It is not new to many the different experiences of working in teams. I have experienced different situations, and most of them happened in an educational setting. Before talking about teams and groups, let's first talk about the individual perspective.
I am a lazy person - but I do care about the results and grades that I will receive. So no matter how lazy I get in a day, thinking of the possible effects of my laziness is enough to get me standing up and do the work; having that attitude strongly applies even in a teamwork scenario. I always make sure that there is work being done, and at the same time, I try to be considerate of my group members. Just like the basics of performance management, you oversee results and at the same time monitor the people involved.
Working on a team lessens the work burden for each member, and contributes different perspective to the overall output of the work. Based on my experience, creativity is much more visible when working with teams that equally contribute, and the challenge for many would be the management of the ideas to put it together because accommodating these ideas are important not just only to the team but to the contributors, as well. Aguinis (2013) believed that working in teams does not necessarily mean to be in the same geographic location and that as long as they work together, need each other and share common goals, they are considered to be on the same team. The first time I worked on a virtual team was during the Talent Mangement class where I realized the value of initiating work because initiations can keep the process moving. Being a good initiator, you have to assess the level of pressure you have to put into your groupmates to get the work done which is challenging in a virtual setup because you hardly know what these members are up to, and the responsibilities they have besides school. Failure to manage these kinds of situation can lead to the disadvantage of doing things alone and giving credits to people who have not done a single thing.
Evaluating teamwork and team members are the phase where the outputs are to be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. As a group leader, I was honest enough to evaluate my members, and I did not get afraid of the unfair criticisms I would receive because I know to myself that I have always been considerate to my members and have duly weighed situations before jotting my verdict. To all team leaders, your honesty would be the greatest contribution you will ever give to your team because you have given justice to the success or result of teamwork and your team members for knowing their area of development.
References:
Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
References:
Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
