Evaluation

Periodic evaluation is essential if the team is to know whether it is functioning effectively and being properly maintained. One method of evaluating team function and maintenance is to get regular feedback from team members. Members must be honestly but constructively critical of the team's performance if the team is to survive and thrive. This self-analysis can take place at regular meetings, during specially scheduled meetings, or even during a team retreat designed expressly for evaluation and renewal of purpose. A questionnaire can be prepared and submitted if team members sense a need for anonymity.

Although this self-analysis is important, there is always a danger that the team will not view itself objectively. Evaluation of the team by victims, their families, outside agencies, members of the general community, and agency managers or supervisors is critical to proper team development and as a matter of attention to constituents. The team should develop a method of regularly soliciting, collecting, and analyzing input from these sources. This process need not be elaborate or expensive. What is important is that the team see itself as others see it. If others see a need for change in a particular area, the team should give serious consideration to the suggestion without, however, subordinating its mission to public opinion or public pressure.