the word ‘team’ as they believe that ‘team work’ alone would fetch them success both at the employee and corporate level.
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The corporate also tends to nurture team spirit as they believe that there will be no disparity or dissonance or discrimination among people when they work as a team. How true is the above belief?
Is it true that there will be no noise, furry and mutiny among different members of a team if they really feel and respect the team spirit? Can corporate create ‘utopia’ by making people to work as a team?
It is myth that team spirit will help minimize conflicts and combats. When people work in isolation or as individuals, may garner greater achievement than being in a team. The purpose of the article is not to discourage or mock at the team effort and to make people to perform as individuals in the corporate ecosystem. But also to makes them aware of the working dynamics of a team and its merits and demerits. Otherwise, confusions become imminent whether employees work as individuals or as team.
Nature has finest examples to provide to the corporate about the advantages and disadvantages of a team.
The animals that live as a team in general are the carnivores (predators) and not the herbivores (prey). Look at the pride of a lion or pack of dogs or wolf or hyena, they all hunt as a team. They know the fact that only when they hunt as a team, they can win. But when the issue of sharing the hunt arises, only the strongest and smartest could make it. If the size of the hunt were big enough to meet the needs of all members of the team, only then the ‘true’ team spirit or ‘team definition’ is followed.
The prey animals in general live in group but seldom form team.
The ‘biggest’ truth is that everyone lives as ‘individual’ whether they are in a team or perform as individuals. Live first for yourself and for the above sake, be in a team or remain as an individual (solitary) or be in a herd, is the natural law, all the animals in the jungle follow. Man is no way different.
Interestingly, none of the animals that follow team culture would ever prefer to move away from the team even if their effort did not get them the due share. They know that they can exist only when they work as a team and not as individuals. They neither carry the ‘fossils’ of the loss nor do they refuse to put in their effort for the next hunt in future. That is how the team spirit is respected and maintained.
What the corporate and its HR must learn from the above is, they should create acute necessity of team work among employees but should ensure that all of them are assured of the reward for their effort. Corporate and its HR should recognize the fact that more conflicts is seen only among members of the team and not when they exist as individuals.
Team spirit should not be misinterpreted as ‘sacrifice the self’ and work for the ‘common goal’. The true meaning of a team is that the individual goals and needs are automatically taken care off when they work for common or organizational goal. Do not ever carry the ‘misnomer’ that ‘team’ will bring success and there will be less conflicts when people work as team.
Remember, while you perform well in a team, your individual performances are also measured. Your existence is possible only when you excel as an individual as well.
S Ranganathan
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