BSM-T - Teamwork Handout

Teamwork Case Study

On Wednesday morning, Ashish, a new steward, attended the morning briefing. In the
briefing, Ashish learned that his assignment for the day was to assist the kitchen crew in
any tasks they might assign him. Eager to help and impress his colleagues, Ashish
worked as quickly and effectively as he could. The dish pit manager asked him to wipe
silverware as it came out of the dishwasher and stack it in the appropriate bins. Ashish
looked around. He saw several different plastic containers filled with large spoons, small
spoons, large forks, small forks, and knifes. As the clean silverware came out, Ashish
carefully wiped each item dry and placed it in the bin with the other silverware. The dish
pit manager noticed and said, “You’re catching on so quickly! Nice work!”

Next, the banquet manager asked Ashish to help carry dozens of tables from a storage
room to the banquet room. Ashish agreed. Following the manager, Ashish met his
colleagues and immediately asked how he could assist. A more senior employee directed
him to begin moving tables and chairs. Noticing that another steward was struggling to
move a large table by himself, Ashish rushed over and asked if his colleague needed
help. His colleague thanked him and asked him to grab the other end of the table. The
two of them worked together to move all of the heavy tables into the banquet room.

After this task was completed, the kitchen manager asked Ashish to come back to the
kitchen to help with clean-up from the breakfast meal. The manager instructed Ashish to
mop the floor and then got a cell phone call. Ashish looked around. He didn’t see a
bucket or mop. Unsure about what to do, he approached the dish pit manager he’d
worked for earlier and asked, “Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where I would find the
soap and bucket for mopping the floor?” The manager said, “If you walk around the
corner to the end of the hallway, you’ll see a closet. Inside the closet you’ll find the
buckets, mops, soap, and faucet for filling the bucket. It has everything that you need.”

Ashish walked around the corner and spotted a closet. Using the items in the closed,
Ashish prepared water for the floor and began mopping. However when the manager
returned, he told Ashish he was using the wrong mop and soap to wash the floors!

Case Study Questions

1. Which teamwork guideline did Ashish use BEST? Provide at least 2 examples.
a) Communicating with each other
b) Treating others with respect
c) Giving and seeking help appropriately

© 2016 McKinsey Social Initiative, Inc.

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BSM-T - Teamwork Handout

2. Based on the events described, which teamwork guideline does Ashish MOST need
to improve on? How do you know?
a) Communicating with each other
b) Treating each other with respect
c) Giving and seeking help appropriately
3. What would you recommend that Ashish do next time?

© 2016 McKinsey Social Initiative, Inc.

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