By The Intelitech Group
We’ve all been there, we’re in class, and the professor announces that the next assignment will be a group project. Many of us shrug and roll our eyes, expressing our disappointment. Why are we disappointed? Because now, instead of just focusing on the project, we must focus on working with other people. Groups can be extremely frustrating as working with other people means we must work with people who share opposing viewpoints and perspectives than our own. At the time, little do we realize that working as a group is how a business operates, and we’d be doing it for the rest of our professional lives. One successful approach to unifying groups is by forming them into teams that compete against other teams. Similar to sports teams, by having competition, it will quickly unite everybody in the group to a common cause. If we form teams with no competition, nobody will have the desire to improve. Imagine a professional sports team on the field with nobody to play. During my studies, I came across this piece of information regarding competition in my business class and how it builds team cohesiveness:
“One of the most reliable ways to build cohesiveness within a team is through competition with other teams. When two teams are competing for a single prize or recognition, they are forced to become more goal-oriented and to put aside conflict. A favorable appraisal from an outsider may strengthen team cohesiveness. Because the team is being praised as a group, team members recognize their contribution as a unit. Teams are also more successful when goals have been agreed upon beforehand. A team that is clear about its objective will be able to focus on accomplishing it. Frequent interaction also builds team cohesiveness through increasing familiarity.” (Pride, Hughes, Kapoor, 2017, ch.10-5e)
After reading this section, I realized this is precisely what one of our products does regarding training Collectors. StackUp™ is a competitive game designed for Account Recovery Professionals to strengthen team cohesiveness, educate, and energize associates. Teams can be customized and formed within a company or compete with other organizations outside of the company. Winners not only gain the benefit of building stronger team relationships, and improved communication skills, but they also earn awards and accolades along the way to help keep them engaged. The goal behind StackUp is to take important industry information that has traditionally been tedious and burdening to learn (Compliance, laws, and regulations), and making it fun and engaging. As one StackUp user pointed out, “Collectors are learning and don’t realize it because they’re having fun.” -John Fleming | MCOT, Inc
Incorporating healthy competition into the workspace helps stimulate learning and not only benefits the individual but also the entire organization. As more associates engage in competition, they will also be motivated to encourage their team members to improve their collection ability, thus strengthening their team and their organization’s performance.
Learn More about StackUp here.
Reference
Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor, J. R. (2017). Foundations of business (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
