Groups Key to Achieving Organization Goals: Maximizing Potential Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

To effectively achieve the goals of an organization, effective groups are very critical. The managers of an organization strive to ensure that every group performance is optimal (Jones & George, 2008). This is referred to as potential performance. The potential performance is essential as it reflects the capabilities of workgroups. The drawback of potential performance, however, is that it is difficult to measure before in advance and the conditions influence its effectiveness. If the conditions for a group changes, then the potential performance changes.

To ensure that groups remain effective despite the change in conditions, organizations should increase the potential or expected levels of performance (Jones, & George, 2008). Sometimes managers can underestimate the capabilities of groups hence the reason why they should always encourage the employees to increase their potential performance. Managers must team up with the employees to ensure that the gap between the actual performance and potential performance is minimized. In several situations, however, the actual performance is less than the potential performance, which is a disadvantage to the organization because the objectives are not achieved. In a retail outlet which can be operated by two attendants, for example, they may fail to efficiently attend to the customers by making them wait for long before they are served.

Process Losses

Process losses occur when the necessary actions aimed at realizing optimum performance are not executed (Jones & George, 2008). When, for example, a group is not well-coordinated, and motivated process losses are bound to occur. In a manufacturing company, for instance, the process is divided into several tasks, and each task is allocated to one or several group members. The end product, however, depends on the efforts made by each employee involved in the process. Additionally, if an individual in a group performs a task slowly, the others must rush to ensure they work as per the schedule to avoid losses that occur as a result of product delays.

For a company to experience optimal performance, there must be motivation and coordination among the group members (Jones, & George, 2008). When the staff is not motivated, they neglect their responsibilities, and the result is low-quality services or products. Process losses cost the organization a lot and should be avoided by ensuring there is coordination which can be achieved when both employees in a group and managers work as a team.

Process Gains

Eliminating process losses is not enough in achieving the objectives of an organization so managers should as well work towards increasing the process gains. Process gains refer to a rise in the potential performance arises when the managers come up with new and effective ways of motivating and fostering coordination among the members of a group (Jones, & George, 2008). Motivation and coordination help by promoting an environment where employees are committed towards their work, so they are ready to provide solutions for various problems. In the retail store, for example, the manager can motivate the employees so that they can come up with ways of improving sales.

The motivation, for example, can be achieved by rewarding the group, which helps to increase the sales (Jones, & George, 2008). Managers can also encourage employees to be creative and innovative. The managers should also encourage employees to risks. Additionally, the managers should emphasize the need for coordination of group members. When the employees and managers work as a team, the overall performance improves.

References

Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2008). Understanding and managing organizational behavior. Pearson Prentice Hall.