Tracking Individual Input In A Team Project
Organizational structures differ within organizations. The complexity of an organization—irrespective of its size, may make it difficult to attach successes of a team to the right employee or employees.
Mostly, employees are grouped into teams and tasked with different projects. Each team is of course led by a team leader. If the organization is structured in a way where team leaders take the spotlight for every completed project, it may become unapparent which employee(s) made the most crucial move towards completion of the project.
In some organizations, most low level employees complain that middle level managers are lazy and take glory for the good work they (low level employees) do. Middle level managers are left inhibited in their relationships with their subordinate while executives sit in offices seven floors higher than middle manager floors, completely ignorant of the day to day relationships between their subordinates; and when it comes to recommendation for promotion, middle managers often recommend employees they like the most, not those who perform best. Hence, climb to the top in these organizations become smeared with bureaucracy, inefficiency, and mediocrity (all which will lead to an eventual collapse of the business).
Tips and tipping points for tracking individual input in a team project:
Openness: An organization should be structured in a way that encourages employees to be able to speak up when they have good ideas. This is seen in a lot of tech-firms. Operating an organization like this will help the key decision makers to quickly notice a prodigy or an employee with great value.
Reports: Project reports tracks “who did what and to what extent?” With project reports, even if the team leader seems to take the glory for team effort, key decision makers will know the team member that did well. They will also be able to track the efficiency of the leader.
Tests and Exams: Personal tests and exam reveal just how much an employee knows about his/her field of work. Tests and exams are especially important for employees in professional lines. It is imperative that employees keep themselves updated on matters important to their field of work—this way, they are valuable to self and to the company they work for. An employee that performs well in tests and exams might just be valuable than the ones who show low performance.
Recommendation: Even the most bias of employees knows the best performing colleague. Sometimes, as a top decision maker in a company, you may ask other employees to give recommendations on their colleagues and state the colleague who they feel has high performance. The questions can be created in the form of questionnaires and the questions must be specific enough. Below is an example.
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE EMPLOYEE (OTHER THAN YOURSELF) WHO YOU THINK PERFORMS BEST?
WHY? (GIVE DETAILED REASONS)
CAN YOU GIVE TWO SPECIFIC PROJECTS WHERE THIS EMPLOYEE SHOWED HIGH PERFORMANCE? (GIVE DETAILED AND SPECIFIC ANSWERS)
WHICH EMPLOYEE ISN’T A TEAM PLAYER?
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT WORK NICHE?
The questionnaire can take many forms. Questionnaires can be emailed to all low level managers to get a feel of who they think is more equipped to take on a promotion amongst middle level managers.
It should be noted that no questionnaire is ever answered objectively; however, the purpose of these sorts of exercise isn’t to get definite and objective answers but to get a sense of direction when trying to choose the best employee for promotion or more complicated tasks. Of course, exercises like these aren’t always necessary as some employees are apparently valuable and constantly productive.
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