Simple Truths about Performance

Simple Truths about Performance

1.       People who produce good results feel good about themselves. It’s hard to keep up good morale and have people feel satisfied if the results they are getting aren’t making a difference. Both people and results are important. Overemphasizing either one  can cause problems.

2.     To help people perform well, an effective performance management system (leadership coaching) must be established. This consists of three phases:

• The first phase is “performance planning” where goals, objectives and performance standards are established.
• The second part is “execution” where the leader observes and monitors performance praising progress and re-directing where necessary.
• The third part of this system is review and learning where you sit down with people at the end of a period of time (not less than quarterly) and review their performance. Leaders give appropriate direction (goal-oriented) and support (person-oriented) to help people win.

3.     The performance management system begins with the answer to the question: What are this person’s major responsibilities? Then, the first part of this system is to focus on three to five SMART goals the person is expected to accomplish, that are most critical to their job performance. For each area, the individual needs to come up with specific standards of what good performance looks like—not qualities like creativity and initiative, but the results, on the ground, that those qualities would produce in the “real world” performance of the individual. For example, in terms of creativity, the goal might be to develop, test and implement four new questions that introduce evangelistic conversations.

4.     The biggest impact on member performance comes from regular (periodic) coaching and encouragement on each goal, in person, via telephone, or Skype. The biggest problem with most goal-setting is that once the goals are written, they are set aside and not referred to again until the time for performance evaluation. The team or field leader must re-visit the goals with each person on (at least) a monthly basis. Periodic coaching conversations should be based on the model of Situational Leadership®. (Note: a video training program on Situational Training is available for use in upgrading leaders and members skills in this area.) Situational Leadership requires three skills:

a.      Diagnosis of the appropriate “development level” the individual is at in terms of this specific performance goal. Very important note: Development level varies from goal to goal, and from task to task.

                    i.            Enthusiastic Beginner (D1): Low competence, high commitment: excited but will little knowledge or experience

                 ii.            Disillusioned Learner (D2): some competence, low commitment: learning is tough, discouragement has set in.

               iii.            Capable, but Cautious Performer (D3): moderate to high competence with variable commitment; knows how, but lacks confidence.

                iv.             Self-Reliant Achiever (D4): high competence, high commitment: confident and motivated to perform with minimal supervision.

b.    Flexibility. The leader does not have a “one size fits all” approach to developing individuals, but seeks to supply what each person needs (direction or support). The leader varies their leadership style (S1-S4) as the member moves from D1 to D4 in a particular performance area.

                  i.            Directing (S1): High direction and low supportive behavior

                ii.            Coaching (S2): High direction and high supporting behavior

             iii.            Supporting (S3): Low directive and high supportive behavior

              iv.            Delegating (S4): Low directive and low supportive behavior

c.     Partnering for Performance. In the leader’s periodic meetings with the member, they review the goals and performance to date. Then, together, they agree on the level of direction and support that is needed for each goal they are currently pursuing. 

5.     Trust is the key to effective coaching. One of the most powerful results of this approach to performance management is that people trust their leaders because they see them as their performance partners. When leaders do not intentionally create a climate of trust, people:

• Question decisions.
• Have morale problems.
• Fail to fully participate.
• Avoid taking creative risks, and ultimately leave the organization.

6.  The key to developing people is to catch them doing something right. It’s the contemporary version of the old 1930’s song: Accentuate the Positive. In performance-management terms: “catch people doing something right.”

7.  Don’t wait until people are consistently performing perfectly, but praise the glimmer of progress as soon as you become aware of it. However, if people are not performing in harmony with your ministry standards you need to provide redirection.

a.  Redirection should be given as soon as you are aware of the failure to meet the performance standard. Don’t wait for the next meeting.

b.  Explain specifically what went wrong, as well as the impact the behavior is having on the team’s performance.

c.  If it is appropriate, the leader should take the responsibility for the lapse, “maybe I didn’t make it clear how we expect to handle this situation on our team…”

d.  Reiterate the importance of the task, “…tracking our progress is important so we can make any corrections in the way we are doing things as soon as possible…” That way we don’t have surprises at the end of the quarter.

e.  Reassure the person that you have confidence in their ability to make many positive contributions to the team, and are glad they are with you.

8.  We use redirection with people who are learning to perform on the job. But how do we deal with performance lapses for people who are experienced achievers? We can reprimand them with caring candor. Redirection is for “can’t do” skill problems, while reprimands are for “won’t do” attitude problems.

a.  The reprimand should be delivered in a timely manner, as soon as the poor performance is detected, never saved for an “annual review.”

b.  It should be specific. “You failed to complete and turn in your report on time.”

c.  (After exploring reasons for the misbehavior) Share your feelings about the lapse: “I’m frustrated/disappointed/surprised/etc. … because it meant I was unable to …”

d.  “The reason I’m upset is because this is so unlike you… You are one of my best people, etc. …”

9.  In this system, people only complete one annual performance review: their own. This review is of the coaching feedback they received throughout the year and how they have responded to the issues discussed. If there is any disagreement on the evaluation, they go back to their agreement at the beginning of the year about what they would accomplish. If someone’s performance is unsatisfactory at this point, there should be major career planning about what assignments would be appropriate, including re-training or even a career change.

10. Effective leadership is a journey from self-leadership to one-to-one leadership, then team leadership and on to organizational leadership. Every leader develops a leadership philosophy, a leadership-point-of-view, that answers questions like:

• Where do my beliefs about leadership come from?
• Who were the leadership models (good and bad) in my life?
• What is my life/ministry purpose?
• What are my operating values?
• What principles guide my leadership actions?        

     One responsibility of organizational leadership is to share (reproduce) that leadership-point-of-view with each person they are responsible to lead. That is how World Team missionaries will inevitably establish reproducing movements of reproducing churches filled with reproducing believers.

11. Servant leadership is practiced in two aspects: vision/direction and implementation.

a.  Vision/direction is the leadership part of servant leadership. It consists of three major aspects

i.   Your mission: what business are you in? Where are you going?

ii.  Your vision: your picture of the future what it look like when you succeed.

iii.   Your values: what you stand for, the enduring principles that you will use to make operational decisions.

2. Implementation is the servant part of servant leadership. Once the leaders have established an overall vision and direction, the members of the organization carry out the day-to-day activities by responding to those they minister to, training and developing them to accomplish their own goals and live according to their vision and values.

12 Celebrate success. Celebrate the good stories in your organization. Celebrate what God is doing, how He is accomplishing His purposes to bring those from “every people, language, tribe and nation” and using us to populate that celebration.

Adapted from Helping People Win at Work by Ken Blanchard and Garry Ridge