I do not think I can forget easily my interview with Gsk. One stage of the interview required us to work in groups, I was assigned to group 2. Our task was to discuss, how education is the bedrock of every successful society. Just like other applicants, we did not know each other prior to the task we were assigned to do. All we had was a name tag and the panelists just watched us as we discussed the topic.
I did not pass that stage of the interview but I am writing this because I know the lady who did. As soon as the clock started ticking for our discussion to begin, there was a lot of rowdinesses as everybody tried to make a contribution because we were not sure what the panelists were looking out for. On my part, I think I just started explaining how education will get a poor kid out of the trenches..lol. This particular lady that passed, kept on repeating these words in the midst of the chaos, “ let us define what an education is and what success will mean to a society.”
In my mind, I was contemplating why we had to that considering that we were all graduates and everybody already knew the answers to what she was asking. A friend later sat me down and explained to me why she was picked for the role and I was not. Let’s have that discussion today.
A group is a place of decision making. It creates an atmosphere for different perspectives to be discussed, analyzed before eliminations are made. These steps are very important to avoid creating a dysfunctional team. Every opinion should be listened to. This is one of the reasons small groups are created so that people are more likely to discuss assertively.
A work team is defined as a small group of people, with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance, goal and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. This is to say that a team aims as a group but performs as individuals.
There are different types of formal teams which includes:
- Problem solving teams
- Self managed work teams
- Cross functional work teams
- Virtual teams
For a team to function effectively, 3 factors are greatly considered. The input, the process and the environment. The input consists of the team composition, the resources available to the team and the goal of the team. The process involves the team development process and the environment explains the work atmosphere by the team’s leadership.
As analysis and contribution are always about context and circumstances, every member of the group should make efforts to explain their position. Hence, the deliberate effort by the lady in my team during the interview to make us accept a unified definition of education and success.
A team that offers an opportunity for every member to speak has been shown to be more successful than one where a member is an outlier.
I will end by saying that even if there is no value in the position of the other side, there is value in knowing what that position is. #MMBA3
The Shock of Adulthood