Managing Individual Performance

Managing Individual Performance
This author participated in a simulation questionnaire on selecting team members, keeping the team motivated, and reducing conflict. The simulation goal was to implement an addiction resource program. This paper will inform the reader of the author?s process for team selection, motivation strategies, and knowledge gained from the simulation.
Team Selection Criteria
Composing a team with the appropriate knowledge and skills is essential for team performance (Stewart & Barrick, 2000). Leaders and managers who are involved in the selection process of team members chose individuals who have knowledge and skills that they believe would be beneficial to the team (Stewart & Barrick). Managers select team members based on criterion such as communication skills, current workplace assignments and availability, prospective team member interest in belonging to the team, and if they have explicit and tacit knowledge that could add to the team (McShane & Von Glinow, 2005). Recent studies support the idea that team selection criteria should also include personality such as neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (Quigley, 2003).
Simulation Team Selection
The team selected in the simulation by this author included team members Nicola Minelli, Lisa Stafford, Michelle Levy, and Daniel Nichols. The first step, collecting case files, required someone with analytical, communication, and investigative skills. I selected Nicola because of her strong analytical skills, ability to focus on core issues, and quite nature that eases people. The next step, moderating self-help groups, required someone to arrange and facilitate meetings, handle conflict, build records, and patience in stressful situations. I selected Lisa for her communication and quick thinking skills, which would be beneficial in groups meetings, her ability to connect issues and analyze situations, and her comfort and previous experience with groups. The third step, performing follow-ups, required monitoring participants in various environments, which required observation skills and the ability to interpret, report, and validate data. Michelle, chosen because for her practical, logical, and analytical skills in identifying problems, also possess natural problem solving skills that would be helpful in recognizing relapse factors. The final step, supervise confrontation sessions, required an individual to handle relapsed victim sessions, which included analyzing reasons and situations for relapse and help victims handle stress. Skills included strong personality, ability to motivate, discipline, and communicate, build mutual respect, and help with personal situations. Daniel?s extroverted personality, experience as a production manager and ability to motivate teams, and his personable nature to help resolve personal problems made him the logical choice for this position.
Team Management Factors
The factors that needed managing for team effectiveness included job-fit, needs-based theory of motivation and interventions, and leadership theories. According to McShane and Von Glinow (2005), matching an individual with a particular team role achieves optimal person-job fit. The success of a project is completely dependent on the kind of volunteer selected for the task. Understanding motivational theories provides the manager with knowledge on which motivational intervention to use because team members are motivated for different reasons. While one member prefers monetary motivation, another prefers public recognition, another may prefer extra duties, and in some cases, the threat of punishment motivates. Understanding leadership theory enables the manager to apply appropriate resources, involvement, and support the team needs. In this simulation, the self-managing work team influence appears to come less from power in the role and more from the manager?s ability to persuade members to talk, listen, and accept advice (Druskat & Wheeler, (2003).
Individual Personality and Success of Team
Personality traits are associated to behavior, which is a response to a situation or repeated situations that result in habits (Quigley, 2003). Habits become characteristics that lead to development of traits (Quigley). Success of a team is dependent on individual?s personality traits. Understanding, knowing, and recognizing individual personality traits achieve optimal person-job fit. Individuals with extraversion personality are likely to have competencies such as motivating others and peer relationships. An agreeable personality would most likely have competencies such as approachability and compassion. One who is conscientiousness would probably be action oriented and have planning competencies, while a person who has Openness to Experience would most likely have creativity and strategic agility as competencies (Quigley).
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality inventory to identify how individuals perceive and process information and is an extension to Carl Jung?s personality theory (McShane & Von Glinow, 2005). Myers-Briggs generated four scales, Extroversion?Introversion, Sensing?Intuition, Thinking?Feeling, and Judging?Perceiving. Extraverts relate easily to the outer world of people and things while Introverts? interests are in the inner world of concepts and ideas. Sensing and Intuition are ways of perceiving; Sensing through the five senses and ??known facts?? while Intuition is more ??unconscious?? looking for possibilities and relationships. Thinking stresses logic and impersonal processes and Feeling based on personal values and judgments. Judging types show preferences for a planned, decided, orderly way of life while the Perceiving type prefers a flexible, spontaneous way of life (Furnham, Dissou, Sloan, & Chamorrow-Premuzic, 2007).
Maslow?s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow?s Hierarchy of Needs includes physiological, safety, social or affiliation, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Physiological needs are the basic human needs food, clothing, and shelter. Safety or security represents the need to be free of fear of physical danger, the need to be free of deprivation of basic physiological needs. Belonging to and being accepted by various groups characterize social or affiliation need. The need for self-esteem produces feelings of self-confidence, prestige, power, and control. Self-actualization represents the need to maximize one's potential and to become what one is capable of becoming (Gambrel & Cianci, (2003).
Motivation theory is not synonymous with behavior theory. While behavior is usually motivated, behavior is also biologically, culturally, and situationally determined as well (Green, 2000). Within the motivational process any behavior tends to be determined by several or all of the basic needs simultaneously rather than by only one of them. One or more needs cease to play an active determining or organizing role as soon as they are gratified.
Team Members Placement on Maslow?s Hierarchy
Nicola is at the social or affiliation stage due to her need to fit in. She required motivation strategies of counseling support and additional responsibilities to reaffirm her feeling of belongingness. Lisa placed at the self-esteem stage because of her need for prestige and power. Motivational strategy was helping her to realign her work schedule and priorities so she could meet her work and volunteer goals, which increases her self-confidence. Michelle and Daniel both place at the self-actualization stage. Both have self-confidence and esteem and seek their maximum potential. Strategies used for Michelle and Daniel included performance incentives, providing task-related training, and bringing the team and volunteers together so they can witness their success.
Team Members Performance
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Maslow?s Hierarchy of Needs was used to select and match each team member to a particular volunteer role. Initial morale and job-fit for the team indicated high level. During the course of the simulation, motivational strategies were implemented to maintain morale and increase productivity to ensure completion on time. The result was a moderately motivated team.
Motivation Strategies
Motivational factors used included communication, counseling, redirecting clarifying goals, rewards, and responsibilities. The simulation required communication throughout. Counseling one team member helped her deal with personal feelings related to the project. Another team member required redirection and goal clarification to motivate her in the right direction. The other two members required additional responsibilities to help meet their motivational needs. All members required rewards and performance incentives to maintain motivation.
Simulation Results Improvement
Improvements noted after I repeated the simulation was the overall morale of the team. The first run I provided motivation throughout but managed to demotivate the team at the very end. Rerunning the simulation the second time after understanding MBTI and Maslow?s Needs, afforded me the opportunity to meet the team?s overall needs at the end of the project.
Simulation Learning Influence in Workplace
From this simulation, I learned that even when working with teams, each individual person has different levels of needs and this difference requires different motivational strategies. I work predominately in teams in my workplace. This simulation has provided me with the knowledge and resources to assess individual team member needs and strategies to use to keep the team motivated.
Formation and success of teams require considerable thought, assessment, and motivation to maintain. Successful organizations understand that pairing the right person with the right job based on his or her current Needs of Hierarchy and MBTI will result in diverse and highly productive teams.

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