Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Value of a Team

Perhaps one of the biggest things I learnt from my time at Blueserver, is the value of having a great team around. We all have our own mindsets and ideals when we proceed to work; whether our work encompasses something repetitive and monotonous, or perhaps something more of an ever-changing challenge/problem. Either way, the most important thing that I picked up was that the phrase we were taught to vomit out in every karangan (essay), "bersatu teguh, bercerai roboh" ("Together we stand, divided we fall"). I thought it was a joke, but when I stepped into the Blueserver life, it was anything but.

As a moderator that didn't seek promotion, but rather wanted to learn about workplace culture and all, it was shocking to see that so many times a person would reach the top in record time, then be sent plummeting down after a hot dispute, often because of a divide in opinions against that very person. Or how rival teams (forums / servers / organizations) fell because they lacked the skills in one particular side (notably: technical or people handling skills).

It is precisely the reason above why I feel that systems should be in place, and that teams should recruit people they not only can work with, but will complement the team. After all, it wouldn't make sense to bring a teammate in, just because he has the skills, but will "do things differently" from the team, no? Nor is a person who has very similar approaches and skills to existing people within the team, will be helpful in the long run. Diversity and teamwork here triumphs over normal teams, in my opinion - where to find the right balance between the two will be the challenge of the leader.

The leader, I feel, should have at least three qualities. He, or she, should be alert. Very alert. It is a massive boost for a leader if he or she can identify symptoms of problems before they occur, or even better yet, solve them before they even become a problem. An alert leader should not be confused with a "omnipresent" one, because I think from experience, people want to be given freedom to do the jobs they are given their own way - by appearing all the time, it risks them getting overpressured to do their job (better the word "mindful" and "considerate", than "omnipresent").

The second thing I feel a leader should have is the ability to learn, not only from mistakes, but from the mistakes of others. For it is important for a team to be ever-evolving; adapting from one challenge to another, and keeping competitive all the time (via books maybe?) - the ones left behind in terms of knowledge should engage the help of an able teammate.

The last quality is then the technical knowledge to support their responsibilities - although this takes a backseat compared to the other two before it. I feel that technical knowledge is a must, but only simply because when you discuss things you tend to be able to keep in touch with what is happening. It complements the first quality. Everyday, we "look" at a long of things. For us to actually "see" them, it takes a certain amount of effort, that is no doubt lessened when we learn more. Perhaps it is limited to forum moderation, perhaps not. It will be interesting though, to see what could come out of it should this be practiced in work life.

In any case, I believe that a leader will rise or fall depending on the capability of his team. There is a need to help them if they have trouble, because eventually when the going gets tough, the leader will need to rely on them. Failure to prepare for difficult times is one and the same as preparing to fail then, in my opinion.

I laud the efforts of the many moderators and leaders who graced the organization, Blueserver, that I used to work with, but at the same time think that their current batch can do better with regards to leadership, and common teamwork. In no way are they doing a bad job, I simply think that they can do better.

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