Why team performance management is important

Team performance management is important to the success of a company. Without it, it is difficult to determine whether a team is headed in the right direction. A project’s success is largely based on a team’s efficiency. Getting people to focus on the right things to accomplish drives good business results.

Effective team management motivates workers to take responsibility for their job performance and produce superior outputs. In most cases, a consistent demand for a quality performance yields the best results. Managing the performance of a team is a real challenge because it requires a lot of diplomacy, tact, and discipline. For instance, negative feedback should always be paired with motivation and should not be given too frequently.

A team should work in harmony – in any organization, two or more people working together harmoniously is a major factor towards achieving success. It is the duty of a leader to monitor the performance of his or her team; bring out the best among his or her subordinates; and determine the weaknesses, strengths, and potential development of each team member. Team performance management is the major key in increasing productivity within a group.

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Performance management centers on allowing an individual to perform to the best of his or her ability. This enables the employee to meet or exceed expectations and develop efficient communication with his or her fellow employees and leaders. The leader, in turn, should give feedback for continuing improvements and for skills to be nurtured and developed.

Team-Related Performance Measurement.

Measures, or “yardsticks,” should be used to determine how well each element is performed. Standards are points or ranges on the “yardstick” that define performance at those specific levels. Each one of the three types of elements and their related measures and standards can address team-related performance.

Measuring performance related to work done by a team can be approached in at least four ways. Two of these approaches measure performance at the individual level and two measure performance at the team level.

Team-Related Measures Matrix

Team-Related Measures Matrix

Behaviors/Process Measures

Results Measures

Individual Level: An employee’s contribution to the team

Whether or how well the employee: cooperates with team members, communicates ideas during meetings, participates in the team’s decision-making processes.

The quality of the written report, the turnaround time for the individual’s product, the accuracy of the advice supplied to the team, the status of the employee’s case backlog.

Team Level: The team’s performance

Whether or how well the team: runs effective meetings, communicates well as a group; allows all opinions to be heard, comes to consensus on decisions.

The customer satisfaction rate with the team’s product, the percent decline of the case backlog, the cycle time for the team’s entire work process

In most cases, work assignments at the team level and their related measures and standards can only be addressed through non-critical and/or additional performance elements, and can only be factored into the summary level through non-critical elements. However, it is possible to develop a critical element and standard that holds a supervisor, manager, or team leader responsible for the team’s performance- as long as that person has the leadership responsibility for the team and can reasonably be expected to command the resources and authority necessary to achieve the team’s results.

Team Level

The Team’s Performance.

Work assignments, measures, and standards for the team as a whole can be incorporated into the employee’s performance plan through non-critical elements and additional performance elements. Using non-critical elements is the only way that the team’s performance as a whole can affect the summary level. Non-critical elements cannot be used in two-level appraisal programs because they would have no effect on the summary rating level and, by definition, they must affect the summary level. Additional performance elements are the only elements that a two-level appraisal program can use to include team performance in the employee’s performance plan.

The Team’s Processes.

The team can be appraised on its internal group processes. Work assignments and performance measures could include how well: the team works together as a group; meetings are planned and run, and if they’re on time; the team reaches consensus; and/or the team uses successful problem-solving techniques. Specific examples of non-critical or additional elements (work assignments) and standards that address the team’s performance on its group processes are listed below.

Open and Honest Communication.

The supervisor, team leader, and team members are generally satisfied that:

-team members communicate openly and honestly with each other without fear of telling the truth;

-team members provide feedback on each other’s performance;

-team members express their opinions and everyone’s opinion is heard;

-the team works together to solve destructive conflicts rather than ignoring conflicts;

-the team encourages every member to be open and honest, even if people have to share information that goes against what the team would like to hear; and

-the team recognizes that everyone on the team has something to contribute -such as knowledge, skills, abilities, and information -that is of value to all.

Effective Meetings.

The supervisor, team leader, and team members are generally satisfied that:

-team meetings are planned and each meeting has an agenda;

-team members are prepared, give the meeting their full attention, and the team accomplishes what it set out to accomplish during the meeting;

-meetings have a facilitator who is responsible for keeping the meeting focused and moving;

-designated team member takes notes of the key subjects, main points raised, and action items; and

-at the end of the meeting, the team sets an agenda for the next meeting and conducts a 1-minute evaluation.

Team Mission.

The supervisor, team leader, and team members are generally satisfied that:

-each person on the team knows exactly why the team exists and what it contributes to the organization;

-members understand and can explain how the team fits into the organization;

-members know exactly why the team does what it does and agree on the team’s mission, or they work together to resolve disagreement;

-members know and understand the team’s priorities and goals and they progress steadily toward those goals; and

-everyone on the team is working toward accomplishing the same thing.

Clearly Defined Roles.

The supervisor, team leader, and team members are generally satisfied that:

-team members understand their duties and know who is responsible for specific issues and tasks;

-team members have the skills they need to accomplish their roles within the team;

-each team member’s role is known and makes sense to the whole team;

-team members clearly understand the team’s rules of how to behave within the group;

-team members understand which roles belong to one person and which are shared, and how the shared roles are switched;

-the team uses each member’s talents, and involves everyone in team activities so no one feels left out or taken advantage of.

Decision-Making Procedures.

The supervisor, team leader, and team members are generally satisfied that:

-the team discusses how decisions will be made, such as when to take a poll or when to decide by consensus;

-the team explores important issues by asking members to vote or state an opinion verbally or in writing;

-the team tests for a consensus;

-the team uses data as the basis of decisions; and

-the team can reach a decision and support that decision.

The Team’s Results.

The team can be appraised on the results of its work products or services. Measures used to appraise the team’s performance could include: the number of cases completed correctly; the ratio of satisfied customers to unsatisfied customers; the number of customer requests for a team report; the total cost of a team project; the percent of customer needs filled; and/or the subscription rate of a team newsletter. Below are examples of non-critical or additional elements (work assignments) and standards(specific points or ranges along the measurement yardstick) that represent the team’s work results.

Case Backlog.

-any case backlog decreases from 1 to 9 cases each month during the appraisal period.

Customer Service.

-fifty to seventy-five percent of customers say they are “satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with the team’s services.

Team Size

Numerous studies have been conducted on team size and its relationship to performance and to various factors such as team spirit, individual and team attitudes, and interaction among team members. To date, the findings suggest that smaller teams allow for closer relationships among members, a deeper knowledge of the members and a better sense of the whole picture at any given time. On the other hand, there may be a preference on the part of some team members to participate in large teams in order to avoid an “intimate” environment, achieve greater anonymity and have the security of knowing that there are more people to do the work required of the group. In a marketing simulation with teams of two, three, and four, team performance varied by team size, with performance significantly higher for the four-person teams. Performance gains as group size increased from three to five members. Gains declined as team size increased with no noticeable improvement in performance observed for groups larger than five. Normally team size should generally be between three and six members. Larger teams have more diverse viewpoints which may lead to better decisions and higher team performance, although they may experience greater challenges with scheduling meetings and poor participation. Therefore, within the range of team size between three and six, we propose that: Team Size will have a significant and positive effect on student team performance.

Teamwork

What is Team?

-Unit of 2 or more people

-Interact or coordinate their work

-To accomplish a specific goal

– A group of people committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which the team members hold themselves mutually accountable.

Differences Between Groups and Teams

Groups

-Designated leader

-Individual accountability

-Identical purpose for group & organization

-Individual work products

-Runs efficient meetings

-Effectiveness=influence on business

-Discusses, decides, delegates work to individuals

Teams

-Shares/rotates leader

-Accountable to each other

-Specific team vision or purpose

-Collective work products

-Encourages open-ended discussions

-Effectiveness=value of collective work

-Discusses, decides, shares work

Share information

Goal

Collective performanceComparing Work Team and Work Group

Neutral

Synergy

Positive

Individual

Accountability

Individual and mutual

Random and varied

Skills

Complementary

Work Groups

Work TeamsC

Types of Work Team

Organizational Context

-Formal structure -Strategy

-Environment -Reward, Control systems

-CultureWork Team Effectiveness Model

Team Composition

-Knowledge and skills

-Benefits and costs

Team Characteristics

-Size

-Roles

-Diversity

Team Type

-Formal

-Self-directed

-Informal

Team Processes

-Stage of development

-Cohesiveness

-Norms

-Conflict resolution

Work Team Effectiveness

-Productive output

-Personal satisfaction

Formal Teams

Vertical – composed of a manager and subordinates, sometimes called functional or command teams.

Horizontal – composed of employees from the same hierarchical level but from different areas of expertise.

Special-Purpose – created outside the formal organization for special projects and disband once project is completed.

Self-Directed Team

Typically permanent teams

-Employees with several skills and functions

-Given access to various resources – information, equipment, machinery, and supplies needed to perform the complete task

-Empowered with decision making authority select new members – $

Horizontal and Vertical Team

Teams in the New Workplace

Virtual teams

– consist of geographically or organizationally dispersed members linked via technology -Use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.

Global teams

-cross-border teams made up of members from different nationalities -intercultural -virtual

Challenges of Virtual Teams

-Select the right team members

-Manage socialization

-Foster trust

-Effectively manage communications

Managing Virtual Teams

Establish regular times for group interaction.

Set up firm rules for communication.

Use visual forms of communication where possible.

Copy the good points of on-site teams. For example, allow time for informal chitchat and socializing, and celebrate achievements.

Give and receive feedback and offer assistance on a regular basis. Be persistent with people who are not communicating with you or each other.

Agree on standard technology so all team members can work together easily.

Consider using 360-degree feedback to better understand and evaluate team members. This type of feedback comes from the full circle of daily contacts that an employee might have, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, and clients.

Provide a virtual workspace via an intranet, website, or bulletin board.

Note which employees effectively use email to build team rapport.

Smooth the way for the next assignment if membership on the team, or the team itself, is not permanent.

Be available to employees, but don’t wait for them to seek you out.

Encourage informal, off-line conversation between team members.

An Illustration of Team Workspace

Example: D-TEC FOOTBALL TEAM

Name: Danny Ong

Position: Attacker

Name: Jason Wong

Position: AttackerC:UsersDell-userPictures355463_14.pngC:UsersDell-userPictures355463_13.png

Name: Choong Cheng Hui

Position: Attacker

Name: Chan Yit Seng

Position: Attacker

C:UsersDell-userPictures355463_21.pngC:UsersDell-userPictures355463_8.png

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Name: Bobo Chong

Position: Defender

Name: Jimmy Loi

Position: Defender

Name: Chin Mun Fung

Position: Coach

Name: Henry Choo

Position: Coach

An Illustration of Team Workspace

Example: CHELSEA FOOTBALL TEAMC:UsersuserDesktopDanny File卡通人物头像图标下载1.png

Name: Lescott

Position: Attacker

Name: Evra

Position: AttackerC:UsersuserDesktopDanny File卡通人物头像图标下载11.png

Name: Hangeland

Position: Attacker

Name: Barry

Position: Attacker

C:UsersuserDesktopDanny File卡通人物头像图标下载13.pngC:UsersuserDesktopDanny File卡通人物头像图标下载10.png

C:UsersDell-userPicturesChelseaLogo.jpg

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Name: Torres

Position: Defender

Name: Beattie

Position: Defender

Name: Hart

Position: Coach

Name: Bramble

Position: Coach

The strategy comparison between CHELSEA and DTEC football team

DTEC football team strategy

CHELSEA football team strategy

Sports Teams as Models

Good Models

Example: Chelsea

Successful teams integrate cooperation and competition.

Successful teams score early wins.

Successful teams avoid losing streaks.

Practice makes perfect.

Successful teams use halftime breaks.

Winning teams have a stable membership.

Successful teams debrief after failures and successes.

C:UsersDell-userPicturesChelseaLogo.jpg

Poor Models

Example: D-TEC Football Team

All sport teams aren’t alike.

Work teams are more varied and complex.

A lot of employees can’t relate to sports metaphors.

Work team outcomes aren’t easily defined in terms of wins and losses.

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Conducting a Team Meeting

12 steps to more efficient and effective meetings:

Prepare a meeting agenda.

Distribute the agenda in advance.

Consult with participants before the meeting.

Get participants to go over the agenda.

Establish specific time parameters.

Maintain focused discussion.

Encourage and support participation of all members.

Maintain a balanced style.

Encourage the clash of ideas.

Discourage the clash of personalities.

Be an effective listener.

Bring proper closure.

ANSWER

Characteristics of Teams

Teams of 5-12 seem to work best

Size

-Ideal size is thought to be 7

-Variations of from 5 to 12 typically are associated with good team performance

-Small teams (2-4 members) show more agreement, ask more questions

-Large teams (12 or more) tend to have more disagreements; subgroups form, conflicts among them occur

Group Size

Research shows that:

Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks.

When problem solving, larger groups do better.

Social Loafing

The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.

To reduce social loafing, teams should not be larger than necessary, and individuals should be held accountable for their actions.

Characteristics of Teams

Diversity

-Produce more innovative solutions to solve the problems

-Source of creativity

-Contribute to a healthy level of conflict that leads to decision making

-Work team performance -racial, national, ethnic

-Short term = difficulty learning to work together

-Leadership helps problems fade over time

-Fresh and multiple perspectives on issues help the team identify creative or unique solutions and avoid weak alternatives

-The difficulty of working together may make it harder to unify a diverse team and reach agreements

-Although diversity’s advantages dissipate with time, the added-value of diverse teams increases as the team becomes more cohesive

Impact of diverse groups

Diversity in personality, age, gender, and experience promotes conflict, which stimulates creativity and idea generation, which leads to improved decision making.

Cultural diversity in groups initially leads to more difficulty in building cohesion, gaining satisfaction, being productive.

Problems pass with time (certainly by three months).

Culturally diverse groups bring more viewpoints out.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity

Advantages Disadvantages

Multiple perspectives Ambiguity

Greater openness to new ideas Complexity

Multiple interpretations Confusion

Increased creativity Miscommunication

Increased flexibility Difficulty in reaching a single agreement

Increased problem-solving skills Difficulty in agreeing on specific actions

Characteristics of Teams

-Spend time and energy helping the team reach its goal

Member Roles

Task specialist role :spend time and energy helping the team reach its goal

-Initiate ideas

-Give opinions

-Seek information

-Summarize

-Energize

Socio-emotional role support team members emotional needs

-Encourage

-Harmonize

-Reduce tension

-Follow

-Compromise

Team Member Roles

Creator- Innovator

Initiates creative ideas

Linker

Explorer- Promoter

Champions ideas after they have been initiated

Coordinates and integrates

TEAM

Offers insightful analysis of options

Encourages the search for more information

Reporter- Adviser

Assessor Developer

Fight external battles

Provides Structure

Upholder- Maintainer

Thruster- Organizer

Provides direction and follow through

Examines details and enforce rules

Controller Inspector

Concluder Producer

HIGHTeam Member Roles

Task Specialist Role

-Focuses on task accomplishment over human needs.

Member Task Behavior -Important role, but if adopted by everyone, team’s social needs won’t be met.

Dual Role

-Focuses on task and people.

-May be a team leader.

-Important role, but not essential if members adopt task specialist and socio emotional roles.

Non participator Role

-Contributes little to either task or people needs of team.

-Not an important role-if adopted by too many members, team will disband.

Socio emotional Role

-Focuses on people needs of team over task.

-Important role, but if adopted by everyone, team’s tasks won’t be accomplished.

HIGH

LOWMember Social Behavior

Forming: Orientation, break the ice

Leader: Facilities social interchangesStages of Team Development

Storming: Conflict, disagreement

Leader: Encourages participation surface differences

Norming: Establishment of order and cohesion

Leader: Helps clarify team roles, norms, values

Performing: Cooperation, problem solving

Leader: Facilities task accomplishment

Adjourning: Task completion

Leader: Brings closure, signifies completion

Team Cohesiveness

High cohesiveness is attractive feature of team

-Extent to which team members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain in it

-Determinants

-Team structure

-Context

Determinants of Team Cohesiveness

Team structure and context influence cohesiveness

Team Structure

-Team interaction – the more time spent together, the more cohesive the team

-Shared goals – members agree on goals, they will be more cohesive

-Personal attraction to the team – similar attitudes and values and enjoy being together

Team Context

-Moderate competition with other teams – cohesiveness increases as it strives to win

-Team success & favorable evaluation of the team by outsiders – add to cohesiveness

Consequences of Team Cohesiveness

High morale – mixed team performance

Morale – higher in cohesive teams

-Increased communication among members

-Friendly team climate

-Maintenance of membership

Productivity – mixed

-Cohesive Team members’ productivity tends to be uniform

-Non-cohesive teams have wider variation in member productivity

Team Norms

-Standard of conduct that is shared by team members and guides their behavior

-Valuable – define boundaries of acceptable behavior

-Not written down

Development of Team Norms

Critical events in team’s history

Primacy: first behavior precedents

Team Norms

Explicit statements from leaders or members

Carryover from other experiences

Conflict

Most important team characteristic

-Antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to thwart the intentions or goals of another

-Conflict is inevitable whenever people work together in teams

-Among members within a team or between one team and another

-Can have healthy impact = energizes people toward higher performance

Causes of Team Conflict

-Scarce Resources

-Communication breakdown

-Personality clashes

-Goal differences

Balancing Conflict and Cooperation

-Groupthink = tendency for people to be so committed to a cohesive team that they are reluctant to express contrary opinions

-Abilene Paradox = (Jerry Harvey) tendency to go along with others for the sake of avoiding conflict

-Low levels of conflict -associated with poor decision making in top management teams

-Superordinate Goals = goal that cannot be reached by a single party

-Negotiation = parties engage one another in an attempt to systematically reach a solution

-Mediation = process of using a third party to settle a dispute

Effective Teams

Unified commitment

Clear Goals

Good communication

Effective Teams

Relevant skills

Mutual trust

Negotiating skills

Effective leadership

External support

Internal support

Leadership

Lack of support, consistency of direction, vision, budget, and resources,

Improvement strategy:

-Plan events to demonstrate the firm’s support of the leader

-Increase budget and resources

-Increase communication and contact with leader

-Change leadershipWhy Teams Fail: The Leadership, Focus, and Capability Pyramid

Focus

Lack of clarify about team purpose, roles, strategy, and goals.

Improvement strategy:

-Establish and clarify team mission

-Ensure open channels for communications and information transfer

-Clarify team member roles

-Establish regular team meetings

Capability

Lack of critical skill sets, knowledge, ongoing learning, and development.

Improve strategy:

-Staff the team with the right employees

-Provide appropriate education and training

-Establish individual development plans

-Regularly assess team effectiveness

Answer

Question 2

In an organization which is moving into teamwork the supervisor’s role will changed from direct supervision to team facilitation and development: What problems are these supervisors likely to experience in their changed of role, and what forms of training and development would help them?

The Challenge of Team Leadership

Becoming an effective team leader requires:

-Learning to share information

-Developing the ability to trust others

-Learning to give up authority

-Knowing when to leave their teams alone and when to intercede

New roles that team leaders take on

-Managing the team’s external boundary

-Facilitating the team process

Leading Productive Teams

Team Leader Skills

-Coaching, not bossing

-Help define, analyze, and solve problems

-Encourage participation by others

-Serve as a facilitator

Team Leader Values

-Respecting fellow team members

-Trusting fellow team members

-Putting the team first

Liaisons with external constituents

CoachesTeam Leader Roles

Effective Team Leadership Roles

Troubleshooters

Conflict Managers

Team Leader Behaviors

Stages of Team Development

The Leader’s Role in Creating a Self-Managing Team

Forming

The teams and their leaders begin working out their specific responsibilities.

Training is the leader’s main task.

Storming

Questions typically arise regarding who is leading the team and what its structure and purpose should be.

The leader ensures that team members continue to learn and eventually exercise leadership skills.

Norming

Team members agree on purpose, structure, and leadership and are prepared to start performing.

The leader’s job is to emphasize the need for the team to temper cooperation with the responsibility to supervise its own members.

Performing

A period of productivity, achievement, and pride as the team members work together to get the job done.

Adjourning

How to Improve Team Performance

Select members for skill and teamwork.

Establish challenging performance standards.

Emphasize the task’s importance.

Assign whole tasks.

Send the right signals.

Encourage social support.

Make sure there are unambiguous team rules.

Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information.

Train and cross-train.

Provide the necessary tools and material support.

Encourage “emotionally intelligent” team behavior.

Typical Leader Transition Problems

Perceived Loss of Power or Status

Unclear Team Leader Roles

Job Security Concerns

The Double Standard Problem