Establish a team performance plan
1.1 Consult team members to establish a common understanding of
the team purpose, roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities in
accordance with organisational goals, plans, and objectives
Hint
This content may help you with Assignment 1, Tasks 1 & 2.
The words ‘group’ and ‘team’ are often used interchangeably. Groups are a collection of people working
together with a common purpose. A random group of people does not necessarily constitute a team.
Teams need to be chosen to perform specific functions and have a shared purpose and goals.
Successful teams:
• have high levels of trust between members
• work together to achieve greater results than individuals working toward the same objectives
• have strong, shared leadership
• demonstrate support for members, other teams, and the organisation
• regularly monitor, evaluate, and review performance.
Planning process – Before you can achieve as a team, each member must know the outcome desired
by the team and the organisation. What do we want or need to achieve? It is necessary, in consultation
with team members, to identify, establish, and document the following:
How do we do this? Teams need to get together to discuss, participate, and contribute to the
discussion, which determines the overall direction of the team. At the beginning of the process, a team
will be formed in direct response to a need in the organisation. Team purpose – A team is built to
provide a framework to achieve a purpose. What does the team need to achieve? This purpose needs
to be clearly defined and forms the basis of the team’s work. The purpose must be real and relevant so
members of the team can understand it clearly and commit to it because they can understand how it fits
with the organisational objectives.
Case study
The Right Foot Shoe Company is an established company which traditionally supplied business shoes for
corporate wear. There has been a downturn in the market share for the company. At the strategic level, the
company wants to increase its market share by 20%.
Team purpose Roles Responsibilities
Goals, objectives
and plans
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Case study
At an organisational level, the production manager has been asked to put together some people to form a new
product team. The team’s purpose will be to design a new shoe that looks like a young corporate shoe but feels
like a sports shoe. The organisation wants to increase its market share and to gain more outlets and large
contracts as a result.
The head of production gathers his chosen team, which is made up of a great combination of people: a designer,
a podiatrist, a manufacturing expert, and a procurement specialist in the newest technologies and materials
available. The procurement specialist is located in another country, and the rest of the team is in house.
You would think that the team is ready to go. To go where, though? The job of Paul, the production manager, is to
encourage his team to achieve and deliver an innovative result to the CEO and the organisation.
How will they know what the purpose is, how they are to do this mystery thing, or what jobs they are to do?
Simple! They will work together to understand the purpose of the team. At this stage, the team can begin to come
up with a way to work together to achieve the plans. Each member of the team needs to know his or her individual
responsibilities and roles within the team. The team needs to know that the CEO is expecting an increase in
market share and that the organisation has decided that this will occur via this new product.
Paul calls the team together for a get-to-know-each-other meeting and to discuss the purpose of the team and
each person’s role in the team. What will each person be responsible for? What can the others rely on them to
do? All these facts need to be shared at this stage of the team’s development. This will begin to build a culture of
teamwork that is necessary to achieve a great outcome.
Common types of teams can include:
Types of
teams
Characteristics
Functional
Usually represent a department or function of the organisation, such as Finance, HR, or Marketing.
Usually consists of a leader and team members. Teams typically exist for long periods, and
membership is relatively stable.
Crossfunctional
Made up of members from different functional departments, usually for a shorter period, such as a
special project. Having members in a cross-functional team increases knowledge and experience.
Selfmanaged
A popular team type in response to greater competition and customer expectations. These teams
can be functional or cross-functional but are self-managed and usually perform the same tasks
repeatedly. They have a relatively stable membership. The team is given authority for operational
decisions needed to achieve the team goals.
Global and
virtual
Many larger organisations are global enterprises with employees dispersed across many locations
around the world. Nationally based organisations may also have many work sites that are
geographically spread around the country. Whilst they are not located in the same office, they are
still a team. They can be both functional and cross-functional. They rely on communications
technology such as the Internet, email, phone, and video conferencing.
Before we get into the measuring of business, is it important to understand where the team fits into the
organisation and what is expected of it.
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1.1.1 Job descriptions
Each person on a team must have a clear and fair statement of his or her job. Following is a template
description that outlines the important information regarding the job and the expectations, skills, and
experience required to do this job well.
The job description lets the staff or team member fully understand the role and its responsibilities, and it
guides managers regarding the job expectations and shared understanding between the jobholder and
the manager or the organisation.
Job title The formal title of the position
Reports to The title of the position that the job incumbent reports to
Job purpose
Provides a brief description of the general nature of the position; an overview of why
the job exists; and what the job is to accomplish. Usually no more than four sentences
long.
Roles The function played by a person on the team (i.e., supervisor).
Responsibility The tasks designated to each individual role/person in the team.
Duties and
responsibilities –
key responsibility
areas (KRAs)
Outline the duties and responsibilities of the position.
Example: Coordinate and carry out all office administration, including reception, mail,
couriers, greeting clients, and filing. Maintain a clean and safe workspace and abide by
workplace health and safety policies and procedures. Other tasks as directed.
Skills and experience
Qualifications
What qualifications, licenses, or education level do employees need?
Example: Diploma or Certificate IV in Business Admin or relevant experience; first aid
certificate.
Experience
What type and how much experience is needed?
Example: 3 years’ previous experience in a similar role/industry.
Skills
All skills needed for the job, including technical or interpersonal skills.
Example: Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
and Outlook), excellent verbal and written communication, organised and able to meet
deadlines.
Performance
measures (KPIs)
The level of performance you expect from the employee. At this stage, we would
implement the SMART process: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time
bound. See this section in the eBook.
Example: Complete administration tasks by 10 am. Greet clients within four minutes.
Orders for weekly stationery to be completed by 4 pm the day before and sent to head
office by 9 am the next day with approval.
Working
conditions
If the job requires a person to work in special working conditions, this should be stated
in the job description. Special working conditions cover a range of circumstances such
as regular evening and weekend work, shift work, working outdoors, working with
challenging clients, and so forth.
Physical
requirements
If the job is physically demanding, this should be stated in the job description. A
physically demanding job is one where the incumbent is required to stand for extended
periods, lift heavy objects on a regular basis, do repetitive tasks with few breaks, and
so forth.
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Direct reports List by job title any positions to be supervised by the incumbent.
Approved by Signature of person with authority to approve the job description.
Date approved Date the job description was approved.
Reviewed Date the job description was last reviewed.
Ideally, a job description should be reviewed annually and updated upon next use.
1.1.2 Defining the role of the team
Teams develop direction, motivation, and momentum by collaboratively shaping a shared purpose.
Encouraging members to question the purpose of the team, how it will operate, and what it is expected
to achieve serves to foster a deeper understanding of the team’s role and the role of each member,
more so than if this information is simply relayed by an external source.
The role of any given team can range from simple to complex. The higher the level of complexity is, the
greater the need is to document the role or purpose that is, taken from tacit knowledge to explicit
knowledge.
A team’s purposes role can be recorded in many forms, including:
• a team charter where each team member agrees to the team’s purpose
• a mission/vision statement
• a memorandum of agreement
• a constitution
• a role and responsibility statement
• organisational plans – business and operational plans, in line with strategic plans; where does
the team fit in
• action plans to inform the direction of the team
1.1.3 Organisational plans
Operational and business plans define what is important to the business. What are the goals,
objectives, aims, and targets that the business wants and needs to achieve? What are the desired
outcomes? These plans are linked to the overall strategy of the organisation and need to inform the
plans at all levels of the organisation.
Team effectiveness occurs at all different levels of the organisation.
As a manager, determining your teams’ purpose, roles and responsibilities, and accountabilities ensures
the effectiveness of your team. Consider the following:
• Organisational plans – business and operational plans, in line with strategic plans; where does
the team fit in?
• Action plans to inform the direction of the team.
• A team charter to clearly define the overall purpose and individuals’ roles and responsibilities.
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• The expected outcomes of the team; democratically agree on objectives, and gain consensus.
• SMART key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance plans for team members.
• Plans which work alongside goals, objectives, aims, targets.
All plans for working effectively as a team should be agreed on, documented, and displayed for all team
members to see and use in their work. This process creates accountability for all members of the team
and reminds the team what they agreed to do to work effectively.
Displaying your goals, objectives, aims, and targets in your work area is an excellent way of reminding
and motivating your employees to continue working toward the desired outcome.
1.1.4 Teams and organisational fit
In most cases, teams do not just happen – they require structures, sub-systems, support, and
processes that encourage development. Team building occurs over time.
High-performing teams:
• Are able to take advantage of the collective and shared skills of members.
• Need time and resources to grow and develop.
• Require support from managers and organisational systems and processes.
• Should not be allowed to form counterproductive groups.
• Develop their own cultures to fit the organisational culture.
• Need an organisational culture to encourage and support team networks and
interdependence.
When building and developing teams and determining the role teams play in the organisation and how
they fit, consider the following:
• What needs to be changed? How and when can these changes be initiated?
• Do current systems support team activities?
• How will teams be sustained?
• Are the current hierarchical structures likely to impede team development?
• Do current recruitment and selection processes take the needs of teams and team development
into consideration?
According to Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy (2006), a team’s failure can often be traced to the moment it was
established. To establish a team, consider four key characteristics:
Task structure: Is there a clear picture of the team’s task? Is the task congruent with the overall
organisation’s mission and objectives? All team members need to be aware of what the team is aiming to
achieve and how well the team and individuals are performing.
Team boundaries: Do we have the correct number and composition of members? What competencies,
skills, and knowledge are necessary for the team to be effective? Do the team members have these
Task structure
Team
boundaries
Norms Leadership
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skills at the appropriate level, or do we need to provide training? Have we communicated the team
responsibilities and relationships?
Norms: Define a set of norms; these are acceptable team standards of behaviour. Norms establish the
team culture. Hold each other accountable to the norms.
Leadership: What climate has the leader established? Do the team members feel valued and
empowered? Are team members able to openly contribute ideas? Can team members question the
leader’s decisions?
Establishing a team – the steps
Characteristics Effective Needs attention
Task structure
Team boundaries
Norms
Leadership
Team cohesiveness
Communication
Organisational support
Diversity is the important factor in teams – plus the need for each of the positions or roles within the
team structure to be filled by the appropriate personnel.
High-performance organisations demonstrate team-based operations. Other characteristics of highperformance
organisations include:
• processes and systems are organised around cross-functional teams
• fewer levels of management
• flexibility
• policies that incentivise performance as a priority
• team goals link with organisational vision and goals
• customer focus as a priority.
1.2 Develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes,
outputs, key performance indicators (KPIs), and goals for work
teams
Hint
This content may help you with Assignment 1, Task 3.
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Once team membership is decided, the team must determine and agree on the goals or objectives they
hope to achieve, how they intend to do this, and how they will measure the outcomes. The team must
establish a performance plan.
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