Case Study On Everest Team Simulation

We went for management and teamwork building activity in mountain Everest. We Were to work in a group of five members, where there was a team leader, physician, environmentalist, marathoner and I was the photographer. As we set ourselves on the base camp, each and every member had his or her own goals and we had the group goals. My goals as the photographer was to reach the first second camp, where I would spend extra day in both camp 1 and camp 2. Such a decision was an intuitive decision making since I was to give reasons such as the health conditions, which would derail the group from achieving the overall objective of reaching at the summit. My staying at camp 1 and camp 2 was a bounded rationality model of decision making, since it bounded the group overall objectives of reaching the summit.
Since each member of the group was entitled to making different specific decisions there were various models of decision making such as rational decision making model. This ensured that the members made rational decisions that would not affect other members of the group adversely. The group was led by making strategic decision on various factors such ensuring high speed of hiking to ensure timeliness, as well as tactical decision making, such as dealing with the weather conditions. For example, I could not move to higher camps due to health challenge, enabling the rest of the group to continue climbing.
The exercise was approximated to take an average of six days, and the members had various goals such as reaching the summit while avoiding rescue. During the simulation process period, members of the team were to analyze different information and data such as the speed of hiking, weather, health, personal and group objectives. The analysis of the information and data will be availed to the members of the groups, which will be essential for their decision making processes. The information also would act as a guide on whether we would proceed to the next camp depending on the weather conditions and the level of oxygen each member had in the cylinder since it would affect the speed of hiking. This was a problem in our group, since at some instance members would rely on their information in making decisions on health and hiking speed.
The decisions made by the group members affect the performance of the group, and also overall achievement of the team goals. For example, my decision to spend more time in camp 1 and camp 2 affected the overall performance of the team. However, communication also was of great importance during the simulation process as members had to communicate on different decisions, which would affect the operations of the group. During the hiking, there were five checkpoints along the way to the summit of the mountain. The team members had to ensure effective use of resources such as oxygen bottles and supplies required for effective process. For example, at camp 4 the group members’ health deteriorated due to lack of oxygen, which made the group to lose marks.
All members of the group initially had their personal goals, and the whole group also had various objectives. Therefore, the most prevalent challenge was the ability of the group members to align their private goals with those of the group, with the aim of maximizing the overall outcome. Therefore, the simulation process was a process involving a steady trade-off between individual objectives and those of the group. This called for understanding and knowing each other ways of thinking and doing things. This is due to the fact that if an individual posses skills of understanding other people point of view one will be able to know their direction of action when the members is faced with an individual or group objective. This skill was of great importance in the group activities enabling a member understand that their opinion should not dictate the direction and actions of the group, but collective decision making.
The whole team did not make it to the top since I opted to remain at camp 2, while the environmentalist remained at camp 4. The other three members of the team reached the summit which made the overall achievement of the team 65 percent. The ability of the members of our group to achieve individual goals was at 62 percent, while we lost all bones point. The low achievement of our team was attributed to the fact that there was due to lack of a formal leader for the group. There were differences in making various decisions. For example, at camp 2 the environmentalist had an asthmatic attack but the physician does not provide the inhaler. Lack of leadership led to group think mentality, which made us lose the medical challenge points at level 3.
There are many leadership and management theories that have been developed and varieties of literature have been developed on the same. In addition, the group activities aimed at ensuring both group and individual objectives were achieved ensuring personal growth, as well as teamwork facilitation. The Everest simulation exercise simulates real life issues in management and factors to do with teamwork operations. Different individuals are given different tasks, which they are supposed to complete within a certain time limits.
The roles of these members in the team are interlinked since they affect the overall performance of the group. Therefore, it provides a platform, where the team members learn to deal with other people when working for a common objective. During the simulation process, where the members are given different roles, their behaviors are similar to those exhibited in the workplace. Therefore, an individual is able to understand how his decisions and behaviors affect the operations and effectiveness of the whole team.
There were various challenges that we encountered in the exercise. For example, pluralistic decision making and lack of a formal leader in the group affected the decision making at various instances. In addition, at some point some members would to move to the other camp leaving other behind. For example, when two members leave camp 3 to camp 4, leaving the other members at camp 3, affected the morale of other members. The trade-off between personal goals and group objectives was also a major challenge for the group. For example, my goal was to reach camp 1 and 2 where I would spend a day in each of the camp. This was contradicting the overall goal of reaching at the summit as a group. However, it was a tactical decision for the group since I would trouble them since my health was not stable. Therefore, I decided to stay the lower camps where temperature and oxygen concentration was high. There was a point at camp 4 when the all the members of the group became weak and they were in need of oxygen. This was a problem associated with management of our resources.
The simulation process aimed at improving various skills in forming groups and teamwork for the group activities. For example, our team was able to gain team building skills such as effective communication and its essentiality to goal achievement of the group. In addition, the exercise also provided skills on how members could participate in the group activities. The exercise also provided skills of making collective decisions in the group, where all the members were involved in the decision making process. Due to various challenges faced by the group, members were able to learn problem solving skills, which facilitated effective decision making. The problem solving skills were more prevalent, when different members in the group had different information and data, hence creating opposing interest.