Paul Dorf, Managing Director, Compensation Resources, Inc. knows the arguments well, and with qualification-agrees with them.

"Management in general is constantly looking for the holy grail and the silver bullet... something that will solve all the problems. But there is no one-stop answer. The team approach has been around for along time. Of all the approaches that have come a long, it probably makes the most sense.

"One of the things that drives a team is group dynamics. We know that in-group dynamics team members will tend to support one another and pull together unless they feel someone is not doing his job. Then, the team will try to get rid of him. Picture a sweep-oar towing team with, say, six rowers and coxswain. If one rower fails to do his part, the boat will lose power and veer to the left or right of the finish line. It's the job of the coxswain (manager) to train, motivate, orchestrate, and-yes-discipline the team to keep it on course. Note, too, that the rowers have their backs to the goal; hence, the manager must provide direction."

Dorf says that team members need to have a clear understanding of the goal and the individual performance standards required to accomplish it. They also need to have the necessary tools. "It's fine for managers to develop a plan with a goal and performance standards, but too often these critical elements are not adequately explained to team members."

"Let's talk about eating pie. If an eight-member team achieves its goal, should each get a piece of pie of the same size? Some would say yes, 'because, gee whiz, we're a team and we did it together.' The reality is that people contribute at different levels, depending on motivation, skill, personality, experience, intelligence, etc. Consequently, a compensation plan must take into account these individual differences."

"The key is a performance evaluation system that is fair and comprehensive ...a system that recognizes individual effort and accomplishment. Launching a team-based approach without a well-timed performance evaluation system is akin to putting new tires on a car without checking the alignment and shock absorbers. You maybe able to drive it for awhile, but problems are just around the bend."

Some development officers believe that the annual merit increase is a good time to determine whether each team member's individual reward should be larger or smaller than that of colleagues, based on his performance evaluation score. In other words, the team gets a reward for the overall success of the program (a uniform annual merit increase), but-in addition--each team member is rewarded (or not rewarded) individually according to his level of performance.