Team Performance Appraisal System – Conversion Summary

Individual Appraisal System and its Conversion to Team Appraisal System

An individual appraisal system that is run based on ‘management by objectives’ is best suitable, as certain aims and objectives are set. After setting these goals, the performance of each individual can be assessed, to see whether the aims are being reached. This is specifically beneficial for marketing and sales employees of any firm. Management by objectives increases the chances of success when each individual’s offerings affect the entire team’s output as a whole.

Differences between Individual Appraisal System and Team Appraisal System

The basic difference between the individual and team appraisal systems is that in the former case, the judgments are based on each person’s individual performance, whereas in the latter, the verdict is made according to the work of a number of people. The work and input of each person present in the team to attain the goals set by the group collectively make up the team appraisal system. The individual system analyzes each member’s strengths and weaknesses.

Individual Equity and its Impact on Team Performance

Every organization has variations of employee performances. Some have a certain specific potential, while others are best at some other tasks. All the employees or team members cannot have the same amount of potential for each task. Equity can be established within the team by looking into the strengths and weaknesses of each member, and assigning work according to the potential they possess.

If there is no equity among the team members, the overall performance of the team may be affected, as some members may feel they are undermined. The prevalence of uneven equity in the organization may affect the quality of work produced due to heightened emotionality; a project assigned may be delayed due to this as well. Decision making is slower and demotivation within the team arises. If there is even equity in the group, the overall performance of the group improves; deadlines are met successfully, with better outputs. The results can be evaluated efficiently, producing more precise response on the whole.

Team Motivations and Team Expectations

Motivation is the inner drive of the members of the team to achieve some goal that they have set. Expectation is what they predict would be the outcome of the efforts they have put into their work. They can also be named ‘results’. The two terms are related to each other, as the higher the expectations that are made, the more the motivation of the group. If high expectations are kept from a certain task, the team members may become more motivated to achieve the ends for which they are working, and meet the expectations they have set. The collective expectations of the team motivate them to attain what they want to. Without this driving force, goal attainment would not be worthy.

The reward of the activities carried out because of the motivation, is the end result of the project at hand. If the team as a cohesive unit has set a common goal, with high expectations, the rewards are greater. However, each member of the team should also possess a certain amount of personal motivation. Without this, team motivation would not be present. The tangible rewards that are kept for any task completion additionally affect team performance, as everyone likes to work for the attainment of something solid, rather than just work. This is also an important factor in motivation; some tangible reward should be kept for specific goal achievements.

Individual Employee Responsibilities towards the Team

The key factor in being a responsible employee and contributing fairly is to be able to communicate efficiently. Proper and good communication with other members of the group will automatically produce a healthy and much wanted environment, rather than creating ill thoughts for one another by possessing negative feelings at heart.

The respecting of other team mates, sharing of responsibilities, helping one another in times of need, assisting each other in meeting challenges, appreciation of other’s efforts, and working together pleasantly, all contribute to a healthy team output. Each individual should be a team player, work in high spirits towards a single common goal, be committed, and support his or her counterparts at all times. If there are any issues related to not being able to meet deadlines or similar such problems, the blame should not be placed on each other, pinpointing other team mates, or holding them responsible for any shortcomings. Rather, the team as a unit should solve such matters, by contributing individually and articulately resolving the problem. Responsibilities should be shared through active and courteous communication.

Strategies to Discourage Social Loafing

Social loafing takes place when an individual is unable to carry out the task at hand, and does not contribute to the efforts of the group. It can be avoided by:

• Finding encouraging ways to get the person back to work
• Being creative with the work to make it interesting
• Discouraging the loafing
• Focusing on the topic at hand and helping others get a clear idea of it.