Developing People and Planning Work - Assignment Example

Developing People and Planning Work Objectives Establish corporate objectives In current business environment, people are prized assets, and theyend up working together to form groups and teams that are an inevitable part of the organizations. While teams are prevalent, motivating teams has not yet been very successful. Team dynamics are different than individual dynamics. In order to achieve collaborative success, they have to make sure that corporate objectives are established, conveyed to the teams and the team objectives are aligned closely to the corporate goals. This is a very challenging process, but enormously beneficial if successful. Establish your role in context of corporate objectives and other departments The role of a team player is to contribute and participate whole-heartedly. Understanding the responsibilities and expectations of the team and aligning them to the organizational goals, will enable the player to progress on a personal level as well as a team member. By offering support to the other team members and arriving at a plan and executing the task within timelines will enhance the team performance. A good team manager who in addition to performing the roles of a team player, also tries to bring out the best in his team, by leveraging on the strength of the members and playing down their weaknesses. Establish roles of team and performance measures and monitoring process A team has been defined as "a small number of people with complementary skills who are equally committed to a common purpose, goal, and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable."(Katzenbach, Smith, 1993). A group of people does not constitute a team. A team has clearly defined goals and performance objectives for which members are individually and collectively accountable. A team is characterized by being trained and in communication with its other members. Its members support each other, officially and personally and share expertise to achieve project goals. Teams have a set of rules that are enforced and take time to develop and achieve the highest level of performance. The role of performance measures is measurements of performance that serve to inform the organization about the efficiency of achieving predetermined goals. This continuous monitoring serves the purpose of controlling the progress of the work within a specified framework and should corrective action be required, timely intervention is made possible. Motivation Motivation as a business concept Motivation may be defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. Traditionally, employees were just a part of the business entity and were not treated as a valuable asset. However with the Hawthorne Studies began the human relations approach to management, whereby the needs and motivation of employees become the primary focus of managers (Bedeian, 1993). It did not take long for them to realize that motivated employees are more productive and contribute to better overall efficiencies of the organization. Therefore, the onus was on the manager to make sure that the employee was motivated and this was quite a challenge due to the complexity of human nature. Each unique individual had different reasons to be motivated and different methods that were effective and this made it arguably really complex. Source from website http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/index.html Assess motivation of team Teams that are motivated often possess these characteristics Purpose: When teams have a specific purpose, goal or a mission, then the members are united towards a specific path and are motivated to travel along it. Challenge: Motivation is generally high when the task is challenging and has a level of difficulty that excites the team members to perform better. However, if the task is too difficult, members may give up or if it is too easy, members just slack and take it easy. Camaraderie: When team members genuinely like each other, they work harder together and are often very supportive of each other. Responsibility: When there is ownership of the task, teams are motivated to perform better. However, while too much onus of the task may create a fear of failure and demotivate the people causing them to shy away. When teams are burdened by fear of failure, responsibility ceases to be a motivator. Growth: Personal and team growth can provide sustained motivation. When people feel progress, and new learning experiences and expanding their knowledge, people feel motivated by the novel experiences. Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing self-esteem and self-worth. Leadership: A good leader can be a catalyst for motivation in the short term, but the best leaders create the conditions for the team to motivate itself. A good leader is often able to bring out the best in terms of the individuals as well as the entire team. (Source from website< http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_teammotivation.htm>) Assess possible rewards package for a team Reward packages for the team should be tailored to reward collective group performances. Care should be taken though that the individual rewards in the organization, do not deter the team spirit and create competitiveness. This scenario will impact the team performance. Reward packages can be a bonus pay that provides cash bonuses based on specific achievement of targets, profit sharing among team, for instance, commission on sales can be shared when sales targets are reached, gain sharing when the project is completed on lower costs that an allocated budget, the team shares the gains, and when teams achieve success on time and quality, they can be given achievement bonus that will urge them to repeat the success. In addition, special tuition rewards can be offered to those who develop skill sets that can be utilized by the team, like training in special software skills, or service skills. Above all, recognition works wonders on the morale of the team and posting "champion team" of the year etc. will be a great incentive, or "team player of the month" to the person with great team spirit are all great ways to induce teamwork. (Schermerhorn, 2001) Implementation of policy Fairness and integrity in implementation is important. Frequent feedback that reinforces required behaviour will remove ambiguity. Reinforcement should be positive, universal, and be clearly defined. It should be at the level of standards and practices that are at the level of the staff and realistic. Overall rewards should persuade rather than coerce since, persuasion always works better in the long run. Inculcating trust, offering praise when needed and constructive criticism will make the reward policy easy to accept and incorporate. Assessing Progress Establish Performance Measures Team related performance could be measured in two ways, the performance of the team member within the team, and the performance of the team as a whole. Individual performance can be measured by participation in team meetings, volunteering within the team projects, coordination with other members, ability to listen to others and work as a team, communication and regular presence in team meetings and contribution towards project goals, are measures of individual performance within teams and good working relationship with other members. The results of the performance would be the actual contribution of the employee to the collective team's end product. As a Team, the performance can be measured by how well the team functions together, the ease with which each tem member is able to voice their views within the team, the capacity to arrive at a decision in spite of varied points of view, respect among team members for one another and problem solving ability. The results of achieving set goals within desired timeframes and reaching a consensus efficiently would form the basis of the Team's Performance Measurement. Encourage involvement by methods of participation Team performance can be maximized when the involved members are completely in sync with each other and with the organization as a whole. For teams to be involved, realistic teams that can work together towards realistic goals and practical work processes is a must. Sustained training that has already prepared the team to work together rather than floundering for guidance during a project will be beneficial. Team members will be unique because they are individuals. They cannot morph because they are team members. Having processes that will let members work together and participate in the team is a must. Diversity often brings in newer ideas and execution, so should be nurtured. This will make them eager to contribute and participate. When there is openness participation is higher. Fear of being "put down" or being sidelined will negate participation and involvement. Managers without bias or prejudice often find that they bring out the best in teams. Establish control process - assessing progress Regardless of size, sector, or specialization, organizations tend to be interested in the same general aspects of performance: Financial considerations Customer satisfaction Internal business operations Employee satisfaction Community and shareholder/stakeholder satisfaction. Attention to, and establishment of, measurements in these areas is thus a significant part of a successful performance measurement system. (Source < http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/papers/benchmrk/nprbook.html>) Focus: The area of focus will need to be narrow. A narrower bandwidth will help gauge performance better and will be more desirable. It would also be more accurate and effective. Strategy: Mature performance systems always measure performance in close alignment to corporate goals and activities. When an organizational strategy is set and placed within a well-specified framework, measuring performance becomes a more reliable measure. This eliminates wasteful measures of performance that have no relevance to company goals. Appropriateness: Each process, individual or team should be measured for what is exactly desired. Thorough analysis of every process and an actual understanding rather than an assumption will help validate performance. Consolidated targets like timelines, sales figures etc allow accurate progress control. It must be remembered that assessing progress is just a means to an end, and not the end itself. This objectivity will enable the end result to be monitored rather that the actual measures. Feedback Approach to positive performance Training - Training the team towards organizational goals and targets will enable them to have a focused vision. Training has to be ongoing, and updated at regular intervals. Team participation and decision-making workshops need to be conducted. Communication - Opening up channels of communication is an effective and positive approach to team building. Communication needs to be maintained both within the team and between the team and the organization. This will make sure that information flow is undeterred. Team members have to be trained in communicating positively and efficiently. Culture - Top management should encourage team building and recognize and support teams. The organizational culture should nurture teams and their achievement. When a team achieves success instant praise and recognition is highly motivating. Once a team has proven itself, giving them a greater responsibility will be encouraging. Accepting Responsibility- Team members should be educated to able accept praise as a whole and at the same time, accept a collective blame when things fall short rather than playing the "blame game" blaming each other. When team goals and organizational goals are aligned, the teams progress and assessments become easier. Team Cohesion: When team members are supportive, have a sense of comradeship and are patient and honest, there are able to work better towards a common goal. (Source: adapted from OPM, Workforce Performance Newsletter Reprint, April 1996 as stated in the website http://www.hf.faa.gov/Webtraining/TeamPerform/Team028.htm) Approach to poor performance Team performance may be affected when, the higher management does not ably support the team members, they do not have adequate resources at their disposal, and the organizational culture promotes individual performance rather than teamwork and undefined goals that create a loss of direction to the team. When teams members do not work well together, there is no cohesion and tolerance for a fellow member, absence of conflict resolution among members and inability to arrive at a consensus together are all harbingers of poor performance. When team meetings are infrequent, effective timely decisions are not reached, and improper planning causes lag in achieving targets and causes poor performance. Team members don't set appropriate goals for the team and then build and implement a plan for reaching them. Insufficient responsibility also demotivates the members, while too much of a workload will be exhausting and cause poor performance. Also in terms, there may be "slackers" who normally sit back and let others do the job. This may create resentment among team members that affect performance. Team leaders and/or managers may not allow sufficient authority to make decisions. This hinders quick decision making to tackle problems. Sometimes, managers ignite competitiveness between employees to urge them on to perform better. This may be intentional by bias and favouritism, or unintentional. These create tensions within the team and teamwork suffers a set back. Major organizational changes like mergers, layoff and acquisitions create uncertainty, or change in team membership and cause poor performance. (Source Interaction Associates, "Previous Tips & Techniques, Why Teams Fail: The Greatest External Team Barriers to Success," www.interactionassociates.com) Involvement of Team in Development Consultation Consultation in the form of review meetings, status updates and other frequent meetings will keep them involved while at the same time their progress will be monitored. Team members should also be encouraged to share their views and managers should be willing to listen without bias. Consulting the team members in cases of changes to the circumstances or unexpected roadblocks in problem solving makes them feel needed and eager to contribute. When people are clear about expectations, work becomes easier to get done. Team meetings need not always be official. Meeting informally to celebrate a team member's birthday, or a successful completion of a milestone or a sponsored lunch in appreciation will all serve to make the team more cohesive and mature. Celebrating team success instantly will also help them to develop and mature as an entity. Source http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_culture.htm Appraisal Performance appraisals are important for staff motivation, attitude and behaviour development, communicating organizational goals and setting the stage for an ongoing relationship between the employees and the management. An appraisal conducted in a friendly encouraging environment without prejudice and without put downs, is a great motivator for increasing performance. Performance appraisals are formal documented records of individual and team performances. They provide a good understanding of the individuals in a team and what works and what does not. When teams are disbanded or rotated after a project, appraisals give valuable information on future team building to enhance value and achieve targets. Comparing to the last year performance of the employees, current appraisals also provide valuable information to determine, what planned development of the people can achieve in future. Outcomes of planned development to positive and negative feedback Developing people so that their productivity allows organization goals to be met has become crucial. Individuals have to work together and teams formed, have a great part to play in this context. Motivated, self-sufficient and resourceful individuals and teams are invaluable to an organization. These efforts offer more productivity to any organization. The best way to achieve this is to develop people and not their skills. Paying attention to what the people want and offering ways and means to better themselves, and grow on a personal level as well as in a team and finally on an organizational level is a great challenge. Organizational techniques like training and a supportive culture will ensure a positive feedback. At the same time, a good reward system and a performance measurement will help them to reinforce their commitment and involvement. Insecure, and resentment vibes must be looked into and corrective measures can be taken at an organizational, team or individual level. Barriers to development often tend to be easy to address once the actual reasons are known. A good manager with leadership skills is an excellent asset to planned development involving people. References Employee Motivation In the Workplace Accel team.com [Online] Retrieved from website http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/index.html on March 27, 2006 Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management (3rd ed.) New York: Dryden Press Team Success FAA factors.com [Online] Retrieved from website http://www.hf.faa.gov/Webtraining/TeamPerform/Team028.htm Grazier, Peter Planned Development 27 Mar 2006 http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_teammotivation.htm Heathfield, Susan, M How to build a teamwork culture About.com [Online] Retrieved from website http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_culture.htm Katzenbach, J.R., Smith, D.K., and The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Harper Business, 1993. Teams Interactionassociates.com [Online] Retrieved from website http://www.interactionassociates.com/tips_teams.cfm on 27 March 2006 Schermerhorn (2001) Management John Wiley and Sons Inc. Serving the American Public, Best practices in performance management [Online] Retrieved from website < http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/papers/benchmrk/nprbook.html> on March 27, 2006 Read More