Evaluating Team Member Effectiveness

Evaluating Team Member Effectiveness

Andrew Lawrence

MGT 312

11/07/16

GERALD TRAMPOSH

 Evaluating Team Member Effectiveness

Assessing and evaluating weaknesses and strengths when it comes to how people function on teams is important in determining whether or not they are an effective team member. In this paper, we discuss the importance of working effectively on a team, how to go about identifying weaknesses and strengths one might possess while working on a team, address the common trap of social loafing in a team setting, and discuss the development of groups and how team members can influence the development of the group.

Understanding how people function as a team is important in order to capture the best results, and we can get a better grasp of this if we first understand ourselves and how we personally function as a team member. We can accomplish this by taking a self-assessment that measures how we contribute to the team’s work, how we interact with teammates, how we keep the team on track, how we expect quality, and how we might have relevant knowledge, skills and abilities. The higher one scores in any of these attributes the better they function as a team member. My score on this assessment was 94 out of 105 and rated me as a highly effective team member.  By understanding how I can improve as a teammate, I can begin to improve my skills and focus on my weaknesses as they are identified. Being a productive team member is important not only to school work but also in work place settings. The skills that one can gain from being an effective team member are very valuable and often sought out by employers.

My highest rated strength when working on a team was identified as contributing to the team’s work. I see this as an extremely positive strength that provides a great asset to any team. I like to feel that I am productive and valued by my teammates when I produce good work. Knowing this about myself I was not shocked when the assessment rated me highly in this attribute. My weakness, when compared to the other attribute’s scores, was my ability to keep the team on track. I see this as an area of needed growth and it also was not a surprise to me. I feel that teammates should be responsible to each other and should be obligated to complete work in timely manner and help others when needed. I often get frustrated when this does not happen, especially when I encounter others that might be loafing or are not productive for the group. Unfortunately, social loafing is a common trap many people fall into.

Social loafing is almost always present in groups or teams. Social loafing refers to the concept that people are prone to exert less effort on a task if they are in a group versus when they work alone. Social loafing has negative consequences for both the group and the individuals in the group as the group dynamic is affected when certain individuals are seen as weak contributors to the group purpose. It tends to split the group and fosters a lack of cohesion. For example, if only five of the eight members of a team are doing most of the work, it will often create an 'in' group (those members that are working hard) and an 'out' group (those members that are not contributing as much). Resentment can easily build between the two factions, causing less productivity and more emotional tension than a cohesive group would experience (Study.com, 2016). My personal experiences have led me to avoid social loafing because of reasoning described above. I feel a sense of personal responsibility to perform my best for the team and I let my distaste for loafers motivate me to deliver.