the time of struggle!

In brief:  if you find yourself becoming very busy at your normal job and it’s impacting your ability to meet your obligations to the team – then ask for help – it will be given!

 

Especially in Japan, the months of March & April invariably get very busy. Inside the companies, it’s the time for preparing for the ‘Spring job rotation or visits from overseas guests and of course, the 31st March year-end and consequent budget preparations.

The big problem is that all this coincides with the heaviest workload of the JMEC project cycle.
Naturally you have your work obligations to your employer. At the same time, you have made a personal commitment to yourself and to your fellow teammates that you will be there to complete JMEC. There is no easy solution to this predicament.

In an earlier posting under the heading of “time, anyone?“, I offered some perspectives on this topic. Maybe now, you are beginning to recognize the real time challenge of doing JMEC and the ‘stresses that are part of that experience?

From mentoring on past JMECs, I have observed the pressure that teams encounter when the workload becomes ‘unevenly’ distributed among the team.  Usually, it’s because some members are not attending the team’s regular work secessions or appear not to be actively participating in the online exchange of research and planning.

mentor, may I ask…? (part 4.)

In brief:  To finish up this series of postings, I’ll mention two other areas where you should first be looking to the mentor for guidance.(1) JMEC Rules:

Try as they may, it’s nearly impossible for JMEC to prepare participants for every type of scenario the team may encounter. Generally speaking, its unlikely that you will face a situation where you need some additional clarification on how the JMEC program works or how the team is expected to operate. If such a need arises, the JMEC staff are always ready to respond. However, with up to ten teams in the field, their resources are also a bit limited.

So first check with your mentor and particularly, if they’ve mentored on JMEC before! He or she can most likely offer you good direction. If not, they can seek the information on your behalf.

Example: I remember one time being copied by my team on an email they sent late one night to the JMEC office seeking ‘contact information’ for the JMEC judges. I immediately responded giving the very strong ‘advice’, that no team is

‘teamwork’ makes the team work!

In brief: The saying goes that a chain is a strong as its weakest link. On a JMEC team there sometimes can be ‘conflict’ and ‘tension’.  Here’s a few suggestions to stop it going .. snap!!

All teams face their own kinds of challenges, and every JMEC project is unique.
Some teams seem to have that ‘magic’ blend where everything seems to go smoothly from the start. Most teams however do encounter ‘internal’ issues from time to time. The problem usually stems from a “politics of personality” situation, where one or two individuals are perceived to be trying to ‘control’ or direct their fellow teammates.

Naturally this causes ‘tension’ to build up. A self-governing team has to come up with their own approach to address the problem. Normally this can evolve through a natural process and the team successfully settles down to the important task – writing their business plan!

However, tension on a team is not necessarily a bad thing, if it’s