Managing Team and Individual Performance - Assignment Example

Managing tеаm and individual реrfоrmаnсе Name Institution Managing tеаm and individual реrfоrmаnсе Task 1 It is essential for individual and team objectives to link into overall organizational objectives. Links between individual, team and organization objectives can be said to be an agreed contract aimed at achieving a common goal over a particular period of time, which could either be short term or long term. Individual, team and organizational objectives should be towards the same direction to avoid conflict that may hinder overall organizational success. There is need for a holistic approach when stipulating performance measures that outline critical links between individuals and team performance and how they contribute to the achievement of the organizational objectives. The managers should make it known to all individuals and teams of their responsibilities and tasks and how they contribute to the achievement of the overall organization’s objectives (Aguinis, 2009). It should also be clear of how a deviation from the organization’s objectives would affect the success and performance of the company so that they are aware of the consequences. According to Baker, Day and Salas (2006), the selection of individual and team objectives for agreement needs an agreement of the individual and collective responsibilities for the part everyone will play to achieve success. An organization’s productivity and profitability largely depend on ensuring that all the employees perform up to their full potential for overall success. There is need to select the right person or team to undertake a specific task effectively in order to achieve the company’s objectives. Some of the factors to be considered in the selection of individuals and teams include backgrounds, skills and knowledge as well as level of competency among others. When the right individuals are selected, they are bound to perform well to achieve personal, team and organizational success and the vice versa is true. Organizing the agreement of responsibilities with team members and colleagues is not easy and could be associated with some pitfalls when done incorrectly. Individuals and teams should understand the main objectives of the company so that they are in a position to work towards achieving them. Each person and team should know their responsibilities in achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. This could be highlighted in the appointment letters (Daley, 2006). When not done correctly there could be conflicts where the responsibilities will not be in line with the organizational objectives hence eventual failure. It is evident that the selection of the right individuals and teams in relation to the organization’s goals and objectives is essential for success to be achieved. Task 2 Different circumstances could lead to conflicts in the workplace. For instance, conflicts could occur between clients, colleagues as well as competitors. The conflict could be caused by different personal values, lack of the required resources and failure to achieve desired objectives among others. It is important to realize that conflicts are bound to happen and therefore take measures aimed at preventing them (Williams, 2013). In the event that they happen, then effective conflict management strategies should be adopted. Tjosvold, Wong and Feng Chen (2014) state that for every situation that involves conflict, there is need to identify the causes of conflict and come up with effective strategies to manage the conflict and restore mutual trust. This could be achieved by encouraging participation in decision making and other processes, effective communication, provision of flexibility and needed resources among other strategies. Some of the internal and external resources that could help in managing conflicts include budgets and finances that allow for efficient performance of different activities in the organization. Skills and knowledge is also a significant resource in conflict management. Dealing with conflicting situations require adequate skills and knowledge to ensure that all those involved do not feel offended and that chances of recurring of the same are minimal. Quality partnership with internal and external parties is also a factor that ensures that it is easier to solve conflicts whenever they arise. It is significant to create an atmosphere of trust and support. This allows for openness where the individuals feel appreciated. When treated with respect and trust, employees are more likely to perform to their full potential and help others to do the same. There are various benefits that could come as a result of maintaining an atmosphere of trust and support in an organization. For instance, it enhances cooperation among individuals and team, and heightens loyalty and commitment in those involved on an individual and team level. There are also high chances of increasing the number of better working relationships in the organization, which in turn enhance success in the activities and processes involved. Some of the strategies that would help in building trust include leading by example, open communication, and focusing on shared instead of personal goals among others (Reina & Reina, 2006). In the absence of a high trust environment, individuals and teams suffer as they are not in a position to exploit their full potential due to lack of support. It is therefore worth for an organization to invest on building a trust and support environment to enjoy the above benefits. Task 3 There are various processes for monitoring and evaluating the performance of individuals and teams. They include watching the employees as they work, asking for an account, using self-monitoring tools to track actions, reviewing work in progress on a regular basis and hearsay. Watching an employee when performing a task is a good monitoring strategy as it gives first hand details of their performance and one is in a position to know where improvement is needed. Asking for an account of performance or actions through conversation is also effective in monitoring an employee’s performance. Answers given for questions asked help in making judgement about performance. Self-monitoring tools such as project plans and activities also help in tracking performance. Regular review of employees’ work and hear say are other methods that could provide information on performance and hence help in decision-making (Patton, 2008). Some of the stages involved in the monitoring and evaluation processes include developing an evaluation form, identifying performance measures, setting guidelines in relation to feedback, coming up with disciplinary and termination procedures and finally setting an evaluation schedule (Patton, 2008). All these stages are equally important and should be handled with great care to ensure that the whole process is a success. A review should take place as often as possible. This will allow for timely adjustments when need be as opposed to waiting for too long to an extent that reverting to a better situation is impossible. Feedback is an essential element in any organization irrespective of its size and areas of operation. It ensures that employees remain satisfied with their tasks and objectives. It also assesses individual and team performance and indicates areas that need some improvements. Some of the methods of feedback to individuals and teams in relation to their performance against agreed objectives in an organization are self-assessments, verbal feedback to individuals and teams, one-on-one feedback as well as giving feedback on information, behaviour and performance (Seibert, Wang & Courtright, 2011). All these methods are essential in providing feedback when carried out in an appropriate manner. They all have some positive and negative attributes and a suitable one should be chosen for different situations. Every organization should encourage feedback since it helps in identifying gaps and learning ways of improving individual and team performance and hence that of the organization as a whole. There are different recording systems for performance assessment for individuals and teams. Recording systems are essential in performance assessment as they document different activities in an organization. They include records that have systematic details of activities performed by individuals and teams in an organization. Some of the processes could include a content analysis, a file plan and a compliance requirements document among others. Well managed records systems allow for efficiency and effectiveness in all the activities involved (Russ-Eft & Preskill, 2009). It is apparent that monitoring and evaluation of both individual and team performance is quite essential for every organization regardless of its size and area of operations. Different strategies should be applied and adjustments made in accordance to the results attained. Task 4 Individual and team performance should always be maintained at the best level possible as a way of ensuring that the overall performance of the organization is also enhanced. However, this is not always the case and poor performance could be experienced in an organization from time to time as a result of different factors. Poor performance means that the expected standards for attaining an organization’s objectives are not met. Some of the indicators of employee poor performance on the side of individuals and teams include the following. Excessive absenteeism and lateness, inadequate job knowledge, and lack or low motivation among others. The management could also show some form of poor performance through aspects such as bullying, negative and untrusting attitude, insufficient feedback on processes and operations as well as insufficient communication on different aspects such as job responsibility. An organization could also present some aspects that indicate poor performance in one way or the other. For instance, when the organization make changes in policies and operations without consulting or informing the involved parties, the changes are bound to face great resistance and eventually fail, leading to poor performance. Having an organizational culture that condones poor performance is also a bad attribute for any organization and should be avoided (Langley et al., 2009). Poor management of resources, lack of appreciation of employees and having an environment that does not have trust and support are factors that could also lead to eventual poor organization performance. Effective ways of dealing with low performance of individuals and teams should always be sought. This is more so since poor performers negatively affects the growth and achievement of an organization’s goals by failing to effectively carry out their fair share of task. In turn, this lowers the productivity and profitability of the organization. Performance improvement cycle can support an individual as well as a team to improve upon their performance. It entails the design, measurement, assessment and improvement of an organization’s strategies. It is a process that aims at increasing the chances of an organization achieving its goals and objectives. In the design stage, one may monitor performance of individuals and teams by identifying the basic aim of the company and its operations and coming up with a design that enhances the achievement of the objectives. At the measure stage, one can establish how well a firm has attained its objectives and make necessary adjustments that are aimed at avoiding poor performance and instead enhancing success. The assessment stage is all about prioritizing an organization’s needs and what should be achieved. Ranking priorities helps an organization to ensure that every party in the organization works towards achieving success hence reducing the chances of poor performance. The last step in the cycle entails taking improvement actions based on what was found out during the previous stages (Medlin & Green Jr, 2009). Different strategies could be employed at this point to enhance the overall organizational performance. According to Sutcliffe (2006), there are a number of methods that in one way or the other support performance improvement in an organization. They include; training and continuous learning, recognizing achievement and rewarding and proving job security among others. Training allows the employees to perform to their best and continuous learning translates to continuous improvement. This could be however be time and money intensive. Recognizing achievement and rewarding employees keep them motivated and they desire to do even better. It could however bring negativity from those who are not rewarded. Providing job security reduces job turnover thus enhancing performance. It could nonetheless be an expensive venture to maintain the status of job security and the many benefits associated with it. Task 5 Organizations have people from different backgrounds and with varying personal values and therefore, they could collide with some organization’s aspects in one way or the other. Difficulties also arise from employee-employee or employer-employee relationships thus necessitating for effective disciplinary and grievance procedures to deal with the challenges. The procedures are aimed at solving the difficulties by offering evident and transparent means to go about them. For the organization in question, the disciplinary and grievance procedures entail the use of company rules to reinforce a set of standards of conduct and performance for all the employees in the organization. The existence of the disciplinary and grievance procedures is a measure that ensures that all employees in the company are accorded equal treatment under similar situations and that justice and fairness are observed when dealing with problems at the organization (Franklin & Pagan, 2006). Having effective disciplinary and grievance procedures is an aspect that every organization should invest in as it is associated with a lot of benefits to all the parties involved. The manager has a role to play in the implementation of disciplinary and grievance processes. Managers execute disciplinary action when need be and also decide when some external bodied may be necessary in dealing or resolving problems in the organization. The manager could also be charged with the role of investigating all details that surround a given grievance as a way of ensuring that it is dealt with in an effective manner. For minor offences the manager may give verbal warning and written warnings for subsequent mistakes or more serious offence. Final warnings are also given for serious or repeated offences (Franklin & Pagan, 2006). In the worst scenario, a manager may dismiss an employee for gross misconduct and when that is the only possible option. Some of the skills and knowledge required for the managers to effectively deploy the procedures within the legal framework include for following. A good understanding of the meaning of discipline and grievance and the procedures involved. Adequate knowledge of the law that surrounds dealing with discipline and grievance in the workplace is also essential for the managers charged with these processes. In addition, there is need for the managers to have knowledge and skills that entails the introduction of procedures as well as making them simple for better understanding by all. A high level of confidence is also a desirable attribute for the managers to have. This is more so because it ensures that they do things in the right manner for instance in accordance with what is stipulated in the Acas code of practice (Rahim, Brown & Graham, 2011). Without the relevant knowledge and skills, the managers are bound to carry out the processes and procedures in a wrong manner and thus end up not solving the problem but instead making the situation even worse. Rahim, Brown and Graham (2011) argue that there are various fundamental aspects of legislation to an organization’s disciplinary and grievances procedures. There is need to identify the facts that surround a given case so as to deal with it appropriately. The employees should be fully involved in resolving the dispute and even be given a chance to file an appeal. It is also important to let all the parties involved to know the nature of the grievances and to eventually take an appropriate action. The employees have the right to take the grievances to the next level if they feel it has not been resolved in an appropriate manner (Snell & Bohlander, 2010). All these legislation aspects that are attached to disciplinary as well as grievances procedures are aimed and promoting justice and fairness in an organization. It is also a way of maintaining a peaceful working environment that fosters productivity through equality and fair treatment of all. References Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Baker, D. P., Day, R., & Salas, E. (2006). Teamwork as an essential component of high‐reliability organizations. Health services research, 41(4p2), 1576-1598. Daley, D. M. (2006). Strategic human resource management. Public Personnel Management. Current concerns, future challenges, 5, 120-134. Franklin, A. L., & Pagan, J. F. (2006). Organization culture as an explanation for employee discipline practices. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26(1), 52-73. Langley, G. J., et al. (2009). The improvement guide: a practical approach to enhancing organizational performance. 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Snell, S., & Bohlander, G. W. (2010). Principles of human resource management. South-Western: Cengage Learning. Sutcliffe, W. (2006). Managing the unexpected: Assuring high performance in an age of complexity. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Tjosvold, D., Wong, A. S., & Feng Chen, N. Y. (2014). Constructively managing conflicts in organizations. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 1(1), 545-568. Williams, C. (2013). Principles of management. South-Western/Cengage Learning. Read More