Team Performance Measurement - Essay Example

Running Head: TEAM PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT Team Performance Measurement Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction A team is a group of people with a common goal, which makes them to work and support each other to accomplish shared objectives. Each team member plays a particular role in accomplishing the tasks assigned to the team and therefore all members are mutually dependent. Team building in healthcare organizations involves influencing their cadre to combine talents and the diverse skills to accomplish the organizational goals.

This paper presents a critique of some of the anticipated challenges in measuring the healthcare team’s performance in the past eighteen months.Anticipated ChallengesEven though performance evaluation can be a successful process that acts as a basis for human resource development in healthcare organizations, there is a likelihood of various challenges being encountered especially if some of the team members consider it to be a punitive undertaking by the management. In a situation whereby individual accomplishments are valued more than teamwork (Sangvai et al. 2008), the junior staff in the healthcare cadre may regard performance measurement as an undesirable process due to their minimal contributions in the hierarchical structure where physicians dominate leadership and public trust.

Such attitudes of inferiority may hamper the process of performance measurement as some team members feel intimidated (Castka et al. 2004).Members of a team usually have different perceptions regarding their individual performance and that of others. Some perceive themselves as the top performers, which may present a challenge in the performance measurement process when the continuous feedback to the group reveals results that are contrary to their expectations. If such individuals are rated below their counterparts in the preliminary results, they are likely to be de-motivated and discontented, thereby lowering their performance.

Enthusiasm of such team members to participate in subsequent performance measurement processes may decrease; hence delaying the evaluation exercise and the ultimate results (Schrader & Lawless, 2004).Even though a strong team is expected to pursue shared objectives, the different roles require individual performance evaluation so that the management can determine the career development needs for each employee (Sanwong, 2008). This presents a major challenge since the teams normal workflow is affected by the idiosyncratic approach that promotes individualism rather than collective accomplishment of tasks.

Some of the team members are likely to develop a pessimistic attitude thereby reducing their innovativeness especially when they view their contribution to the team as irrelevant compared to the leading professionals such as the physicians. Such a situation leads to the members in the lower cadre assuming a reactive role instead of being pro-active in the team (MacBryde & Mendibil, 2003).Conclusion Maintaining high performance teams in healthcare requires promotion of interaction and commitment of each member to the accomplishment of shared goal.

Performance measurement that applies an individualistic approach in evaluating the team’s performance tends to present challenges such as valuing individual achievements to teamwork culminating in inferiority complex among some members, de-motivation of some high performing members who regard themselves as the top performers when they feel downgraded as well as interference with the team’s normal workflow as members are evaluated individually yet they are inter-dependent in their daily operations.

ReferencesCastka, P. Bamber, C. J. Sharp, J. M. (2004). “Benchmarking Intangible Assets: EnhancingTeamwork Performance using self-assessment” Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 11(6) pp 571-583MacBryde, J. & Mendibil, K. (2003). “Designing Performance Measurement Systems for Teams:Theory and Practice”. Management Decision, Vol. 41(8) pp 722-733Sangvai, D. Lyn, M. & Michener, L. (2008). “Teamwok: Defining High-Performance Teams andPhysician Leadership”. The Physician Executive, pp 44-51Sanwong, K. (2008). “The Development of a 360-Degree Performance Appraisal System: AUniversity Case Study”.

International Journal of Management, Vol. 25(1) pp. 16-22Schrader, P. G., & Lawless, K. A. (2004). The Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors Approach: How to Evaluate Performance and Learning in Complex Environments. Performance Improvement, 43(9), 8-15.