Management Training – Page 8 – STL

Quick Recap

In Assessing Performance, we stressed the importance of ‘Managing by Walking Around.’ In other words, taking the time to observe what your team is doing on a daily basis if they are in the office, and checking in if they are working remotely. If you have a quick chat with every member of your team first thing in the morning, you can rest assured that they know what they are doing, and you can leave them to it and get on with your own work.

This is not micro-managing. It is a quick check to see how they are generally, ask if they need your help with anything, or if there is anything that might prevent them completing tasks. It gives you the opportunity to provide encouragement, motivation and feedback, and also address any issues before they become a problem. In addition, you are able to maintain a clear picture of how your team is tracking against goals.

Performance Reviews

Performance Reviews are more formal. We usually conduct them either quarterly or upon completion of projects or goals. As the word ‘review’ suggests, it is a look back at what was done and achieved. This is the time to discuss what the team member did, what they learned and what they might do differently next time. You can also identify further development needs and set new goals and expectations going forward.

There should be no surprises in a Performance Review as the team member will have received ongoing feedback over the review period.

What is the difference between a Performance Review and an Annual Appraisal?

There is often confusion between the two terms and many companies call any kind of review an appraisal and vice versa.

However they do serve different purposes. As already mentioned, a Performance Review looks back at what has been achieved and learned over a short period or a project. They focus on performance and development needs.

Annual Appraisals are separate from Performance Reviews. Appraisals are really there to inform HR and help them prepare budgets for training, workforce planning, compensation and benefits and job evaluation. Therefore, the focus is on having an open discussion, looking forward in terms of career aspirations, promotion, salary increases and training plans.

There should be a positive outcome from an appraisal; a change to the employee’s role that improves the situation both for them and the organisation. Employees should go away from the appraisal meeting feeling good about themselves and involved in their own development.’

The Secret to Sales Influence

Assessing Performance – targets

Before we dive into assessing performance against targets, a quick reminder of part 1:

In the first blog in this series of 4 – Setting Expectations for Performance, we looked at how expectations can be broad. With that said, we can break them down into two broad categories:

Measurable Results and Targets – what do employees need to produce? And how much do they need to do?
Observable Actions & Behaviours – what good looks like and how people are expected to behave.

targets

Measurable results and targets are easy to assess as they are quantifiable. The more difficult aspect to assess is why haven’t we met the targets or goals?

When need to set specific and realistic targets, with a clear timeline so that people know exactly what they have to achieve. We need to break down larger targets, with longer deadlines, into manageable chunks. The key to success is to monitor progress closely and address any deviances quickly.

People do not always hit their targets.

There can be several factors:

Lack of skill, knowledge, or experience.
Lack of resources.
Internal or external influences over which you have little control.
Lack of will, motivation or engagement.

We can address all of these factors through continuous review, communication, and coaching.

Behaviours, however, are not so straight forward to assess unless expectations have been clearly defined and communicated.

The best way to assess behaviour is through observation and gathering evidence. The evidence needs to be objective and specific.

Your team may agree that in order to Communicate Effectively, everyone needs to demonstrate the following behaviours as standard:

Be respectful and polite to all.
Present information clearly, concisely, and logically.
Ask questions to ensure understanding!
Listen attentively and don’t interrupt!
Keep relevant people informed and up to date!
Adapt your communication style to suit the audience.

Through observation you may find that a team member didn’t ask questions in a meeting. Subsequently, they went on to make assumptions that took time to correct. Rather than only focusing on the mistakes that need to be corrected, it is important to discuss and address the reasons for the behaviour that caused the problem in the first place. This is more likely to prevent the situation from happening again.

In conclusion

Performance assessment is a continuous process, not something we only do at review or appraisal time. The best managers manage by walking around. In other words they are observing what people are doing on a daily basis, gathering evidence, both good and bad, and acting on it immediately.

If you want to know more about this topic, take a look at our Team Performance Management course.

In part 3 of blog in this series on Performance Management, we will look at Performance Reviews and how to get the most out of them.

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