Leading in Uncertain Times – Covid 19 #5

/
Vision and mission.png

1.     Team clarity on the values of the organisation and the behaviours they have committed to, that demonstrate those values. While the values won’t have changed, maybe you will have found it useful to tweak some of the behaviours the team commits to. How does your team rate?

Clarity on Values.png

1.     All team members have clear (S.M.A.R.T.) goals. Those goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Trackable. A couple of points to note on SMART goals.  Regarding the R of relevant. Have the goals been reviewed to ensure they are relevant in the context of the remote working environment? as well as what the organisation needs of them at this time? And about the M of measurable. Effective goals will have BOTH a quantitative measure and a qualitative measure. The quantitative ensures the deliverables occur. The qualitative should ensure the deliverables are delivered in a sustainable way.  With greater remote working, you may have needed to review the goals of some or all of the team members. If the goals were not reviewed, perhaps the measures, in particular the qualitative measures may have needed to be reviewed.  How does your team rate?

SMART Goals.png

1.     Ongoing Monitoring and Coaching is the next element of sound practice in leading and managing performance. 

This is the regular one-to-one and team catch ups to discuss the team or individual plan, how they are progressing towards that plan, the relevance of that plan, reviewing the plan as needed and, problem solving any issues.  For these sessions to be effective the leader will be skilled as a facilitator and coach.  With the increase in remote working, I expect how this is being done to have changed significantly.  The opportunities for casual interactions, guidance, support, encouragement and problem solving is markedly changed with remote work. This is all done with electronic media in the remote environment.  A response from leaders and teams in many places is the daily (or frequency as appropriate) team meetings by video or phone as well as one-to-one meetings between leaders and team members.  Ongoing contact throughout the workday by phone and video between leaders and team members as well as between team members is encouraged. 

Ongoing Coaching.png

 

The higher the ratings on the above four things, the stronger the team performance will be and the less under-performance issues you are likely to experience.

If underperformance issues are emerging beyond the usual small percentage of people, it is likely that investing in the above will yield the greatest result.  Given the interactive challenges of remote working, any action on 1 and 2 may be impractical for now, as these discussions are best held with people physically present. This leaves discussing goals and the ongoing monitoring and coaching as the vehicles available to you to enhance the performance of the team.

It would be far too glib to suggest the above paragraph provides the solutions you need to address this. So, if you having an issue in this regard and are looking for solutions, please feel free to contact me through this channel and we can discuss possible solutions.

Leadership – Critical to the Value of your Organisation

/
Leadership – Critical to the Value of your Organisation

That’s right, this subject that many people consider fluffy, adds value to the capital value of your business.  Don’t believe me? Then try this. What is the share or sale value of your organisation today? Now add up the material assets of the organisation. Consider the value of any longer-term contracts and proprietary systems to the organisation value. If the organisation value is more than this then you have the intangible value of your organisation.  That intangible value can be attributed to the value of your brand and of your organisational culture.  Effective leadership brings value to the tangible and intangiblecomponents. Superior leadership will separate your organisation from the others when it comes to the value of the intangibles.  Leadership is therefore essential to maintaining and increasing the value of your organisation.  

Read More

Rewarding and Promoting the Professional and Technical Employee

/

Of course not all people perform at the same level. Typically, people grow in their capability as their learning and experience deepens and broadens. The value of the outcomes they deliver to the organisation also grows. So how do you recognise this increase in value if you do not promote them in the traditional way?

Read More

Managing Performance

/

I hope with this short article I can broaden your paradigm about what is performance management.  Generally, I find performance management is thought of as the annual performance appraisal cycle and/or those discussions that are had to address some aspect of underperformance or behaviour we consider misguided.  I recently rediscovered the following definition of performance management which I propose is adopted.

“Performance management is creating a workplace that brings out the best in people while generating the highest value for the organisation.”[1]

Read More

Performance Management

/

An effective performance management process is integral to maintaining and enhancing employee engagement.  It provides clarity on role and priorities, creates opportunities for communication between employees and their managers, ensures professional and career development opportunities are enunciated and implemented and employees receive feedback on how their manager views their performance.  All are significant to employee engagement.  But how do you ensure managers are applying the process effectively?

Read More