How to understand Goal Setting and Management ? Read a book. Search it on the net. No. You have to experience 'Goal Setting' and 'Effective Management' to truly appreciate its need. That's how we the students of NITIE experienced Dr. Mandi's session on Goal setting and Management.
SMART Goals
SMART Goals. Goals that are Specific
, Measurable, Achievable , Realistic And Time Bound. But how to
truly understand it? We took part in a game to do just that.
First, the entire class was asked to take part in this game .
After an intense round of bidding, three lucky students got the chance to play
this game. It was a simple game. There were several small blocks. And all that
was needed was to stack up these blocks to create the largest tower. The larger
the tower , the greater the satisfaction of the builder.
Everyone was asked to quote a number to represent the number of
blocks that would be required to build the tower. The numbers varied from 20 to as far as 40, as we all believed
that this task was simple enough.
But then we had to play this game with certain
constraints. The person building the tower was to be blindfolded and also he
was supposed to use his wrong hand.We were asked to quote new numbers. The range
of the number of blocks drastically fell owing to the new constraints that were
brought into the picture. The numbers quoted were as follows :-
Less than 15 blocks :- A handful
15 – 20 blocks :- Majority of the class
More than 20 blocks :- Again, very few.
Finally, the number of blocks was set as 18.
Thus, we had set a goal , which seemed achievable and realistic. The task was supposed
to be completed within that session itself making it time-bound.
Our objective was well defined and specific. Try to create a tower of blocks that would
contain 18 blocks. This also meant that the goal set by us was
also measurable.
Next, as the goals were set, the three lucky
students were given different responsibilities to carry out the task at hand.
One was to build the tower blindfolded and with his wrong hand. One of them was
to communicate with him the necessary instructions as well as motivate him
using his interpersonal skills.
The remaining person was to see to it that
the entire process was carried out skilfully and effectively and he was
supposed to give innovative ideas to carry out the entire task.
This represented the three essential skills that
managers at various levels of an organization had to possess. The person
building the tower required technical skills for building the block. The one
who was communicating required people skills to get the job done. The third
person was the one who had the most important task, which was to intervene
with innovative suggestions to ensure that the goal which was set by the class
had to be completed.
This was how the entire task was carried out :-
Theory X and Theory Y
While carrying out
this task we also learnt about the two theories of management, namely Theory X and Theory Y. Here, in this task the manager
overseeing the entire task could have handled the situation in two ways:
1) He could have told the person building
the tower ,that he was not building it high enough and that
he has given up too early. This is Theory
X type of management.Here, the manager believes that the builder is lazy.
2)
Or else, he
could have believed that the person building the tower was liking his work and
needed no extra motivation. Here the manager believes that the builder is not
lazy and therefore , his management type would follow the Theory Y.
In our scenario, the student believed that the person
building the tower was not lazy and thereby displayed Theory Y form of
management. Eventually, the task was completed. A job well done and a learning
for a lifetime received !!
