Effective communication and teamwork

Effective communication? Do you know it? Do you know how it helps in teamwork? How to use them in a real-time situation? Have patience, read the story and know how to use them.

We stay at Asansol, 220 KM away from Kolkata. Not to mention, Anish, my younger son would write the Joint Entrance Examination on April 6, 2014, in Kolkata.

Absence of effective communication

In order to enter the Examination Hall, Anish would need to show some documents at the gate. So, I kept those documents in a transparent folder and informed my wife. As per our plan, she accompanied Anish to my Flat at Kolkata in the morning on April 5, 2014. Since he would report to the examination centre at 9.00 AM, hence he would need to start for the examination centre at 8.00 AM the next day from my flat.

I reached Kolkata at 8.00 PM on April 5, 2014, and checked the folder. To my surprise, I found the admit card of class 12 missing from the folder. How did it happen? My wife thought the above admit card was not necessary, so she left it at Asansol. Without it, Anish would not be allowed to sit for the examination. The missing admit card made an adverse situation for us.

Searching for alternatives in adversity.

In the hope that we could collect the Admit card from Narendrapur, I rang up the then Maharaj of Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur, requested him to open the Strongroom at night so that we can go and collect it temporarily for showing at the examination centre.

The Maharaj said, ” The person had already left for his hometown at Barasat with the key of the strong room.” When the above alternative failed, we planned to bring the admit card from Asansol. So we would need a car. For that purpose, I requested all my relatives at Kolkata to arrange for a car. But they failed to arrange it.

The first ray of hope

We saw the first ray of hope when the doorbell of my flat rang. I rushed to the door, opened it, saw the home delivery man and requested him for the help at once.

I said, “Can you help by arranging one taxi or car for fetching the admit card from Asansol?” The person assured me, went to his place and finally arranged an ambassador car with the owner cum driver at 10.45 PM.

I assured my son “Don’t worry. I ‘ll bring the admit card from Asansol. Please focus on your study.”

Mainak, my elder son accompanied me on the journey. I advised my wife to keep in touch with us over the phone.

In spite of several breakdowns of the car, I collected the admit card from Asansol and started for Kolkata at around 3 AM. Again the car broke down thrice and the driver repaired it. In spite of so many breakdowns of the car, the driver was driving calm and relaxed. He assured us, again and again, to drive us to my flat by 8 AM.

At around 7.30 AM, Soma rang me to know the exact location. I told her,”Get ready and go to the examination centre directly. We would reach there.”

The second ray of hope

We could see the second ray of hope when we saw the Dankuni Toll plaza from a distance. I asked the driver “When can we reach my flat.”

The driver said, “We’ll reach within 15 minutes.”

I rang up Soma at once, “Come to the Gate along with Anish and wait.” Finally, the driver drove us to the gate by 7.45 AM, I handed over the Admit card to Soma. Mainak voluntarily accompanied them to the Examination centre. Anish appeared for the examination at the end.

Thanks to the Home delivery man. Thanks to the excellent driver. For their coöperation, Anish appeared for the examination and got admitted to National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. He is presently studying electronics and communication Engineering at NIT, Durgapur.

Analysis: Why no effective communication

Initially, I assumed that I communicated effectively with Soma at Asansol, went to Kolkata, checked, found no admit card, and blamed Soma – the receiver. With non-assertive behaviour, I could not make Soma understand the urgency of the message, could not speak openly and could not time the message when Soma was able to listen. I did not bother with her reaction. Soma was busy with household chores. With no active listening, She could not understand my point. She did not ask me for any clarification. In other words, the communication was not at all effective. As a result, adversity happened. We all failed.

Analysis: Teamwork

The above adversity united us. With a common goal of arranging the Admit card and commitment to doing it, we searched and evaluated the available alternatives by requesting first The Maharaj, then my relatives and lastly the home delivery man. We selected the best choice offered by the home delivery man.

we implemented the best alternative when each team member led the team at different times. Firstly I led the team. Then the home delivery man directed the show. Soma helped Anish to stay relaxed and focused. After that, the driver led the team on the journey. Then Mainak led the team when he accompanied his mother and brother to the examination centre. In the face of such adversity, lastly, Anish delivered by writing the examination.

Analysis: effective communication and Teamwork

We communicated with each other very effectively, controlled the constructive conflict well, genuinely respected each member of the team and showed our cohesiveness. As a result, we united to strengthen our team effort. Finally, I along with my family members created an environment where all team members performed to their full potential.

In a nutshell, we performed as a team. The team composed of myself, Soma, Mainak, Anish, the home delivery man and the driver.

Our learning points: