How Performance Management Is About Managing Expectations
“Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance,” said management guru Peter Drucker. “This is what organization is all about, and it is the reason that management is the critical determining factor.”
Two of the most challenging parts of project management are defining employee roles within a team and then the performance management that goes into evaluating those roles. Here, in part one of this two-part series, we offer concrete management techniques to create a trusting work environment based on clarity and teamwork.
Key to effective performance management: Define, delegate, expect
We like to talk about thinking outside the box in the workplace, but even that’s kind of hard if you don’t know where the box walls begin and end. It is your job as manager to make sure that your business has a defined direction.
But just because you assure that direction is defined, it doesn’t mean you have to be the one defining it. One way to empower teams is to self-organize, which involves management working to empower and engage colleagues through trust.
The seven levels of delegation are:
- Tell—Manager makes the decision.
- Sell—Manager convinces people it’s the right decision.
- Consult—You consult after the fact.
- Agree—A group consensus is met.
- Advise—You offer advice, but let others decide.
- Inquire—Your team informs you after the fact.
- Delegate—Others decide. You may not even be informed about it.
How do you manage? Are you a teller or a delegator? Whether you realize it or not, you and your management style probably fall on some sort of continuum, dependent upon the situation. The problem is that you don’t necessarily communicate that management style with your employees.
Expectations of roles and responsibilities is important. And knowing each member has a say in an organization increases team unity and helps to build brand ambassadors and company loyalty.
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- 5 Business Resolutions Every Entrepreneur Should Make for the New Year
- The 7 Traits of True Transformational Leaders
Management 3.0 has designed a Delegation Board which can be simply a chart with tasks running down the left and roles across the top. For each task, you assign a delegation number 1 through 7 for each person or role, depending on the type of team collaboration, team autonomy, or management authority you want over each task.
As a manager or management team, you can even decide to provide this information before a role is assigned or, once your team is created, you can make the development of the tasks and roles in the delegation board a group activity.
No matter how you decide to design the board, it should be integrated into new employee initiation and, in an effort for transparency, even broadly displayed for the whole team to see.
Importance of performance management
There is so much being said about clearly defining roles from the job interview process all the way through hiring and later evaluations. Yes, this is essential. It’s not only important to know what your role is and what your role in decision-making is, but it’s important to team collaboration that everyone has an idea of what everyone else’s expectations are. If the manager and the employee have different expectations based on miscommunication, then, of course, results are at risk.
Roles and expectations need to be shared for optimal team collaboration. Plus, the more time you invest in this front end, the more effective your team will be when it’s in operations mode.
And remember, just because you define job roles and barriers doesn’t mean they are fixed. This should be revisited at least three or four times a year. Goals, roles, direction and focus change all the time and better clarification is always necessary to keep a collaborative and motivated team. Performance management is not just that hour every certain increments of time, but it is an ongoing process in the role of manager.
This is part one of a two-part series. Be sure to also read How to Manage Employee Feedback and Performance Management.
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