Today was the launch of the new sales canvass and we had a party at a country club. A team building company was brought in to ‘improve relationships and teamwork’.
There was this game where we have to form groups, and pass marble from one end to the other through broken pieces of pipes. The objection of the game is to win through teamwork and proper planning and pass as many marbles as we can from one end to the other. We played a few rounds but we still fell short of the 168 marbles target by 9 marbles.
At this point, the organizer asked the VP of the company, ‘Shall we go again or stop? Do we want to hit the target of 168 marbles?’ The VP stood up and said ‘ Yes! We shall hit 400 marbles!’
Everyone knew that we could not manage the target of 400 over the past record of 159. That’s like more than a 100% increase in marbles and productivity. However, we cannot fail since this challenge was thrust upon us. So. We. Cheated. We put marbles in our pockets and empty them at the finishing point when no one is looking. Suddenly, all of us become sleigh of hands magicians.
When the results were announced, we reached and exceeded target. We had 813 marbles. Everyone cheered and laughed. That’s life aint it? Whatever happened to integrity and clean win?
Sometimes I feel that the management is at fault. Instead of brainstorming of how we can improve our productivity legitimately, they set us a too high target, a mission impossible and we had no choice but to cheat or not make it. In this way, they ‘forced us into it’. We have to make a lot of sales, do a lot of paperwork, and now on top of all that, we have one more target to reach and we are supposed to provide better after sales service. It makes me hopping mad at their unrealistic expectations. I , like yesterday, only have 2 hands, 2 legs and one voice. I can only walk at a speed of like 5km/h. And no, we still travel by regular transport and are not provided with helicopters or teleporting powder. Based on what then do they see fit to impose new demands on us?
Appropriate demands at the appropriate time in achievable doses serve as motivation. Ridiculous demands mean total disregard or cheating. If the company wants to achieve long-term gains, they should look beyond their noses and think of solutions beyond simply setting stupid impossible targets. Sometimes I wonder if the people had sat for so long in their ivory towers that they had forgotten what was it like to be out there on the streets, fighting for each sale and shedding tears and sweat. KNN!
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6 comments:
LOL this is soooo typical! I have been to three of these teambuilding exercise things and all of them were absolute crap! One was purely talk; one involved an obstacle course; and one was all about dancing and throwing yourself backwards in someone's arms (I left during that one) My husband had to go to one - and they made him do it over the weekend!
If I were a boss and my team needed a bit of bonding time, I would get them to cook a meal together and build their own BBQ. And when the food had been put together and the fire lit, I would invite their families to join us.
Yes, it's funny isn't it? Teambuilding events almost always have that "throw yourself backwards into someone's arms" exercise. And nowadays it's adventure courses like whitewater rafting and spelunking.
IMHO the best bonding exercise has always been a few rounds of beer at Friday's.
Corporate trainers need to update their courses to keep up with technology and changes in the work environment. Pleaseee include an office etiquette workshop or something. My relationship will the guy at the next desk will definitely improve if he stops using that irritating ringtone ringing at the loudest setting ;P
I've never understood why throwing yourself at someone is supposed to be a good thing at the workplace :-)
I loathe people touching me, so refuse to do that stuff point-blank. I'm with you, a few drinks (vodka please) is a much better idea.
*clearing throat with embarrassment before making crass business overtures* I give etiquette presentations! Also letter writing and the ins and out of PR management online. I work with Asian Executive Advancement Center because they have all the government HR paperwork. My CV is at http://www.lepak.com/about.html
Ah, a trainer! If you ever do phone etiquette pls pls pls also touch on
calling tones and voice mail messages.
I've had plenty of friends complaining about the innapropriateness of Crazy Frog calling tones and weird voices telling them to leave a message. It's okay among friends and all but definitely not for the business world.
Dont get involved. It's for geeks. Pure geeks.
???
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