Team Performance Criteria

6. Team Performance Criteria

In order for a team to work together successfully, it is important that the team embarks on the process in a planned and intentional way. Many teams are unsuccessful because they just dive into the task and work on an ad hoc basis which leads to important aspects being forgotten, deadlines being missed and an inability to reach goals – in fact, goals are often not set at all! This approach is tantamount to climbing into the car and driving without any planning till you reach a place that you like (or you are too tired to continue) and stopping there for a holiday. The problem is that you will not have the correct clothing (e.g. for swimming) and may have difficulty in finding accommodation. If you had taken a bit of time to plan, pack and phone for reservations, many of the problems would have been avoided.

The criteria for successful teams are as follows:

6.1 Planning

This is the process of discussion, brainstorming and thinking through the task at hand in order to decide what needs to be done, by whom and which resources will be needed. If the team is not already constituted, it may include setting up a team with the necessary skills to accomplish the task.

Some of the issues that will have to be addressed include:

○ Size of team and skills needed;

○ Goalsetting (these may be short- or long term, depending on the task);

○ Timing (starting date, interim deadlines and date of completion); and

○ Other resources required (stationery, equipment, premises etc.).

6.2 Execution

The plan must be put into action, and the team processes discussed earlier in this chapter are a good guideline to follow. Important aspects to consider in this phase are:

○ Cohesion of the team members and their ability to work together;

○ Commitment, work ethic, trust and integrity of each team member;

○ Leadership ability of the leader;

○ Flexibility of the team to cope with problems or obstacles (e.g. conflict); and

○ The ability of the team members to align their individual goals with team goals.

6.3 Review

It is important to check the progress of the team on a regular basis against the goals which have been set.

○ During the process: This could include time-lines, budgets, the motivation of the members of the team or the usage and effectiveness of resources.

○ At the end of the task: Wrap-up or consolidation of the task; the success (achievement of goals); and the drawing up of a ‘snag-list’ or lessons learnt in order to avoid similar problems in future tasks.

6.4 Documentation

Depending on the type of task, documentation will form an integral part of the process. In school projects the Educator may give very specific guidelines on this, but in business it often requires minutes, budgets, memorandums and other documents to inform other interested parties (e.g. the Head of Department) of the process and decisions taken by the team.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/south-africa-triumph-rugby-world-cup-final-n1075616

Exercise 1.5: Evaluating a Team

Choose a specific school project (in any subject) in which you worked in a team and evaluate it on the following rating scale. Be honest. A low rating will not affect your marks – it is the lessons learnt that are important.

Guide to rating:

1 No specific attention was paid to this, it happened on an ad-hoc basis.

2 Some forethought given to the process, but not adequate.

3 The group put in an average amount of effort.

4 The group worked in an intentional and meaningful way.

5 The process was superb, with strong leadership and a team with diverse skills that achieved well on this aspect. Project: Subject:

Team Members:

Criteria: Rating 1 - 5

Planning Give an example to justify your rating: How would you change this aspect in a future project?

Execution

Review

Documentation