Essay On Team Performance Evaluation

It has been often acknowledged by several researchers as well as witnessed in our daily organisational lives that team cohesion is of the utmost importance in terms of completing tasks and reaching organisational as well as project goals. However, there are times when projects fail or remain under-delivered due to the lack of team cohesion and preparedness. To avoid this, many team-building exercises and strategies are employed by the managers. In view of the same, we recently undertook two assessments as a team and gave quality results, but also faced several issues in the due course of doing so. Therefore, the main aim of this report is to assess and evaluate team performance on a collective basis, after an evaluation was conducted (Appendix 1), as well as provide recommendations as to how the same can be improved for future reference.

As a leader, it was essential for me to connect with the theories and concepts that were important in terms of team building, and therefore, to provide the groundwork of the assessment task undertaken in accordance with the teams, the following concepts were taken into account:

High-performing teams cooperate to attain shared short-and long-term goals (Midgett, 2022). They often illustrate how to give one's whole heart to one's job and to one another. As a consequence, I made it clear to everyone on the team what our ultimate goals were and how close we needed to be to them to be considered successful. When team members comprehend their duties, their performance improves because they comprehend the how and why of each activity. Every team member must comprehend and support the mission and vision of the team. The team's potential is increased by making the target plain, tying it to each individual's position and responsibilities, and creating "stretch" objectives that raise the level of effort necessary to motivate team members.

In keeping with this strategy, we had two team meetings in which we examined the project in detail and divided it into manageable chunks so that each team member could concentrate on a task that corresponded to their area of expertise and had access to the appropriate resources.

A strong team must be able to successfully manage conflicts mentions Lacerenza et al. (2018). In these teams, open communication means emphasising coaching over directing and highlighting the capacity to tackle issues head-on and candidly. Open channels of communication are essential for team success because they encourage members to contribute, keep them engaged, and motivate them. I informed my team members that open communication was encouraged and that any feedback was accepted.

We undertook the following steps in terms of team creation and task accomplishment:

 

During the "orientation" phase of the formation stage, members and management get acquainted with one another.

 

During the storming phase, we explored alternative methods to achieving the project's goals and objectives and distributed the work depending on who could accomplish it most effectively. Various conflicts occurred during this period.

 

Norming phase: During this phase, teamwork on the job was at its zenith, and several conflicts were addressed.

 

Performing stage: At this point, team members were starting to encounter issues as a result of the finished work, but these issues were still controllable.

 

Phase of completion: During this phase, the bulk of the team's goals were accomplished. The primary objective was to finish any outstanding tasks and keep track of the results.

This particular group work that we had done was new to us, as we, as team members, had never worked together on a project before. Although we were friendly acquaintances, we did not have much in common. Therefore, after being designated as a group, we undertook communication sessions to get to know each other better, as communication has been known to be the key to effective group work. In this segment, we realised that we had a diverse group of individuals, which could play out both as a strength and as a significant challenge for the team. However, this also allowed a more efficient division of work among the members.

Although the work was accordingly divided, there were some challenges that we as a team had to go through and the same are mentioned below:

 

Lack of clarity: Although we had discussions prior to starting the project in terms of the topics that we were undertaking, there were still some areas where the members of the team demanded clarity as they were facing issues with the progression of the work.

 

Personality conflicts: As there were a very diverse group of members in our team, personality clashes were very evident. This could be seen when we were transitioning from one phase of the project to another, as each and everyone had their own approach to transition. Therefore, several meetings and discussions were to be held to manage the decisions better.

 

Due to the factor of diversity and clashing personalities, there was an extensive amount of interior competition among the members of our team. Although Okoro et al. (2018) have noted that a certain amount of competition is healthy in a team, the competition in our team inched more towards the unhealthy side as the individuals were more into proving themselves as efficient as possible rather than focusing on the collective outcome.

Through the extent of the project, I learnt the importance of good team dynamics in team work. Even though the members of our team were competent individuals, the team dynamic could not be mentioned as healthy due to too much conflict and clashes. According to Unkelbach et al. (2019), it may be bad for a team to have too many different kinds of members. As a consequence, our team had both people who could begin immediately and those who paid close attention to the smallest of details. Others who want to deliberate carefully before acting and those who prefer to move quickly have always been in conflict. Staff members engaged in disputes and tantrums as a consequence.

Moreover, with the extent of unhealthy competition within the team, the morale of the members was also gravely affected. Many members also opened up about their areas of work and tasks not being provided the same amount of weight or appreciation as the other members, and this gave rise to several conflicts. Furthermore, there were several team members who were not very receptive to the feedback provided to them as they took the same in their personal stride rather than on the work front.

Bulińska-Stangrecka & Bagieńska,  (2021). suggests establishing effective professional relationships. It is essential to get to know each team member on both a professional and personal level. Therefore, before commencing any assignment requiring cooperation, I would encourage and engage in icebreaker activities and set aside time for bonding so that people could get to know one another and improve the team.

Honor exceptional performance: I will make a point of publicly appreciating great work and offering private feedback and suggestions. It is essential for the leader to recognise the successes and hard work of the members. This will increase their self-confidence and motivate them to engage more in the future.

 

According to Kim & Anderson (2021), positive reinforcement is more efficient than negative reinforcement for modifying behaviour. Consequently, I would create a good team atmosphere by highlighting occurrences and actions that I deemed especially exceptional and urging the team to continue in the same manner. This aspect is also supported by Shi et al. (2019).

The leadership role that I undertook in terms of my team members allowed me an insight into the fact that being a leader is not an easy feat and therefore comes with a host of challenges. Although the work that I had designated to the members of the team was good and had positive results, I was disheartened with the fact that even with positive productivity, there were several challenges and that led to poor relations between the members of the staff that did not make working together a good experience. Therefore, I have learnt that leading and working together is not just about the outcome but rather the entire process. Moreover, many instances are also to be learnt from the members of the team during team work, and therefore, good member relations are not to be neglected.

 

Thus, in summation, I cannot say that working in the team was a positive experience as the team cohesion was absent, and therefore, owing to the issues faced this time, I have also understood the strategies and steps that are to be taken into account next time.

 

Bulińska-Stangrecka, H., & Bagieńska, A. (2021). The role of employee relations in shaping job satisfaction as an element promoting positive mental health at work in the era of COVID-19. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), 1903.

 

Kim, H., & Anderson, B. A. (2021). How does the attention system learn from aversive outcomes?. Emotion, 21(4), 898.

 

Lacerenza, C. N., Marlow, S. L., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Salas, E. (2018). Team development interventions: Evidence-based approaches for improving teamwork. American psychologist, 73(4), 517.

 

Midgett, S. (2022). Understanding Leadership Principles and Team Dynamics in Nonprofit Settings: A Study of Short and Long-Term Missionary Teams.

 

Okoro, C. M., Okonkwo, E. A., Eze, A. C., Chigbo, C. M., & Nwandu, I. B. (2018). Competitiveness Among Employees In The Workplace: The Influence of Conflict Handling Styles And Organisational Types. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS, 23(6), 82-89.

 

Shi, Y., Du, J., Ahn, C. R., & Ragan, E. (2019). Impact assessment of reinforced learning methods on construction workers' fall risk behavior using virtual reality. Automation in Construction, 104, 197-214.

 

Unkelbach, C., Koch, A., & Alves, H. (2019). The evaluative information ecology: On the frequency and diversity of “good” and “bad”. European Review of Social Psychology, 30(1), 216-270.