Question

Think about teams on which you have been a member (work, school, volunteer) and answer the following questions:

• Briefly describe the team, its purpose and your role on the team
• Describe how your team moved through the Team Performance Model
  • How did you move through each phase? What was that like?
  • Did you get stuck in any phases? If so, which ones and how did you get "unstuck"?
  • Was team cohesive? If so, what was it like to be part of the team? If not, what was the impact to the team?

Answer 1

• The team is the ‘Rewards and Recognition’ in my workplace. The purpose of the team is to identify and select the deserved candidates to reward them for their innovation, hard work and being the best team player. There are other awards also such as award for process improvements and generosity. I was the Team Lead for the team.
• My team went through the different stages of the Team Performance Model as below:

The first four stages are team creation-

1. Orientation- Give direction to the team members the purpose of the team- unbiased selection of deserved candidates for rewards.
2. Trust building- Introduction of each team member because they are representatives from 12 different teams.
3. Goal clarification- Specify roles and responsibilities for each team member.
4. Commitment- Assure them that the team would work together to select the right candidate for the reward. Also, detail of how the team would work together would be provided to the team.

The next three stages are performance related.

5. Implementation- The selection criteria were provided for the team as they need to mark the candidates based on this scorecard. Also, a couple of team members were in-charge for sending the voting email to 150+ employees. Another team member was involved in campaigning for voting. Another team member was responsible for collating the data from the votes. I was in-charge of the final selection of the candidates and sending to the management for their approval.
6. High performance- I was able to identify where the team members were unable to perform. It was a supportive unit. Each team member helped each other. I guided the team to analyze the statistical reports.
7. Renewal- Once the task was complete; there would be change in the team due to attrition or other lateral movements in the team. Then, the cycle starts from stage 1.

• Each phase was very difficult and challenging as there was conflicts in selecting the candidates. It was very obvious that the representatives of the team were biased and preferred candidates only from their teams.
• We were stuck in the implementation phase, because each team member were doing redundant activities i.e., activities were repeated by different team members. When I took up the leadership role, the team was abhorred by the whole department because it was highly biased and there was no transparency in the selection. We were able to get ‘unstuck’ by first creating a new selection criteria and then sharing with the team to overcome the biased perception. Then, the team members were assigned specific responsibilities and roles to complete the whole process.
• Absolutely. The team was cohesive and supportive. It was great to be part of the team. I was proud of leading the team efficiently and effectively guiding them through all the complex systems.

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