Addressing Ego and Stiffness in Media Houses
I work in a media house where there is a huge amount of stiffness and ego within department heads. Please help me out with some good activities that can help in reducing this gap and bringing cohesiveness and teamwork.
As you are working in the fourth estate, the media, knowledge as well as ego are bound to be present. Knowledge is like a fruit or a flower, and ego, which comes along like an unwanted thorn. In-house training in behavioral skills with an external resource person would help. You need to encourage everyone to express their feelings in an informal manner so that everyone's ego is kept intact, as it will gradually diminish. Sometimes ego is a necessary evil and is often misunderstood as self-prestige or the right of opinion. However, ego bubbles burst sooner or later. In the corporate world, you need to give time and space. As one of the participants suggested, playing games and outdoor sessions would certainly help. Remember, a team—Together Everyone Achieves More—has to be cultivated gently but firmly. Another important aspect is to seek to understand rather than seeking to be understood.
Regards,
TS Narasimhan