A team performance measurement is the review of workers’ job performance. This is done to meet the company’s’ goals and objectives. There has to be employees’ assessment so as achieve these goals. Much of work done in companies or industries is as a result of teams. There are various team measurement methods which have been applied for the success of organizations.
Functional requirement of a group includes simultaneity or sequencing. Simultaneity is when team members do a task at the same time, whereas sequencing means that the output of one member is the input to another’s task.
According to William (2003), team performance is measured when different levels of analysis are put into consideration. This includes individual, team, and organizations.
Team functioning is categorized into input and output. In input, team processes are put into consideration. Output is the outcome of the task. A measure of team performance in training helps to diagnose problems and skill development.
Experts are able to point out areas that need to be in team function. Sample surveys help the experts to give details of team members’ function. Teams’ assessment is useful in selection of team members in a given task.
As a manager of a health care team, there are factors that would be considered when measuring team’s performance in a health care organization.
These include the reason for measurement, the method of assessment, the behaviors to be assessed, time expense and response qualification. The reason for problem identification is to get the attributes, which are behavioral skills such as assertiveness.
This can be measured by looking at members who highlight others’ mistakes. Stimulus is another reason for identification, which is to elicit behaviors of team members. Quantification is also measured in form of questionnaires where team members write down their thought and they can also use tapes.
The challenges faced in such scenario include resistance, errors in evaluation, and coming up with evaluation criteria. Employees may resist because of fear of low rating. For their performance to be effective it should be planned early, and telling the employees what is expected of them. Errors in evaluation are challenges because one characters’ rating may influence the evaluator’s rating for others.
Determining the evaluation criteria is the biggest challenge faced because if the data for evaluation is not carefully selected, it may have many errors. This may lower the esteem of team members, and thus lead to poor performance.
LePine (2003) argues that team evaluation is done in a sequence. The first step is determining the time schedule of the company to gather information and prepare for performance measurements.
Employees should be evaluated after they have stayed for 3- 6 months. This should be done after every 3 months a year. Second, is determining the company’s appraisal policy and outlining the procedures of the company to complete the employees form.
Attributes such as job responsibilities, tasks, likes, dislikes and comments from the supervisors must be reviewed. The forms should have the supervisors’ and employee’s sign and comments. Going through the employee’s job description and gathering information, for example strength and weaknesses, attributes and accomplishments is important in measuring performance.
Likewise, addressing the employees’ weakness and taking actions that may help and filling the evaluation form properly increases the chances of accurate measurements. The employee should be informed about the performance appraisal and then a meeting with the employees should be scheduled to read through the performance appraisal.
The employees should have a copy and discussions of the observations, where issues concerning the employee are highlighted. The report is then submitted to the managers. However, the whole process seems extensive in case of a big team within the health care organization.
In conclusion, the evaluation of team performance in the health care is meant to give feedback on employee’s performance, identify his/her training needs, improve performance through counseling, coaching and performance, and facilitate communication between employee and the administration.
The major challenges of measuring team performance include resistance, errors in evaluation, determining the evaluation criteria, and following the correct procedure of measurement.
In today’s competitive market, companies want more from their workers; they want workers who can develop teams to help them achieve greater success. Leaders know that when the team is evaluated, they offer many merits, which can provide richer, more diverse solutions to problems. Team evaluation leads to success in many organizations.
References
LePine, J.A. (2003). Team Adaptation and Post Change Performance: Effects of Team Composition in Terms of Members’ Cognitive Abilities. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88: 27-39.
William, S. D. (2003). Evaluating Experiential Training for Leadership and Team Building”. The Journal Management Development, 22 (1): 45-59.