5.7 Recognise progress achieved towards the team and personal work objectives

Course: NVQ Level 5 Diploma In Leadership & Management for Adult Care (RQF)

Unit 1: Leadership & Management in Adult Care

LO5: Manage team working

5.7 Recognise progress achieved towards the team and personal work objectives

Progress towards objectives can be assessed in a number of ways – through meeting goals, tracking data, or simply taking a look at what has been accomplished. It’s important to recognize progress made, both as an individual and as part of a team. This way, everyone can feel appreciated and motivated to continue working hard.

The first requirement of this assessment criterion is a task that echoes a team achievement. The second requirement entails an accomplishment that has been carried out by one individual or a small group.

The following methods will help you to mark the progress of your team or individual workload:

Individual/team feedback, supervision, and appraisal

Individual/team feedback enables every team member to track the progress of their work. This is vital for teams that are working remotely or are divided into sub-teams that report to each other only sporadically.

Supervision means team members can ask their managers for advice and guidance whenever they run into a problem or require help with something. It is important to have regular meetings where everyone can receive input on how they are doing.

An appraisal is useful if the objective will be achieved only when someone completes a complex assignment requiring expertise outside of your team’s abilities.

The above methods can be used to assess work progress and draw a conclusion about the team’s readiness for the next milestone or event on the project timeline. A review of what has been achieved so far will help your team plan ahead and find new ways to achieve better results.

Also, recognition is required after planning, before ongoing or closing projects. A recognition for past achievements lets the employees know you appreciate them and recognize their efforts.

Individual/team observations – formal and informal

In formal observations, team members are asked to perform a task in front of their managers or other key people from the project. The objective is to measure the level of skill and expertise each member possesses.

In informal observations, team members can be asked to carry out a task without being supervised by someone from the management. You can also organize group activities to give your team members the opportunity to show how they would work on a specific assignment.

The results of both formal and informal observations can be used to assess progress. If someone’s performance is not up-to-par, you will be able to come up with individual assistance plans or recommend training courses that will help your employees improve their skills.

Auditing processes and procedures

Auditing, also known as quality control, involves constant monitoring of the work process. This entails checking documentation and reports, verifying calculations, comparing data sets for inconsistencies, etc.

The results of your audits will help you answer the question of whether your team is ready to take on new challenges or if it needs more practice before moving on with the project.

Informal and formal inspection processes

Informal inspection is a one-on-one interaction between your employees and their managers, supervisors, or process owners. It serves as a way to mentor team members and helps them acquire new skills.

Formal inspection is used to assess individual performance, brainstorm ideas for improving existing processes, spot risks in the project scope, etc.

Inspections can take place at any stage in the project timeline and should not occur too frequently. If you repeatedly inspect your team to check how they are progressing, this might make them feel undervalued or create a culture of fear where employees will be afraid to take initiative or deviate from existing procedures if needed.

Feedback from those in receipt of care and support

Feedback from patients or clients is vital for any healthcare team. It can be included in regular project meetings and added to a customer satisfaction survey you ask your customers to fill out after the project has been completed.

A review of the feedback forms lets you find opportunities for further improvement and see which team members are providing customers with exceptional levels of service.