Mt. Everest Simulation: A Reflection - Essay Example

Question 1: What did you do individually that helped your team? What did you do individually that hindered your team’s performance?

The Mt. Everest program helped us in finding certain good and bad aspects of our team working procedures. The team was directed to achieve the aims and support each other throughout the program. The whole team was motivated and encouraged to take part in the decision-making and activities of the team.

I personally believe that I motivated my team a lot in order to make them passionate to win and reach the top. I helped other members in providing a broader view of their possible decisions which may affect the performance of the whole team. I provided them assistant ce and help wherever possible. The most important part that I played was to motivate them, uphold their interest in the tasks assigned and cheer them up when they felt discouraged. I motivated them to work s a team and focus on the team’s well more than individualistic choices. In addition, I encouraged freedom for all members to talk and suggest ideas. The team, then, looked seriously and decided If any suggestion is suitable or not. Also, I respected and listened to the leader of the team and took her advice.

The weak attribute in my personality that hindered the team’s performance was encouraging the team to take decisions immediately. It had a negative impact on the team’s goals as this way we ignored the individualistic goals of certain members of the team. They got rescued and we had to spend many medicines on that particular member to be alive. 

Question 2: Think about your team’s performance on the Mount Everest Simulation. I want you to think critically about how your team interacted. Part 1: What did your team do well? What were the “root causes” of such synergy? Part 2: What did your team not do well? What were the “root causes” of such performance losses? 

I believe that my team had the strength of working as a ‘team’ rather than as distinct individuals. They worked really hard to help every individual on the team by making decisions that benefitted most of the team members and help in reaching the team’s combined targets. The team did well as the average points that the team and individual team members got are 60%. This clearly shows that, however, there were some discrepancies the team worked hard in mutuality.

The root causes of such synergy include teamwork, combined decision-making, motivation from the leader, care for each other, and passion to achieve success. Each team member was aware of their responsibilities regarding the team goal. Every individual helped others in order to maintain a sustained development towards the achievement of goals.

The team lacked careful thinking and critically analyzed the outcomes of any particular decision. The root cause of this performance loss was that we were more motivated towards goal achievement and hence, we lacked critical analyses of our decisions. We suggested and made decisions quickly without viewing a broader picture of those decisions. The passion to reach the top and get a score led to inappropriate decision making which affected our score. An example of such decision-making is when we moved directly from the base to Camp 1. Then I ignored one of my goals, which was to stay one night in camp 1 and we moved to camp 2 due to the benefit of all team and I suggested that. In camp 2 I suggested staying one night, resting, and getting points for me and other people as well. Because of that, I got full points for avoiding rescue and staying one night in Camp 2. Although it was beneficial for some members who gained good scores others suffered because of this strategy and lose significant points.

Question 3: What can your team do going forward to make sure that you correct the things you collectively didn’t do well – Be specific here.

The team can incorporate effective decision-making by critically analyzing the ideas and suggestions before adopting them. The team may plan things well before moving ahead. Planning will help in critical analysis of the situations and avoiding any decisions which may lose marks or scores of one or more members of the team. In order to encourage those who lost scores for the good of the team, they must be given a chance to attain a score by changing the plans. If one or more members are being rescued the whole team should work together to manage the situation and help in maintaining the team’s performance.

The leader’s role should be specified in more detail. The leader alone should be given the power to make decisions without any other person affecting the leader’s personal views. The leader should not terminate others from giving recommendations but avoid making others’ choices the final decision. The team should be given a proper schedule of work and information about the benefits that teamwork will bring so that conflicts may be avoided.

In order to make sure that each member of the team works efficiently, the leader must assess the performance of each member individually. Moreover, the targets should be set for each individual in every phase of the program. The member who lacks achieving the targets should be encouraged and helped out by all the other members of the team. This way the team will effectively achieve the cumulative goals as well as the individualistic targets scoring well in the program.