PERSONAL

EFFECTIVENESS AND
LEADERSHIP
ASSIGNMENT

GROUP MEMBERS

SANJANA NAHATA 21A2HP412

SAI NETHRA REDDY 21A2HP416
NIHARIKA SARASWATHI 21A2HP433
SOUMYA CHOUDHARY 21A2HP435
K. CHANDRADHAR 21A2HP439
DEEPAK SAHA 21A5HP904
Q1) You have joined a new company with Team Management Responsibility. The feedback
for one of the employees from your manager is very negative, and your manager gives you
full freedom to let him go and hire someone else. However, he has left the final decision
with you. What will you do?
To let the employee go and hire someone else is not the solution. There is always a scope for
improvement. As a matter of fact, the company spent time, money, resources in hiring that
employee.
Being a part of a Team Management Responsibility, it is my responsibility to first talk to that
employee with negative feedback and know his side of the story. The conversation can also help
me know what his expectations are, is he comfortable with the role or not, what aspects he is
looking into, whether the training was sufficient to his caliber, or is he facing any difficulties.
Also, interaction with the rest of the teammates can fetch the overall feedback for that employee.
This basically helps to find the root cause of the problem.
According to the feedback, on the whole, the appropriate course of action should be designed:
1. If counseling would help, that is the best approach that can be taken, and employees can be
given a chance.
2. If it is found that the sole problem is literally in the employee, and nothing can be done, then
letting him go is the best option.

Q2) Rate each of your team members into the four categories - Eager Beaver, Hungry
Shark, Lazy Sloth, and Bored Lion and provide your group's justification for the same.
Also, provide a write-up on your approach.
The skill-will matrix is a 2X2 matrix with four categories - Eager Beaver, Hungry Shark, Lazy
Sloth, and Bored Lion.
Approach for rating members in the skill-will matrix-
1. We have identified the four broad skills for rating the team members - communication
skills, written skills, technical skills, and presentation skills.

2. Each team member has rated the other five members on a scale of 1-10 based on the four
skills mentioned above. (Rating assumes that we have known each other for the past
seven months and have worked with each other on several group projects)

3. The average rating for each member was obtained, and we considered ratings between 1-
5 as low skills and 6-10 as high skills.
 4. The members then rated themselves based on their willingness to work or learn a
particular skill on a scale of 1-10. The average rating for willingness was obtained.

5. Based on the final obtained ratings for both skill and will, we have created the 2X2
matrix with “skill” on the x-axis and “will” on the y-axis.

The Skill-Will Matrix-

We are a group of 6 members, and below is the matrix that divides the team members based on
the skill-will matrix.

1. Eager Beaver- Individuals in this quadrant have Low Skills and High Will. Eager Beavers
need specific direction, and they should be provided regular feedback, which can help them
improve their skillset. We have identified three individuals from our team that lie in this
quadrant- Sai Nethra Reddy, Sanjana Nahata, and Soumya Choudhary. These three individuals
rank a little lower in at least one of the three parameters considered but are highly enthusiastic
about learning and performing well. Considering we have completed only the 1st term of our
course, most team members have low skill, but the will is on the higher end.
2. Hungry Shark- Individuals in this quadrant have both High Skills and High Will. Hungry
Sharks are actively involved in decision-making, and they can drive themselves effectively
without much intervention. We have identified two individuals from our team that lie in this
quadrant- Niharika and Deepak Saha. These two individuals are highly ambitious and need very
little assistance in their work. All the teammates leave them both to perform, get out of their way
and not intervene in their work.
3. Lazy Sloth- Individuals in this quadrant have both Low Skills and Low Will. Lazy Sloths may
have to focus on increasing their skill set and willingness to work and learn to become either
Eager Beaver or Hungry Shark. We have identified Chandradhar from our group that belongs to
this quadrant. Individuals in this category need a direction and a contingency plan to understand
the true calling, which will help them increase their skills and willingness to work.
4. Bored Lion- Individuals in this quadrant have High Skills and Low Will. Bored Lions have
the skills and ability to perform well, but they lack the willingness and motivation to do so
consistently. To make them do work effectively, managers should reward them highly and give
challenging tasks to keep them motivated.

Q3) Identify 2 Blind spots for each member of your team, and that member needs to then
provide an explanation of what is he/she going to do with the new information known about
himself or herself.
The following are the blind spots for each member of our team and an explanation on how the
members are working on themselves with this new information.
Sanjana:
1. Avoid people (groups or crowd): I am an ambivert, and my group members believe that
I should start socializing. I feel I'll have to work extensively on this blind spot as it makes
it necessary for me to be a management student. I have started with the simple task of
talking to 2 new people in a week (with whom I've never spoken to before) and starting a
conversation. My batchmates from different sections or people in my neighborhood, I've
started socializing and "talking" to people.

2. Avoid conversations that are difficult: The next blind spot is that I avoid difficult
conversations that come with a surprise to me. Nevertheless, I'm trying not to be
impulsive and face the difficult situation coming my way. I'm trying to be more patient
and improve my listening ability so that I can hear out the other person and not avoid the
tough conversations.
Soumya:
1. Not taking a stand and initiative: My teammates have identified this blind spot for me.
I realized throughout the time that if there is something asked or some tasks given, I will
wait till some other person takes the initiative, which keeps me in a comfort zone and due
to this, sometimes I could miss opportunities that are present. To work upon this, I have
to start taking the initiative and ignoring the mindset of what others will think.

2. Afraid of asking for help (Going it alone): I realized this is a blind spot for me as rather
than asking for help, I prefer doing tasks alone, due to which sometimes I end up messing
with things or missing deadlines. Now in my post-graduation, we have started working in
teams or groups for projects and assignments, which is letting me improve.
Deepak:
1. Too much focus on the future than the present: This is a Blindspot I came to know.
To improve, I would be focusing more on the present. By focusing more on the
present, I would be creating a positive impression on the colleague. My colleague
knows I am a hard-working individual, focusing on the present will naturally improve
my performance.

2. You do not involve in non-formal communication: This is a blind spot noticed by

my colleague. To improve, I will try to spend some time with my colleagues every
day for non-formal communication. Try to have a discussion apart from our domain
knowledge.
Niharika:
1. Though I accept criticism, I get emotionally affected: To work on this, I should
focus more on taking the criticism positively, have an optimistic attitude, and be
ready for improvisation.

2. Procrastination: I prefer to do all work in the eleventh hr; till then, I tend to postpone
however necessary the task is. The bright side is if I do it, I give my 100%. Though it
is positive, due to procrastination, I end up multi-tasking later, thinking that the task
would have been accomplished in a more refined way. To get the best out of myself, I
must give up procrastinating things and try to finish the task at an instance.
Nethra:
1. Built a barrier to feedback (especially “negative” feedback): My first blind spot
that was identified is that I have built a barrier against feedback as it is never easy for
anyone to hear that their work is not properly done. When I receive negative
feedback, it is very tough for me to focus on my work as it questions my capabilities
and really impacts my confidence at the moment, so I always tend to avoid it and
never listen to it. If my colleagues are facing a problem with this, I will definitely try
to take their feedback from now on.

2. Rushing people whose approach is more patient: My second blind spot that my
team members talked about is I rush people who have a more patient approach, and I
agree that it is true about me. From childhood, my nature has been to execute my
work in the quickest way possible, and I do not encourage people who make it slow.
Now, I realize that everyone on the team has a different pace of work, and we need to
respect it. From now, I will not rush my teammates who are using a patient approach.
Chandradhar:
1. Not able to honor the deadline: My group members have told me that I am a
procrastinator when doing a task. I will eliminate this blind spot by preponing the
deadline so that the task is done on time. I made a small change in academics, i.e., I
have started preponing the deadlines within my mind so that assignment completes on
or before time.

2. Not adhering to the group requirements: My team members have given me

feedback that my output most of the time does not adhere to the requirements. I am
trying to eliminate this blind spot by checking the requirements for the task I am
frequently doing such that output adheres to the requirements.