By Neeraj Deshpande, head of team-building
The Avengers gave us a bunch of superheroes with unique abilities, motivations and sparkling personalities—and they had to work together for a common cause. The movie portrays a certain reality about teamwork, which is that getting a team of individuals with different perceptions and motivations to work together is difficult, whatever the common goal may be. This is reiterated throughout the movie as we get to see our favourite superheroes learn how to get along and function as a team, where collective heroics are celebrated over individual exploits! Here are a few takeaways from this blockbuster.
1. Acknowledge each other's signature strengths
Iron Man is creative, Black Widow is observant, The Hulk is all about muscles, Thor is power personified. Each has a superpower and contributes in special ways. They work out who can do what at various junctures which eventually gets them to achieve their collective goal. Likewise, understand each other's core strengths and play the right cards at the right time.
2. Don't fight, don't blame
Work through a conflict before it turns into an ugly argument. As a team of highly diligent people you are bound to have differences, but you must not spend time forming camps or fighting a crusade. It wastes time and harms team spirit. Even in the movie, we notice some members of the team having conflicting views, but going all out to pin the blame on each other comes to no good—something that they realise too!
3. Lock your ego and throw away the key
Everyone has a blind side and you may too. Just because you think you know it all doesn't give you the right to belittle people. In the movie too, everyone fit in as pieces of a puzzle and they keep aside their egos. They think as a team—rather than have one person trying to lead them on the basis of his or her own whims and fancies.
4. Celebrate small wins
When they destroy the Hydra safe-house, the Avengers are able to take away vital intelligence. For Thor, it is a reason to celebrate! Like them, celebrate small victories. It boosts team morale and keeps everyone going and also strengthens the bond.
5. Talk to each other
How is work going to get done if you don't communicate? Valid, right? As The Avengers learn to keep aside their differences and communicate more often to build a rapport, their efficiency automatically improves. They understand and acknowledge each other better, which anyone in a team must do. Working in silos when you're in a team will only create confusion.
6. Don't underestimate the shy ones
You may have someone on your team who is quiet, but when it comes to their area of expertise, they are the best in the game. You shouldn't let them hide in a corner. They may not like the spotlight, so you must speak to them one-on-one. In the movie too, Hawkeye and Black Widow are perhaps the quietest ones, yet are extremely significant for the team.
7. Consult team members before taking decisions
Think of this—if Iron Man would have told the rest of the Avengers that he was creating an advanced AI program to protect the world so that they wouldn't have to, then the rest of the team would have objected and Ultron wouldn't really have attempted collateral damage in the first place! So, since you work as a team, you ought to take decisions as a group instead of announcing that changes have already been implemented. It would come across as a shocker to all for they were never a part of the decision-making process.