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The phrase "measuring team performance" is often misunderstood. Dr. Allyn Hertzbach of the Federal Aviation Administration and Karen Lebing of OPM's Performance Management and Incentive Awards Division defined this terminology and presented options for using team measures in their session at OPM's National Performance Management Conference about "Measuring Team Performance."
Measuring team-related performance can be approached in at least four ways. Two of those approaches measure performance at the individual level and two measure performance at the team level.
Individual Level: An Individual's Contribution to the Team. Individual Behavior. Employees can be measured on how well they work with team members. Examples of these types of measures could include the degree to which: the employee participates in team meetings; the employee volunteers for team projects; the employee communicates with members in a constructive and non-threatening manner; other members find that the employee is pleasant to work with and fosters cooperation.
Individual Results. Employee work products that contribute to the final team product or service can be assessed and verified. Examples of these types of measures could include error rates, the timeliness of the product, the number of suggestions made, or the accuracy of the data provided.
Team Level: Measuring the Team's Performance. The Team's Processes. The team can be measured on its internal group dynamics. These types of measures could address: how well the team works together as a group; the effectiveness of team meetings; the ability of the team to reach consensus; and the team's problem-solving techniques.
The Team's Results. The team can be measured on its work results or products. These types of measures could include: the number of cases completed; the use, acceptance, and understandability of the team's final report; the number of customer requests for the team's report; the subscription rate of the team's newsletter.
These types of measures can be applied with the three types of performance elements that can be used in the performance appraisal process.
In summary, session attendees learned about four ways of measuring team performance and found ways to incorporate team elements and measures into performance appraisal programs.
Contribution | Behaviors/Process | Results |
---|---|---|
Individual Level: An Employee's Contribution to the Team | The employee: cooperates with team members, communicates ideas during meetings, participates in the team's decision-making processes. | The number of ideas contributed by the employee, the turn-around time for the individual's product, the accuracy of data supplied to the team. |
Team Level: The Team's Performance | The team: runs effective meetings, communicates well as a group, allows all opinions to be heard, comes to consensus on decisions. | Customer satisfaction with the team product, the number of cases the team completed, the cycle time for the team's entire work process. |
Originally published on October 1995
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