Question

As a Department Leader, you recognize the importance of having your staff work in groups and teams. What strategies and tools will you use to ensure that your team works well together?

Answer 1

Team effort evaluation: The manager can evaluate the team’s collective efforts by measuring the output on different parameters like timeliness, the number of defects, customer feedback etc. and the proper corrective actions can be taken to reduce variability.

Continuous Motivation and Incentivisation: One of the principles of economics says that people respond to incentives. If we link monetary incentives of qualitative rewards with their performance, the team members’ individual performance will rise and so will the team’s performance.

Continuous shifting of people: By shifting people in different job roles which they can effectively deliver as and when required helps a manager to fill the work gap created. As soon as a requirement arises, an employee is put to work there by the manager. This helps in smooth functioning of the operations.

Maintaining Diversity of skills while recruitment: The diversity of skills in a team always helps a manager in the crises situation. Whenever there is a dire need for new job work, an employee is there to cater the need of the situation and the manager does not need to hire the new employee and incur waiting cost of opportunity.

360-degree feedback:

The employer should switch to a 360-degree feedback mechanism for all the employees. This will help identify the key problem people in the organization and even recognize and appreciate those who are really hard working and dedicated towards work. This will even help identify the need for skill development and training where ever necessary may it be soft skill training or the work based training.

Weekly Timesheets:

The employer must ask his employees to diligently fill the minimum working hours time sheet on weekly basis. The employee should mention the client and the work did alongside the time taken to do the job. It will help identify any learning curve or inefficiency in one particular part of the team. It will even help minimize wastage of time in the organization