College story

College story: Do you have a problem with the team members?

In 2011, I enrolled at the Great Lakes Institute of Management. One of the institute's commendable practice was the pre-assignment of team members for assignments, ensuring a diverse mix within each team. 

During the initial 4.5 months, our schedule was packed with lectures from 9am to 8pm, followed up assignment submissions due by midnight. After dinner at 9pm, we would gather on the basketball court with our laptops to work on our assignments. As someone accustomed to studying at a desk, adjusting to working on a laptop while seated on a hard court, especially past my usual bedtime, was challenging. Despite being an extrovert, my interpersonal communication skills were not strong, and I failed to voice these personal concerns to my team members. 

A week into this routine, our professor asked if anyone had issues with their team members. Out of the entire class, only two students raised their hands, and I was one of them. This surprised my team members. They approached me, not with anger or irritation, but with genuine concern, asking about my issues. They addressed my concerns and suggested a new approach: we would discuss the task, delegate the work, and then I could retire to my room to complete my part and then we worked together as team happily ever after (for next 4.5 months)

This experience taught me the value of working in a diverse team, importance of understanding others’ perspectives and improving my interpersonal skills. 

Till date, I am impressed by all of my team members: Left to right in the photo is me and then, Raghavendra Baje who was the finisher and ensured completion and submission of assignments, Priyakshi Gupta who got innovative ideas, Kanika Aggarwal who consistently brought unique ideas to the table, unfortunately for me they were 180 degree apart from mine, and Kushagra Prasad who was the integrator of our team.