Sadly, Performance Management has got itself a bad reputation. Dreaded by those on the receiving end and considered an unproductive chore by the manager, the value and benefits have been lost. But there is another way and here are ten tips to help.
Talk to Your People Often
By building a great relationship with your people you will bring trust, honesty and information. This gives you a head start in Performance Management of your people.
Build Feedback In
On the job two-way feedback processes gets rid of the nasty surprises that gives Performance Management such a bad name. By building it in as a natural activity, you take the edge away.
Be Honest
By being frank and honest, which the preparation work in building a great relationship has afforded you, both parties treat each other with respect and see each other as working for everyone’s benefit.
Notice Great Performance
When you see good stuff, shout about it! Let people know. Celebrate successes and filter this into formal processes.
Have a System
Performance Management is a process and needs some formality – especially for good personnel practice and record. This need not be complicated, but it needs to be organised and have timescales. Performance management software is a great tool to help you streamline and optimize your processes.
Keep it Simple
But do keep it simple. If you have a relationship with your people that is strong anyway, you already know what they are about. Formal discussions can be friendly and simple, with formality kept to a minimum.
Be Very Positive
Celebrate great performance! Focus on what’s going well. It’s about successes and building on strengths, not spending ages on their weaknesses – that serves no-one. Go with the positives!
Achieve Their Needs
Remember that we all have needs that we want fulfilling. By working with your people to create outcomes that will do this, you will strengthen your relationships and channel effort in a constructive direction.
Tackle Discipline
Whilst it often happens, Performance Management is not about managing indiscipline. That has to be managed in a different way. By setting clear standards in your business that everyone understands and signs up to, discipline becomes much, much easier.
Learn from Mistakes
As part of regular on-the-job and informal review, mistakes will come to light; things will go wrong. By using the ‘What went well? And ‘What could you do differently?’ format, the unsatisfactory performance becomes controllable and a positive step.
Try these ten out, maybe not all together, but one at a time. Have fun! There are other benefits apart from just improving the performance of your people – can you spot them?
About the Author
© Martin Haworth. Martin is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders.
