The Management Distillery

Underperforming employee = BIG opportunity

>> And if you are having trouble getting motivated to put in this work….remember (a) as a Manager it's your job to take care of your people; (b) Regardless of the outcome, you gain the most out of this situation.

Tom Foster recently put up a question (When is Enough, Enough?) from one of his readers about when to lay-off an underperforming employee. You may want to read the post to get the context of the question, but my response below addresses the performance management question in general. My view is based on the Manager's role and our stuff that needs to get out of the way, especially with personnel decisions.

- Seems like you are convinced that he doesn't get it and probably won't anytime in the future. You also mentioned that it is the same feedback you have received from others on your team. Well my first reaction is that intuitively, the person in question would also know this. Does he think that you are for him? Or just looking for ways to get rid of him? Would he trust you?

- You are lending yourself as a victim to this situation. You want to do well as a new manager, would like to show productivity and profitability of your team, but you Manager is concerned about the consequences of firing someone. That's a tough sell.

BUT, there is so much that this situation provides for your growth. You could turn this around into a big positive for you, gain the trust of your employees and your manager. Here is what I would do:

- Start afresh and give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Don't have any negative conversations about his performance with anyone, especially others on the team. If they want to talk, just say "now's not the right time for this". It's likely that you may have to dig yourself out of this hole.

Sit down with him and explain that this situation puts both you and him in a tough spot. If he doesn't improve his performance then you may have to release him, which neither of you want. Assure him that you will work with him to make this better. Ask the following questions:

• Is he interested in the work?
• What according to him will take to get his performance to acceptable levels? (He might say more time…and that's OK). Follow-up, with a need to build a performance management plan that will show incremental progress. Remember, there is always something you can find to measure performance.
• Have a weekly one-on-one meeting with him to review progress. Build trust with him. Really believe that he can make it.

After doing this for at least 2 months, if the situation does not improve at all, I don't think documenting a lay-off would be the biggest problem you have. But if you do turn this around, think about the confidence you will gain in your managerial ability and the trust you will gain with others.

And if you are having trouble getting motivated to put in this work….remember (a) as a Manager it's your job to take care of your people; (b) Regardless of the outcome, you gain the most out of this situation.

 

Consequences of making decisions

"Sometimes bad things happen when good people are unlucky and sometimes scoundrels get away clean. Judging decisions based on their outcomes will wind up condemning too many unlucky people and acquitting too many scoundrels".

There is lot of talk about the role of managers and leaders in decision-making. Drucker calls decision-making a "specific executive task". He goes on to say that "Managers are responsible for service results". Gino, Moore, and Bazerman in their research (No harm, no foul: The outcome bias in ethical judgments) found that "people judge the wisdom and competence of decision makers based on the nature of the outcome they obtain". The study presents a couple of convincing examples of how others may perceive your decisions differently based on the results.

Although the study focuses on ethical decision-making, we see this sort of behavior apply to our daily and work lives every day. An executive makes a decision and if it is goes well, there is celebration, bonuses, and a band of fans…and if it goes bad, there is disappointment, Monday morning quarterbacking (I call it the waking up of the nay-sayers), and depending on how bad the consequences are, some people may even lose their jobs.

"Often, the decision process is difficult to observe and so the only way we can evaluate a decision is based on its outcome", say Gino, Moore, and Bazerman.

Food for thought:

• How do you react to decisions and their outcomes?
• How does your organization react to decisions and their outcomes? Does it foster a decision-making culture or are employees content in maintaining the status quo?

What can you do?

In cases where a decision has unfavorable results, first give the decision-maker the benefit of the doubt. (It's like what my Org Behavior Professor said on the first day of class – "If this was the last day of class, your grade will be an A, now it's up to you to make it a B, C, or an F"). If you trust him/her to make a decision, then support them with the outcomes. Judge them based on the information available to them when making the decision and not on what you know now.

Starting off with Benefits and Concerns

Benefits and Concerns is a facilitation approach to help a group bring out their thoughts and opinions about the initiative right at the outset. This helps baseline everyone's position and lays the groundwork for finding common grounds among diverse opinions.

If setting up and managing expectations is the corner stone for an effective management approach, then how do we do it when it comes to putting together a project with a diverse group of people, with differing management objectives and get them to agree on something.

In my opinion, the Benefits and Concerns exercise has always laid down the groundwork to alleviate the initial heat and resistance that a diverse and politically charged group can bring to the table. Not only that, it helps you as the leader or the facilitator to take a step back and see where your judgments, opinions, and biases may interfere with the group. If you are about to embark on a new initiative, here are some ideas that you may want to play around with:

Before the kick-off meeting

• Write down what your role is as a part of this initiative? Duh…isn't it obvious…but then again no harm in putting down a few bullets on a piece of paper
• In your view, what does success look like? What will it provide (what is the benefit to the stakeholders)?
• In your view, what will come in the way?

At the kick-off meeting

• Open it up addressing the purpose of the meeting to embark on this new initiative. Most likely everyone would know it, but helps to confirm.
• Explain that you would like to set up the project in a way that provides a win-win for everyone (there will be skeptics). And to make sure that everyone's expectations are met, we need to have everyone understand them. So, here is the process to get that information: We will go around the room and get you to answer the following three questions:
  • What does success look like to you?
  • What are the benefits of this initiative?
  • What concerns do you have? Or what will keep us from getting there? (Here you might want to give an example or two…people need to feel safe to share…say something like: "here is something I can see coming in the way – we might not be able to get everyone to agree on a common approach".
  • Go around the table and get this information from everyone. Take good notes and only talk if you need to clarify something…no opinions from anyone else other than person who is supposed to talk.
• By the end of this exercise, you and others in the group will have a good sense of where the group stands with the initiative. Now you are ready to start discussing the concerns, how they can be alleviated, while building a coalition around the benefits the initiative brings.

Note: this process requires good facilitation skills, so do some reading and practicing before you first foray into this. Also, this by no means is the silver bullet to set up and manage expectations, but a tested tool.

Characteristics of a good Project Management Methodology

>> straightforward in explanation, intuitive in practice, and verifiable in compliance

If you are thinking about taking your organization through a process improvement project, possibly pursuing a CMMI or an ISO certification and need to have a project management methodology in place, this writing provides some pointers. Remember, a project such as this provides an opportunity for true Organization Development and Change Management. The difference being that OD is an organization's journey to reflect and define its future, while Change Management is the discipline for getting from an As-Is to a defined To-Be state. Nonetheless, there are three tenets/critical success factors that will drive the outcome for this project:

 

 

• Developed through collaboration – stakeholders need to have a sense of ownership. This is especially true for the PM community, who will be the main consumers of our deliverables. Additionally, working in collaboration with your PMs (or middle management) will give you access to a lot more ideas and foster the culture of teamwork at the organization.
• Fosters Growth (What's In It For Me) – one way to provide a sense of ownership and energy behind this project is to clearly define and communicate the benefits to each one of our stakeholders. Following is a list if some stakeholders a brief description of what's in it for them:
  • Individual employee – there is a lot in this for the individual employee (a) They don't need to re-invent the wheel every time, which has a direct impact of their ability to deliver high quality work products, while beating their deadlines; (b) Learn new skills and approaches that are proven and repeatable; (c) Approach their work in a planned, rather than a chaotic manner.
  • Program/Project Managers – in addition to the benefits they get from being an individual employee, a good management methodology is a basis for a high performance team. With this methodology, PMs will be able to (a) Deliver projects with a greater probability for success; (b) Provide project governance with defined roles and responsibilities; (c) Provide the basis for performance measurement – their own and their team's; (d) Set themselves up for performance awards, promotions, and engagement in special projects at the corporate level.
  • Corporate (Executives and Back-office) – (a) Provide an enhanced governance structure based on clear communication and expectations; (b) Business development – not only as an aid for proposals but also a competitive advantage in precise delivery; (c) Future capabilities development via special projects that engage high-performing employees; (d) Provide an employee leadership/development track; (e) Shift dependence from individual employees to roles.
  • Customers – ultimately our goal is to maximize profits, which is only possible through satisfied customers. Some benefits for our customers include (a) Being able to deliver on their goals through a reliable partner in your organization; (b) Provide career-growth and expansion of their current individual and divisional roles and responsibilities.
• Easy to implement – last but not the least, the process needs to be simple and adoption-ready, which means to be straightforward in explanation, intuitive in practice, and verifiable in compliance.

A 4-step management philosophy

 

• Set-up and manage expectations – a strong focus during the initiation and planning stages to ensure everyone is on the same page is the ONLY way you can bring project success. Primary deliverables here include the Project Charter and the Project Management Plan.
• Communicate, communicate, and communicate – defining, planning, and implementing the communication structures go a long way to manage conflict and keep everyone abreast of the project status. Primary deliverable here is a Communication Management Plan that defines what, why, when, and how the project information is distributed.
• Proactive Risk Management – paying constant and structured attention to internal and external factors that can derail a project provides for a platform for their early detection and resolution. Primary deliverable here is a Risk Management Plan that defines the project risk management methodology, the risk register/inventory, and the risk management meeting schedule.
• The best business development is doing excellent work – our reputation precedes us. Concentrate on making sure that our service delivery is exceptional, resulting in expanding existing client engagements and positive past performance references.