Only rewarding individuals hurts teams. We offer guidance on how enterprises can make their performance management systems more meaningful for teams. Increasingly, performance management systems that fail to capture an individual's contributions and the contributions of teams will be a barrier to successful teams. They are usually developed with individuals in mind. It is difficult to measure team performance, because the contributions of members of cross-functional teams are not always easily quantified.
Different teams require different appraisal systems.
Such performance management systems are designed to measure the individual's performance, as well as his or her dedication to customer service and contribution to the enterprise's overall success. Still, performance management for teams confounds many IT managers. They are often unsure of where to draw the line between team accountability and individual responsibility, and how to reward individuals who work largely on teams. The following guidelines can help enterprises devise a performance management system that is meaningful for teams. Mutual accountability does not displace individual accountability.