Abstract
A team-based approach is one of the recent strategies to improve performance and reduce the cost of operations by capitalizing on the available human capital. It involves the role of teams to achieve common objectives instead of the conventional hierarchical structure. Various training issues emerge in an attempt to implement the approach. One of the issues is the duration of the training, which can be addressed by designing clear objectives and performing regular evaluations. The second issue is how to measure and reward performance in teamwork, which can be resolved through developing mechanisms to reward team-based performance. Another issue is the challenge in group decision-making and different abilities, which can be solved by recognizing the individual effort and acknowledging the contribution of all members in decision-making during training and implementation of the team-based approach.
Implementation of Team-Based Approach
A team-based approach is critical for improved productivity because it capitalizes on human capital. The approach enables employees to work as a team towards a common objective instead of using the traditional hierarchical structure where performance is measured from an individual perspective. The human resource management team should ensure that employees are trained to work in teams. Regardless of the positive effect of the team-based approach, including increased productivity and cost reduction, various training issues occur as the organization strives to implement the method.
One of the issues is the timelines or duration necessary to train employees as part of the team-based approach implementation process. A team-based approach is challenging because of the need to train and instill the culture of teamwork in employees. Therefore, the implementation might take a considerably longer period, perhaps over a year, because it involves an organization-wide change. Other organizations that have implemented the change acknowledge the need for clear objectives and timelines to achieve the various deliverables (Taylor, 2013). Human resource management should perform periodic evaluations of the effectiveness in achieving various milestones of the training program. An evaluation provides significant information to establish the level of success towards achieving the team-based approach for the organization.
The other training issue relates to the mechanisms for measuring and rewarding performance, considering that the approach involves working in a team rather than individuals. Human resource managers expect the performance of employees to improve after the training. They should measure the change in the level of performance. However, measuring improvement in performance is easy for individual employees as opposed to groups or teams since it is difficult to determine an individual’s contribution to team success (Waits et al., 2014). Current evidence-based performance measurement approaches, such as Rapid Performance Assessment Tool, are individual-oriented rather than team-oriented. Therefore, human resource managers might face challenges in measuring group performance after the training. They can solve the problem by developing customized tools to measure the contribution of groups in achieving common objectives. They can also reward teams instead of individuals for performance outcomes.
Another training issue that might affect the team-based approach is the inability to make decisions. The challenge might create conflicts with the team because members rarely agree on various issues affecting the group. The situation can cause dissatisfaction, anger, and exasperation over the incapability to make reliable decisions. Besides, some participants might feel that some team members hinder their potential and their chances for “personal success” (Moreland, Levine, & Wingert, 2013). Training needs for different employees also differ because of the divergent levels of talent and skills. Therefore, training teams can drag some members, especially when they are required to work at the same pace. The reality is evident in organizations with high performers because their contribution is rarely noticed in teamwork. Hence, to offer a solution to this issue, the human resource management should offer training, depending on the needs of individual members and allow participants to contribute to decision-making.
The human resource management of the organization should understand the positive contribution of teamwork, including improved productivity and reducing the operation cost. However, the process of training teams is not as straightforward as training individual employees. Some of the training issues involved in the process include the duration, limitations in measuring and rewarding performance, and challenges in team-based decision-making. Therefore, the management should determine the challenges and implement measures to address them to take advantage of a team effort.
References
Moreland, R. L., Levine, J. M., & Wingert, M. L. (2013). Creating the ideal group: Composition effects at work. Understanding Group Behavior, 2, 11-35.
Taylor, G. (2013). Implementing and maintaining a knowledge sharing culture via knowledge management teams: A shared leadership approach. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications & Conflict, 17(1), 1-4.
Waits, S. A., Reames, B. N., Krell, R. W., Bryner, B., Shih, T., Obi, A. T., … & Wong, S. L. (2014). Development of Team Action Projects in Surgery (TAPS): a multilevel team-based approach to teaching quality improvement. Journal of Surgical Education, 71(2), 166-168.
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