Performance Management = Count the Hours Worked? Or the Results Produced?

What is “performance management”? Tracking how many hours people are at work? Or tracking the results they produce? Hmmm. It’s easier to watch the clock than do the real work of managing performance.

The New World of Management

We used to think people should “just do their jobs”. That day is pretty much gone. Now that we need to reinvent the job – often, and sometimes every day – we’d better get really good at productive communication.

The Missing Piece in Managing for Results: Know Your CRABs (no, not that kind!)

We specify our work goals, and our intended results, and (sometimes) remember to give solid deadlines. But we often forget an important piece of our work specifications: the collaborators, resource-providers, authorities, and beneficiaries of our productive work.

Create Certainty for Yourself and Others – Start Saying “By When”

Specifying “by when” you’ll get back to someone is an easy way to give people confidence in you. You may have to check your calendar to do that, but it’s a small task that benefits you as well as the people around you.

Training for Accountability: First Things First

On-the-job training should focus first on what people will be accountable for producing and/or delivering. You can add the secondary matters of importance after they are clear about what counts most.

Servant Leadership vs. Management

A friend asked me about “servant leadership”. So I looked it up. No thanks. I’ll stick with managing agreements and engaging people in accomplishing our goals and projects.

Why Do Some Managers Ignore Poor Performance?

The work of managing performance is simple and specific. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to make time for that work, or that it is the most fun part of a Manager’s job. But it IS part of the job.

Stop Managing People, Step 2. Reconsider Those 1:1 Meetings

Private conversations are useful in the workplace for some things, like hiring or re-positioning someone. But performance conversations – agreements for what people will deliver – are best done by the group. It builds teams, increases integrity, and improves “delivery performance”.

Stop Managing People, Step 1

People pay attention to people – and make lots of assessments and judgments. That’s natural. But it maybe not the best way for a manager to support high performance or reach an organization’s goals.

Emotional Intelligence and Workplace Performance (Two Very Different Things)

Workplace performance sometimes needs to be addressed more specifically, to clarify what you really want people to produce. Separating performance from personality might create the space for greater understanding of what performance means in your particular workplace.