A Tale of Two Teams (A): Planning and Controlling Cle-Anne Gabriel, Grace Williams, Janine Narbutas and Geoff Greenfield The University of Queensland Business School, Brisbane, Australia Synopsis The teaching staff of Introduction to Management at the University of Queensland (UQ) gave teams of five students 3 hours to complete a simulated climb to the summit of Mount Everest. Two of the teams had contrasting experiences during the simulation. However, at the end of the simulation members of both teams faced the same puzzling question: was my team successful? There seemed to be some confusion about each team's performance in the simulation. Which team was more successful, and why? The Setup At 4.00pm on a Thursday afternoon on the St Lucia campus of UQ. in Brisbane, Australia, 200 undergraduate students gathered outside one of the university's computer laboratories to participate in the award-winning Everest Simulation. Designed by Harvard University, the Everest Simulation was a collaborative, multi- player simulation. It challenged teams of participants to develop and reflect on their competencies in core management skills and functions, such as planning, controlling, leading and organizing. The Everest Simulation was also an opportunity to teach and encourage students to reflect on group dynamics. The simulation achieved this objective by engaging participants in a dramatic simulated climb to the summit of Mount Everest. The 200 students gathered outside the computer lab were enrolled in the Introduction to Management course at UQ. For many, it was a core and therefore compulsory course. However, some of the students were more advanced learners in their third or later year of study, who opted to take the course as an elective. The Everest Simulation was a 3-hour one-off learning experience, and participation was compulsory for Introduction to Management students. The teaching staff assigned students randomly into teams of five to give them a chance to meet new people. Team members were given their own computer on which to complete the simulation, and each was assigned a specific role: Leader, Physician, Marathoner, Photographer or Environmentalist. Together with the four othermembers of their team, students attempted to climb from Base Camp to the summit of Mount Everest over a simulated six-day period. There were five camps, or checkpoints, along the route to the summit. At each camp, team members analysed the information provided on their screens and made decisions to achieve individual and team goals. During each round of play, team members analysed information on weather, health conditions, supplies, goals, or hiking speed, and determined how much of that information to communicate to their teammates. Failure to accurately communicate and analyse information had consequences on individual and team performance. For instance, when things went wrong during the climb to the summit, the affected team member was rescued and returned to Base Camp. Students were asked to keep a detailed log of their simulation experience. The simulation log provided an account of the decisions made on each day of the climb, as well as a comprehensive overview of the factors and processes involved in making those decisions each day. These are the stories of two teams who participated in the Everest Simulation that day. Team A At 4.15pm, the course staff assigned Kate Woolford, Sam Jennings, Emma Ambrose, Jack Porter and Olivia Childs to the same team. The staff showed them to their workstations and instructed them to introduce themselves and watch the introductory video together, around the same computer. Having been assigned the role of Team Leader, Kate thanked the staff for their guidance, and asked the other team members what role they were assigned. Sam played the role of the Physician, Emma was the Marathoner, Jack played the Photographer and Olivia, the Environmentalist (see Exhibit 1A). By 4.30pm, the team had introduced themselves and completed the introductory video together. "What next?" Olivia asked. Sam suggested, "Well, maybe we should take turns reading aloud our character profiles, just so we know what everyone's goals are here. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like surprises." "Yeah that's a good idea. My mate did the simulation last year and he said everyone's goals are different. So we need to manage that", Jack added.As each team member read their character profile aloud, Hate wrote down each person's individual goals on a sheet of paper. The team realised that each goal was worth a specific number of game points and became worried. How many points would they need to complete the simulation successfully? Were some goals more important than others? 1I.'..-'ere some roles more important? Emma suggested the team prioritise the goals based, first, on theirfeasibility and the likelihood of achieving them, and then based on their value in terms of the points available for achieving them. "Brilliant ideal\"r Kate responded. So, the team set about reviewing their roles and goals once more, highlighting on the sheet of paper those they considered most obtainable and worth the most points. Next, Olivia suggested they should also identify which goals they had in common and highlight those as a top priority. The team realised the only goal they all had in common was not to be rescued. In fact, not everyone wanted to reach the summit: lack, the Photographer, aimed simply to reach Camp Two, take photos, and then return to Base Camp. He did not need to reach the summit. The other team members did not seem worried by this, but Kate became concerned. Her major goal, worth the most points, was to get everyone to the summit at the same time. Before attending the simulation, she read that the Everest Simulation was a Leadership simulation. Surely, she thought, the Leader's ability to achieve their goals would be the measure of success for the team. She wondered if she would have to compromise her goal so Jack could achieve his. Kate kept her reservations to herself, but announced to the rest of the team, "we should all agree to be open and honest with each other; no one's opinions will be considered irrelevant or unimportant\". The team nodded in agreement. It was now 5.00pm. Thirty minutes had passed and the team still had not started the simulation. "Should we be worried about time?" Emma asked. \"No, Ithink it's great that we're all on the same page about what we're aiming for\" Olivia replied. Because they spent so much time understanding each other's roles, the team was aware that Jack and Gliva both had a history of experiencing altitude sickness. So, the team had decided that Sam would remain alongside them for the duration of the expedition. \"This is critical information we could have missed if we had rushed through the introductory information and the first stages like they did", Glivia said, pointing to the group sitting next to them. The group next to them was already on Day 3 of the expedition with one team member critically ill, one already rescued, and a Team Leader who seemed in a hurry to leave. "There is no way they will nish successfully,\" Hate added. Before each decision at the end of eyery day, the team went through the same process: they checked each team member's health and the weather forecast for the next day, and asked each other's opinion about whether they should continue climbing for another day. Each day, they compared these factors to the targets they prioritised at the beginning. After the team adya nced at the end of each day of the expedition, they checked again that eyeryone was in good health and still wanted to continue to the summit. For example, one of the goals for both Emma and Sam was to ayoid getting frostbite. Unce they collectively established this anI as a priority, kate made the decision beforehand to write down the steps that were necessary to avoid frostbite. These steps included checking the weather forecast on a daily basis, making a correct weather prediction for the next camp and checking the health diagram for \"frostbite risk" on a daily basis. DIiyia, the Enyironmentalist, was responsible for making weather predictions, while Sam, the Physician, kept an eye on eyeryone's health, including risk of frostbite. The team then followed these steps to accomplish the goal of ayoiding frostbite {and rescue! for all team members. They wanted to secure the highest number of points possible for each member. Near the summit, when the team was faced with the notorious 'oxygen challenge', Kate realised they had only one day to distribute the oxygen canisters accurately and fairly among members of the team. So. she asked Sam, Emma, Jack and Oliya how they were tracking with their individual goals. She reminded them that they all agreed to be open and honest, and assured them that their opinions would be respected. The team tried to balance both individual and overall team goals to determine how many canisters each team member would receiye. 5am, Emma, lack and liya each stated their case and explained why they needed more or fewer canisters than their teammates. They were so engaged in discussion that the team almost forgot to go through the routine of checking each other's status before making a decision. Luckily, remembering his role as Physician, 5am spotted some additional information in an unusual location on the team's dashboard just in time. it seemed Jack, the Photographer, was haying an asthma attack! Knowing that reaching the summit was not a priority for him, Jack suggested that the rest of the team Ieaye him behind and continue to the summit without him. That way, there would be more oxygen canisters available to share among the remaining four team members. "But my major goal is to get all team members to the summit together\As soon as they were seated at their station, Thomas announced to the rest of the team, "Look, I have to leave by 5.30pm. I'm meeting my mates at the Royal Exchange tonight." "Yeah, me too!", James added. The team decided it was unnecessary to watch the introductory video together; after all, it was an excruciating eight minutes long! Furthermore, as he was Team Leader, James made an executive decision. He decided it would be best for the team to move together from each campsite until they reached the summit. They engaged in a brief discussion about their goals, and at 4.40pm James decided no one would be left behind. As Team Leader, James' most important goal was to ensure everyone made it to the summit at the same time. However, Harry and Mia expressed their frustration. "Reaching the summit is not a priority for me", Mia explained. "I just need to take some photos at Camp Two, and then return to Base Camp". "I just think we should hear each other's individual goals first before we decide what the team's goals should be", Harry commented. "I think it's obvious our team goal should be to finish as soon as possible. I mean, we're already behind the other teams here!" James waved his hand vaguely around the room, indicating the other teams were already well on their way to the summit. Thomas agreed. Shannon did not say a word, but continued to stare at Instagram on her phone. Mia and Harry had come to the end of a very long day: Mia was a full-time student and had been in classes since 8.00am; Harry was a mature-age student who worked full-time during the day and scheduled his classes in the evening. They both reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement. As the team made their way towards the summit of Everest, they spent less and less time discussing each other's individual goals. Mia was the first to be negatively affected by this approach. First, as she explained to the team again, one of her goals was to stay at Camp Two and take photos. However, James and Thomas pressured her to carry on with the rest of the team. They reminded her "the team's goals are more important and we really need to focus as a team to reach the summit quickly". Because of their quick decision-making, the health of all team members deteriorated quickly.Next, the team lost Shannon to frostbite. Thomas had not been keeping an eye on the weather conditions and oxygen levels at each stage of the expedition. This meant he did not notice that there were extremely dangerous conditions ahead for the next stage of the climb. Unwittingly, the team had decided to continue the climb. As a result, not only did the team lose points at the beginning of the simulation, but they also missed that Shannon was afflicted with frostbite and in need of rescue. As Shannon was the Physician, the team also lost all its medical supplies when she was evacuated from the mountain. It was now 5.00pm. After these experiences, the team decided to change their goal. It was clear as the journey continued and the weather and health conditions deteriorated that both their individual and team goals were less important than the overall goal of not losing anyone else to rescue. James noticed the depressed mood of his teammates (with the exception of Shannon, who now felt much better about using social media now that she did not have to complete the expedition). He tried to lift Thomas, Mia and Harry's spirits. "Hey, at least we're doing better than them", he said, pointing to the team sitting next to them who had not yet started the climb and were still busy figuring out their roles and goals for the expedition. "There is no way they will finish successfully," Thomas added. At 5.15pm, the team faced the oxygen challenge - they had to divide the available oxygen canisters fairly between the team members. James advised that the bottles were to be spilt equally between all members. Mia disagreed. She explained that each team member should be given enough canisters to achieve their individual goals, as their health condition continued to worsen and needed as much assistance as possible to reach the summit. By then, Thomas had become fond of James as his leader and Harry, too, was hoping the simulation would end quickly so he could go home and get some much-needed rest. Without much debate, James did his own calculation and allocated the canisters accordingly: Thomas and Harry received 4 each, Mia received 3, and James allocated 3 for himself. James' calculation was inaccurate and he incorrectly allocated the canisters to his team members. As a result, Thomas and Harry were rescued. They returned to Base Camp due to severe altitude sickness caused by inadequate oxygen. At 5.20pm, upon reflection, James said, "one of my goals was to make sure every member goes to the summit. However at decision set six, although they did not agreeGabriel, Williams, Narbutas and Greenfield (2019) A Tale of Two Teams (A) with this goal personally and did not need to reach the summit themselves, Thomas and Harry compromised to help me achieve my goal". The team did not receive the bonus points available for all team members summiting and avoiding rescue. Overall, the team achieved 26% of its goals (see Exhibit 1B). Individually, James achieved 40% of his goals, while Thomas and Harry achieved 20% and 10% of their goals, respectively. Mia was pleasantly surprised that she achieved 70% of her goals. Shannon did not know what percentage of her goals she achieved. Everyone except James was happy at the end of the simulation, especially Thomas and Harry who were pleased it was over. It had taken them 55 minutes to complete the simulation (see Exhibit 2). After completing their logs (but without a debrief), they left the room and parted ways at 5.30pm.Exhibit 1A Team A Leader (Kate) 100 Physician (Sam) 88 Marathoner (Emma) 80 Photographer (Jack) 70 Environmentalist (Oliva) 75 Team Score (% goals achieved) 91% Exhibit 1B Team B Leader (James) 40 Physician (Shannon) 2 COPY Marathoner (Thomas) 20 Photographer (Mia 70 Environmentalist (Harry) 10 Team Score (% goals achieved) 26% Exhibit 2 Time Taken to Complete Simulation Team A 2 hours and 50 minutes Team B 55 minutesExhibit 1A Team A Leader (Kate) 100 Physician (Sam) 88 Marathoner (Emma) 80 Photographer (Jack) 70 Environmentalist (Oliva) 75 Team Score (% goals achieved) 91% Exhibit 1B Team B Leader (James) 40 Physician (Shannon) 2 COPY Marathoner (Thomas) 20 Photographer (Mia 70 Environmentalist (Harry) 10 Team Score (% goals achieved) 26% Exhibit 2 Time Taken to Complete Simulation Team A 2 hours and 50 minutes Team B 55 minutes