Don't you just love it when you see a report on the news or read an article in the paper that states something that is already completely obvious? I remember hearing a report on CNN a few years ago that espoused the benefits of exercising. In fact, I think the report said that exercising will likely increase your lifespan. When I heard that definitive line from the anchor's mouth, my mouth dropped down to floor. Of course exercising increases your lifespan. I don't think that people exercise with the intent that they keel over after. Although, every morning after I run I feel like keeling over.
Now that I'm thinking about it... I also remember hearing a story that said something like eating healthy and exercising has been PROVEN to reduce stress. Well DUH (I would like to use another phrase but I might get in trouble for naughty language). As if I and the rest of frickin humanity didn't know that. I now have the expert opinion of CNN's medical correspondents to make me sleep better at night knowing that my exercising is actually helping me instead of killing me. When I read the article "Working Together...When Apart," I had a similar reaction.
Generally, I enjoy reading top-ten lists. I find them interesting and insightful when they relate to something that I care about. I work for a fairly large (4,000+ employees) international corporation spread over four continents so I really do appreciate the convenience of virtual teams. And since I'm working remotely, I can really appreciate the value of instant communications tools. And this article did a good job at summing up some useful tips when creating virtual teams but there was one thing that should not have been put on that list.
Before I go into more detail the bad tip, I did find the overall article interesting and well thought-out. I thought that tips seven and ten were the most important in their impact on me. I agree completely with the idea that you should not force virtual teams to meet together mainly since it is not a practical endeavour most of the time. I also think that using volunteers is a great way to motivate people to work on projects that they are interested.
BUT, the one thing that made my mouth drop open this time was tip nine. Tip nine states that "ensur[ing] that the task is meaningful to the team and the company" is essential. I would imagine that most people reading a publication from MIT would be smart enough to realize that corporate teams should already be working on meaningful projects for the company. I detect a little CNN here people.
Actually -- I am grateful that MIT told me about tip nine. Finally, I can sleep at night knowing that the market research work I did for VeriSign was actually BENEFICIAL to the organization. Man I'm glad I decided to work on that instead of with the group whose job is to decide what tile colors go best in the bathrooms. MY GOD!!! Next thing you know, they're going to start proving that employees who are happy are more productive! Or that higher sales and lower COGS will result in higher NI!!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
No Sh*t Shirlock
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10/18/2007 08:53:00 PM
Labels: accounting, CNN, cost of goods sold, groundbreaking, health, net income, readings for class, stating the obvious, VeriSign
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4 comments:
Hahah yea it is really common sense, but think of how many purposeless team projects we've done in classes. There will always be pointless, purposeless tasks that you get stuck with, both in classes and at work. And I think sometimes bosses think that by creating a virtual team to work on something will be beneficial (more insight, more brain power), but not necessarily.
I agree with Colleen and you on this one.
#9 is truly common sense at it's best.
The problem lies in that sometimes the projects that may be important or necessary for the company may be the exact project that makes you poke your eyes out with spoons.
For example...
Shredding 200 lbs of HR documents
or...
Inventorying those 50 lb CRT monitors for a 100+ person office
You get my point.
Colleen, you make a very valid point w/ regards to the useless team projects that Kogod makes us work on. And Sarah, you illustrated some great examples but I feel like those types of projects are something that one person would work on. As the lowly intern... I can tell you that I have done things like that in the past. I think the best was when I had to catalog 30,000 forms in these HUGE black filing cabinets -- all by myself naturally. Why spread the cost out to more than one person?
Tim, you are way too funny. I was laughing reading that. Anyhow, I agree- that was a silly point. Whether a project is online or not, it should be meaningful, otherwise, why would anyone want to contribute in the first place? I agree with you and Colleen that creating a virtual team for no specific significant reason will not work out. Although Sarah is right- sometimes everyone has to do a job that they don't like, but is necessary. But, hey, that's what interns are for, right??
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