gauge. As Dumaine (1994) points out, some argue that paying the team as a group is the way to go. However, as he then goes on to say, your best performers will feel cheated and not justly compensated. On the other end of the spectrum, Ray says "companies maintain their individual oriented pay programs, then wonder why teams fail," (1996,cited in McGarvey, 1996:80). So, the question is where should the balance be struck? Maybe Klein has found a solution. He suggests that, "devising reward schemes that meaningfully reward group performance without giving up the power of individual recognition and accountability," (Klein, 1995:38), is the way to go. Although this does not provide a crystal clear solution, it does however, act as a guide to help design reward systems. The most important fact to keep in mind though is that compensation should be based on both teamwork and individual work. Also of importance is evaluation of the team's performance, follow - up and continual support. A continual evaluation of how the team is going should be carried out. Here you should evaluate the work of individual members and also the work of the team. As Magee (1997:28) states, "incorporate both peer and supervisor evaluations." Through this evaluation, any inefficiencies or conflicts can be identified and worked on for improvement. Management should also continually follow - up on the team's progress and performance, and continue to support their teams in their work.To sum it all up, I will quote a passage from Magee's article that I believe greatly expresses the importance of teams in today's world of flatter and more flexible organisations. "Employees, not employers, really do make the world go round. More often than not, staffs have their fingers on the pulse of problems that management may not even be aware of or may have been trying endlessly to resolve. Because staffs often are so close to the problem, they also may be more capable of identifying t...
