An Exploration of Critical Success Factors for Effective Teamwork Productivity: The Case of the Instituto Técnico de Saúde 3119 Kalawenda

An Exploration of Critical Success Factors for Effective Teamwork Productivity: The Case of the Instituto Técnico de Saúde 3119 Kalawenda

Uma exploração dos factores críticos de sucesso para a produtividade efectiva do trabalho em equipa. Caso do Instituto Técnico de Saúde 3119 Kalawenda

Una exploración de los factores críticos de éxito para una productividad efectiva del trabajo en equipo. Caso del Instituto Técnico de Salud 3119 Kalawenda

In the current context, organizations work in teams with the main objective of improving productivity, dealing with crises and implementing innovations to maintain success in the market. Therefore, this article identified the critical success factors (CSFs), namely effective communication, leadership, culture of trust and collaboration, and performance evaluation that condition the effective productivity of teamwork. Taking ITSK as a case study, and using qualitative and quantitative approaches with the purpose of triangulating the data, the results show that only two of the four CSFs are practiced in teamwork at the institute, putting at risk the effective productivity of teamwork at the Institute.

No contexto actual as organizações trabalham em equipas com objectivo principal de melhorar a produtividade, lidar com crises e implementar inovações para manter o sucesso no mercado. Portanto este artigo identificou os factores críticos de sucesso (FCS) nomeadamente comunicação efectiva, liderança, cultura de confiança e colaboração, e avaliação de desempenho que condicionam a produtividade efectiva do trabalho em equipa. Tendo o ITSK como caso de estudo, e recorrendo as abordagens qualitativa e quantitativa com o propósito de triangular os dados, os resultados mostram que apenas dois dos quatro FCS são praticados no trabalho em equipa no instituto colocando em causa a produtividade efectiva do trabalho em equipa no Instituto.

Palavras-Chaves: Eficácia e Eficiência, Produtividade, Trabalho em equipa.

En el contexto actual, las organizaciones trabajan en equipos con el objetivo principal de mejorar la productividad, enfrentar las crisis e implementar innovaciones para mantener el éxito en el mercado. Por ello, este artículo identifica los factores críticos de éxito (FCE), a saber, la comunicación efectiva, el liderazgo, la cultura de confianza y colaboración y la evaluación del desempeño que condicionan la productividad efectiva del trabajo en equipo. Tomando el ITSK como caso de estudio, y utilizando enfoques cualitativos y cuantitativos con el propósito de triangular los datos, los resultados muestran que sólo dos de los cuatro FCS se practican en trabajo en equipo en el instituto, poniendo en duda la productividad efectiva del trabajo en equipo en el Instituto.

The vast literature on teamwork and effective productivity indicates the relevance of the subject to organizational life. Teams are a current demand of organizations to structure work, increase productivity, creativity and knowledge sharing.

Ayeni and Fakunle (2020) conducted a study on the topic in Ondó State, Nigeria, seeking to understand teamwork management and teacher productivity in secondary schools, which served as support for this research. The study revealed that teamwork management increases teacher productivity, however, the lack of qualified teachers makes it difficult to group teams by specialization and emphasize instructional strategy.

The behavior of work teams is directly related to organizational results, as organizational success depends on the ability of teams to collaborate and work efficiently to solve complex problems. Leaders are important figures in organizational decision-making. However, they need to identify internal and external factors of effective productivity.

The evolution of teamwork and productivity over time reflects not only changes in management practices and technology, but also social, economic and cultural transformations.

Furthermore, a well-defined strategy is one that involves employees and aligns with the organization's objectives, as performance provides quality in the actions carried out in a company to achieve the fulfillment of its functions.

In order for turnover and absenteeism levels to be lower in the organization, employees must be satisfied in the performance of their role, since employees with greater commitment achieve greater performance than employees who are not committed.

Nowadays, functional companies work in teams with the main objective of improving, dealing with crises and implementing innovations to keep the company current in the market.

Organizations can therefore invest in effective communication strategies and technologies to increase productivity levels in the workplace (Pertiangma, 2023)

The issue of effectiveness and efficiency in organizations is widely discussed. In the case of this study, the concern is to identify the lack of effective productivity in teamwork and how critical success factors increase productivity in teams in the case of the Technical Institute of Health 3119 Kalawenda.

When institutions observe endogenous and exogenous factors such as salary dissatisfaction, inefficient communication, lack of feedback, process inconsistency, lack of training, lack of innovative ideas and adequate technological support, this inhibits employee engagement and harms work productivity in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Consequently, there will be a negative impact on the organization's performance, so the above-mentioned factors must be overcome in order to use strategies to achieve team productivity.

Based on the above, the following research question arises: How do critical success factors increase the effective productivity of teamwork?

The general objective of this work is to understand how critical success factors increase the effective productivity of teamwork in an organization. Specifically, the aim is to explore in the literature the critical success factors that provide an increase in the effective productivity of teamwork; to describe the critical success factors identified in the literature, elucidating their role in providing effective productivity in teamwork; and to verify the existence and practice of these critical success factors in the institution under study to increase the effective productivity of teamwork.

Therefore, it is important to explore the critical success factors for effective teamwork productivity in order to help organizations overcome weaknesses and contribute to achieving their objectives, supporting the team in performing their functions and responsibilities and streamlining tasks.

In this direction, it is clear that the use of critical success factors is essential to provide an increase in effective productivity when it is applied effectively and efficiently within an organization because it helps to promote collaboration, in addition to improving the quality of services provided, it implements innovation through the creation of ideas, and leadership makes assertive decisions.

Liboreiro and Borges understand that teams are, "a current demand of organizations to structure work, increase productivity, creativity and share knowledge" (Santo et al. 2014 cited by Liboreiro & Borges, 2018, p. 6). Therefore, increasing productivity is one of the objectives of teamwork.

However, Ayeni and Fakunle (2018, p. 50) argue that productivity in an organization is "the ability to achieve objectives, fulfill activities, achieve goals (effectiveness) and perform tasks faster so that the organization obtains the desired result without wasting efforts (efficiency)". Therefore, the ability of an organization or individual to achieve the desired results efficiently and effectively is called effective productivity.

The literature points to the existence of a direct relationship between teamwork and effective productivity. When teams are well structured and managed, they can significantly increase the effective productivity of organizations, promote innovation, improve the quality of decisions and increase job satisfaction (Salas et al., 2015).

Team members improve their skills and knowledge when they work together, and their performance improves. This relationship generates innovative ideas, leadership makes assertive decisions, and employees are more satisfied with their work.

Productivity increases in the team's learning process and not only when there is a heavy workload that, when poorly executed, often affects the quality of production.

With the information age, organizations adopt effective strategies to increase productivity levels. However, the literature points to effective communication (Damaceno, 2018; Pertiangma, 2023), (Santana, 2022; Oyefusi, 2022), the culture of trust and collaboration (Chege, 2017; Bokaii, 2023), and performance evaluation (Fadare, 2023; Subotnik, 2019) as prominent and relevant factors in achieving organizational objectives, increasing productivity, and intensifying employee appreciation and commitment to meeting organizational goals.

The term communication is derived from the Latin word, (Communis), which means "to share" to make common. Consequently, this means that sharing would allow for participation and cooperation, hence it is a social activity. However, if there is no common understanding results from the transmission of symbols (verbal or non-verbal), there is no communication (Musheke & Phiri, 2021 p. 660).

As such, "communication is essential for building relationships and creating a positive work environment where individuals can work together to achieve common goals." Without effective communication, effective teamwork is impossible (Pertiangma, 2023 p. 6).

Pertiangma (2023) also states that effective communication makes the team unilateral because everyone will be on the same task alignment, thus achieving greater understanding among team members and improving productivity levels in the organization.

Thus, Chege (2017) shows that effective communication is the key to organizational achievement and one of the strategies for achieving organizational goals. On the other hand, upward or downward communication is a different style of communication.

There are two forms of communication that go from upper to lower management: downward communication and upward communication. Since oral and written communication must occur for a team to be productive (Bokaii, 2023 p.47). However, in organizations, communication can take different forms that vary according to the context.

Teamwork requires good communication among team members. It is essential that the outcome of the assigned task is spelled out in concrete duties that individuals are expected to perform and update each other through effective communication channels agreed upon by all team members. Communication gaps or failures, if any, should be corrected without delay (Sukiam, 2020).

However, Kunsch (2016, p.21) believes that formal channels "derive from the normative structure of the organization and through various vehicles established by the organization such as: printed, visual, auditory, among others".

Organizational communication also flows through the informal channel, since it is a system based on social relationships between people, which provides information to satisfy doubts and curiosities that are not clarified in the formal channel. In this sense, the informal channel supplements the formal channel. The formal and informal channels are supported by the formal and informal structures of the organization itself (Assunção, 2015).

Lack of effective communication is one of the main reasons that can lead to confusion and poor planning in many organizations. This is because communication is the source of information used by managers in making decisions that affect the performance of the organization. A manager's communication skills are vital not only in making decisions but also in conveying the results and intent of the decisions to others (Musheke & Phiri, 2021 p. 660). Based on the above, the first hypothesis of the work arises:

This is a topic that has been much talked about, discussed and debated in recent times. Among the concepts presented, one of them argues that leadership is the process of using influence without coercion to achieve the organization's objective (Martono et al 2020, p. 429).

Other definitions such as that of (Rost, 1991 cited by Krauter 2022, p.148), leadership can be defined as "a process through which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal".

A high-performance team is a team with efficient and effective leadership due to its results completed within the given time.

Leadership has a profound influence on team performance in terms of satisfaction, creation of new ideas, innovation, team cohesion, communication, conflict resolution, ethics, trust, etc. Therefore, it is essential that the organization discovers the leadership style that is most appropriate for its reality and works towards this, aiming to improve team and leadership performance, with a focus on fully achieving organizational results (Coelho & Sousa, 2021). Oyefusi (2022) shares the same idea and says that this influence that leadership exerts on team behavior will ensure that all members are incorporated and the capabilities of this same leadership used in decision-making can also generate motivation for the team.

According to Martono et al. (2020, p. 429) in organizational practice we find the following leadership styles:

Martono et al (2020) continues their approach on the different types of leadership showing that the interaction between leaders and employees also gives rise to the transactional, transformational and charismatic leadership style. Where transactional leadership addresses the interrelationship between leader and employee based on exchange and reward.

Oyefusi (2022) states that organizational leadership must invest in employee development and training to improve performance. This should be done through internal online training. Based on the above, the second hypothesis of the work arises:

H2: The higher the level of leadership effectiveness, the greater the impact on organizational productivity.

The concept of team trust arises when they believe in each other's competence and occupational skills (Sanyal & Hisam, 2018, p.17).

When it comes to working at your best, having a cohesive team that you can trust is crucial. People can express themselves freely and not fear retaliation in an atmosphere where they feel safe and trust each other. As a result, the more employees believe in the organization, the more successful they will be at their jobs. (Chege, 2017).

Successful teamwork depends on an organizational culture that values trust and collaboration. A culture of trust fosters teamwork, creativity, and commitment to team goals.

Pertiangma (2023) states that trust is essential to increase team efficiency. However, it is related to satisfaction and commitment, and has a positive effect on the company's productivity, increasing the competitive advantage in the quantity and quality of products, goods and services offered. However, employee commitment and retention are factors that have a significant impact on the effective productivity of an organization, as the more satisfied and committed the team is, the more likely employees are to remain.

In this line of thought, Sanyal and Hisam (2018) state that each person's behavioral beliefs and abilities to develop their skills and talents are strengthened through this confidence provided. On the other hand, each member must have confidence in the team so that they can work together. Based on the above, the third hypothesis of the work arises:

H3: The deeper the culture of trust and collaboration is rooted in horizontal and vertical relationships, the higher the level of effective organizational productivity.

For Idowu et al. (2020, p. 50) "a performance appraisal is a general and periodic organized procedure that evaluates the professional performance of an individual employee in relation to certain pre-established organizational standards and objectives".

Performance appraisals are often seen as a method to provide responses and rewards for performance achieved (Idowu et al., 2020, p. 50). Sanyal and Hisam (2018) also agree with the same idea, only adding that performance appraisal is also a way of measuring goals achieved and that they are directly linked to motivations.

Performance measures are the criteria used to measure the results of teamwork. They can also be understood as the evaluation process by their users. There are several ways to measure team performance, which can be observed by completing tasks and achieving objectives, as well as customer satisfaction, profit obtained, quality of services and products offered, and agreed deadlines (Coelho & Sousa, 2021).

For Coelho and Sousa (2021), team performance also comes from the use of effective evaluation methods. These evaluation methods can be traditional and modern.

Among the traditional ones, the following stand out: rating scale; employee comparisons; checklist; free-form essays; interviews; and critical incidents (Coelho & Sousa, 2021, p. 7).

In modern assessment methods, the authors Coelho and Sousa (2021, p. 7) describe "assessment centers; management by objectives; and human values accounting".

In each topic, points related to production are assessed; quality; knowledge of work; cooperation; individual characteristics; understanding of situations; creativity/ingenuity; ability to perform; causes, origin and reasons for certain performances; records of extreme characteristics that can lead to positive or negative results; idealized and achieved results, self-assessment (Coelho & Sousa, 2021 p. 7). Therefore, the authors emphasize that for each method, the organization must use the one that is effective and most appropriate for the organizational context found in order to increase team productivity. Based on the above, the fourth hypothesis of the work arises:

H4: Effective performance appraisal results in increased team productivity.

To achieve its objectives, the study adopted a mixed approach, that is, qualitative and quantitative, aiming at data triangulation.

Therefore, a mixed approach was used because it allows the combination of different instruments, data collection and analysis techniques to guarantee and strengthen the validity and reliability of the results, making them more meaningful and also to report in a way that translates the opinions and information collected into numbers to classify and analyze them.

The objective is to understand the general perception that the school's management managers have of teamwork in the school. The aim is to verify, through the responses of the top managers, whether the four critical success factors that constitute the theoretical framework of this study exist and are practiced in the institution's teamwork to provide an increase in effective productivity.

Two instruments are fundamentally used to collect data. These are a semi-structured interview using an interview guide for qualitative data and a questionnaire survey for quantitative data.

To analyze the data from the qualitative research, a combination of narrative analysis and discourse analysis was used. In the quantitative research, a univariate descriptive analysis was performed with calculation of absolute frequencies, aiming to determine the mode.

Once the steps, procedures and construction of the data collection instruments have been established, the instruments must be subjected to the validation processes and procedures. These are divided into two stages, the first being called a pre-test or pilot study (Coutinho, 2011), and the second being the internal consistency and reliability test (De Sousa, et al., 2017). The Cronbach's alpha test (70.5%) is used.

The study population consists of 84 employees of the Instituto Técnico De Saúde 3119 Kalawenda, all of whom are permanent employees, including one senior management person, constituting the sample in the qualitative research and 56 employees for the quantitative research, the size of which is determined through the online tool Survey Monkey (2024), assuming a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%. The results are presented in the tables to facilitate reading.

The semi-structured interview was conducted with the top manager of the Institute, providing all possible information, where she states that formal and informal communication facilitate the development of work and improve productivity, leadership provides the employee with good performance when it takes into account the need for continuous training in relation to tasks, the culture of trust and collaboration creates well-being and satisfaction in the entire work team, improving the organizational climate and performance evaluation contributes to the professional growth of employees, opening up opportunities to acquire new knowledge, develop skills and overcome challenges.

Through the survey, the sociodemographic data indicate that the research results were influenced by the male gender with a greater participation of 36 employees out of a total sample of 56. The predominant age group was between 36 and 45 years old, which recorded the highest frequency of 20 responses in its favor. 42 of the 56 respondents are graduates with a working time of between 4 and 5 years at the Institution.

Questions	Answer Highlight	Interpretation	Conclusion
a) Do you consider formal communication methods essential to make organizational communication effective?	"Yes, it is essential, because it facilitates the development of work and activities, improving productivity"	Without formal communication, there is no productivity because it is responsible for ensuring that information is transmitted in an objective manner, demonstrating the organization's responsibilities.	Formal means of communication is essential.
b) Do you consider informal communication essential to make organizational communication effective?	"Yes, I think it contributes. Because ideas and innovations can emerge from these groups, through the exchange of experiences and it can improve interpersonal relationships, as well as the work developed."	Being used frequently in the institution, informal communication also directly influences work productivity and improves effective organizational communication.	Informal communication is essential.
c) Do you consider the means of communication used within the organization to be adequate to make the organization's communication effective?	"Yes, the media used have helped to respond to the demands"	The means of communication used make the organization's communication active and efficient, promoting a greater flow of knowledge that helps to improve the organization's performance.	The means of communication used within the organization are adequate.

Questions	Answer Highlight	Interpretation	Conclusion
a) Is the transactional leadership style observed in the Institution?	"Yes, although it is done in a unidirectional way, there is also an openness to exchange ideas"	This style of leadership in the institution makes people proactive, knowledge generators and develops capabilities. The leader has the mission of guiding, attributing meaning to each person's potential, ensuring freedom and autonomy in carrying out tasks.	Leadership is practiced regularly.
b) Do you think that the transactional leadership style influences employee performance?	"Yes, it influences through continuous training and employee participation in decisions"	Transactional leadership ensures that employees perform well when it takes into account the need for continuous training in relation to the tasks to be performed, taking into account the opinions and autonomous development of employees' skills.	Leadership influences employee performance.
c) Do you think this leadership style influences teamwork within the institution?	"Influence in every sense, we work as a team and if a decision is made by the formal leader, the group suffers with this decision"	This leadership style encourages employees to give their best to the institution when they are transparent and open to sharing ideas. In this sense, it is clear that leadership values people by enhancing their capabilities.	Leadership influences teamwork within the institution.

Questions	Answer Highlight	Interpretation	Conclusion
a) How does the organization's management value the culture of trust and collaboration for teamwork within the organization?	"Respecting each employee's opinion and valuing them"	The organization values a culture of trust and collaboration, respecting the opinions of its employees. In this way, different points of view make employees feel valued and respected, making them feel part of the institution.	Respect for every opinion.
b) Within the organization, is there a culture of trust and collaboration among employees to promote teamwork?	"Yes, there is, after all, the contribution of each employee helps in the development of the organization"	The institution preserves the culture of trust and collaboration among employees, creating well-being and satisfaction throughout the work team, improving the organizational climate to increase productivity.	There is a culture of trust and collaboration.
c) How does the level of trust and collaboration increase effective productivity in the institution?	"It increases when we honor all commitments, promoting good conditions and satisfaction in the work performed"	In this case, valuing each employee facilitates the achievement of more productive, innovative and excellent results.	Honor commitments.

Questions	Answer Highlight	Interpretation	Conclusion
a) Does the performance evaluation provide the level of productivity of teamwork in the institution?	"Yes, because by evaluating employees you can improve the team by increasing productivity at all levels"	Performance evaluation contributes to the professional growth of employees by opening up opportunities to acquire new knowledge, develop skills and overcome challenges.	Affirmative.
b) Does the organization use appropriate performance appraisal methods to promote teamwork?	"Yes, we take into account attendance, active participation, team spirit, punctuality and responsibility"	Performance evaluation methods are used to measure the results of teamwork, promoting learning and growth among members.	Several criteria are used.
c) How does performance evaluation aim to reward teamwork productivity in the organization?	"Through evaluation and performance we correct all errors and improve the production capacity in the institution"	Performance evaluation is used to determine the level of productivity in teamwork by analyzing the results and the collaborative capacity to create rewards.	Correcting the errors.

The purpose here was to compare the results of the questionnaire surveys administered to employees with the results derived from the interview conducted with the Institution's top management. The analysis process sought only to determine whether there is convergence or divergence in the responses in order to provide a coherent discussion.

Critical Success Factors (CSF)	Interview Result	Survey Result	Convergence/Divergence Level	Conclusion
Effective Communication	Formal and informal communication channels facilitate the development of work, however existing means of communication respond to demand.	Communication is not effective because although essential means of communication are used, the informal channel in the organization is not always used.	There is a discrepancy between the responses from the interview and the survey.	The factor does not exist and is not practiced.
Leadership	Leadership influences teamwork through the involvement of employees in decision-making.	Leadership is not always used to influence teamwork within the organization.	There is a discrepancy between the responses from the interview and the survey.	The Factor does not exist and is not practiced
Culture of trust and collaboration	The organization values a culture of trust and collaboration, promoting conditions and satisfaction in teamwork.	The organization develops a culture of trust and collaboration among employees by promoting teamwork.	There is convergence between the responses from the interview and the survey	The Factor exists and is practiced
Performance evaluation	Performance appraisal improves the team and increases productivity by creating rewards.	The organization uses appropriate performance evaluation methods to promote teamwork productivity and promote rewards.	There is convergence between the responses from the interview and the survey.	The Factor exists and is practiced

Source: Prepared by the author based on the results of interviews and questionnaire surveys.

Effective communication: the divergence of responses between the interview with top management and the employee surveys does not allow us to demonstrate and affirm that the scope of effective communication increases effective productivity.

Leadership: the divergence in responses between the interview with top management and the employee surveys shows that it is not possible to demonstrate and state that the greater the level of leadership effectiveness, the greater the impact on organizational productivity.

Culture of trust and collaboration: the convergence of responses between the interview with the top manager and the surveys applied to employees proves that the deeper the culture of trust and collaboration is rooted in horizontal and vertical relationships, the higher the level of effective organizational productivity will be.

Performance evaluation: the convergence of responses between the top manager's interview and employee surveys ensures that effective performance evaluation results in increased team productivity.

In response to the initial question, the research results show that critical success factors have a positive effect on the increase in effective productivity of teamwork when they are effectively practiced.

For the institution under study, it is necessary to promote the two missing FCS. That is, to carry out actions that promote the use of informal channels to clarify doubts and involve employees in decision-making, and to ensure greater fluidity in the exercise of functions. To adopt a leadership style that inspires employees and encourages them to do their best for institutional development.

For future research, more research should be conducted in this area to effectively analyze the influence of critical success factors on the effective productivity of teamwork. Such studies should be explained based on a methodology that includes inferential statistics.

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The author of the article declares that there is no conflict of interest that affects the publication of the article.

The authorHe also contributed to the design, outline and bibliographic research, which enabled the development and review of the content for final approval of the version to be published.