This dates back to
the year of 2009. Every time a Professor announced that this semester's
coursework is a group one , instantly one could hear murmurs in the class.
Friends , peers and rival teams devising a perfect plan for a winning team. One
could hear in silent whispers, "Let’s take her, she has the experience in
Pharmaceuticals" and another gesturing a classmate sitting in the opposite
corner, “we will be in one team". I would dread the 'work in progress'
stage. Judging from the experience of two group coursework in the past ,
there is always peculiar traits in one or the other of the team members.
- a person who is lazy and
procrastinates
- a person who dominates / alpha
male
- A person just incapable of
comprehending the basics.
- the wise crack who loves to
criticize others ideas and isn't talented enough to produce his own
As my luck would have
it, i worked with team mates with all of the above traits in one person or
weird permutation and combinations in one or the other. This made me cringe to
the idea of group work. I would never understand , what coursework one could do
brilliantly solo, turned out to be a average piece of work when working
collectively.
I understood this
after working for 3 years in the business.
Manpower Management ,
you get this right and you have nailed it. Business schools insist
on group works because in the real world we do not work in isolation.
There is no appointed leader in university coursework and hence there is
trouble.
As you grow the business,
you have to ready the second in line to your business. In our company , we have
so many things that are going wrong. Seniority comes with experience and
knowledge from growing in the same working environment. The staff is unskilled,
our products are not well designed , there is no delegation of authority , the
real masters are missing. The list goes on and on.
I am at my
demotivated best. I keep telling myself , this is not i was born to do ..
this is no use of my full potential.
A friend responded .
" I just want to be the captain of the ship and sail with my
crew". I responded, " Same here !! its just that i am
looking for human beings worthy being my crew ". As on
today , I got none.
