Here’s a question.
What is something good that has come out of this economic turmoil?
Today’s answer: More regular performance reviews.
Some people hate performance reviews. They take time. They’re tedious. Too many forms. Too uncomfortable. Too subjective. Too much red tape.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty accurate for a great many companies and managers. I’ve seen review forms that were 8 pages long. I’ve seen people get rated on hundreds of individual items that take hours to read through and understand, let alone discuss.
Yet I am a big proponent of regular performance reviews. Not the formal kind that require forms in triplicate. Rather, I am an advocate for a simpler and more direct performance review process, one that, yes, should be done much more often than once per year.
For years I’ve been telling my executive coaching clients to do more frequent performance reviews. Only I call it something different. I call it contracting. See, reviews look backwards. Contracts look forwards. Contracts are agreements for what is expected from various parties in the future.
I often ask my clients, “What does exceptional performance look like?” They answer me in vague ways—lots of effort, great results, strong relationships, blah, blah, blah. They are telling me that much like art, they know it when they see it. The only problem with this is that it usually takes 12 months for people to realize how differently they saw their performance from how their manager saw it.
From first line managers to senior executives it is rare that I meet anyone who is capable, forget about skilled, at sitting down with their manager or direct reports and discussing what exceptional performance looks like.
Just because that is how it has been doesn’t mean that is how it has to be. My clients create contracting meetings with their managers in which they answer two key questions.
- What will exceptional performance look like for me over the next three months?
- What would you have to physically see happen in the next three months in order to consider my performance to be exceptional?
That’s it. No lengthy forms to fill out. No bubbles to color in. And the power is in its simplicity. Note that the questions are visual. What would it look like? What would you have to see?
The visual element forces a level of specificity, a clearer contract for what great performance is. It eliminates some of the subjectivity that can create frustration in these settings. And it has a short time frame.
In three months you sit down again. This is what we said exceptional performance would look like. This is what happened. You and your manager should agree on whether or not the performance was exceptional. Then it’s time to ask your 2 questions again and contract for the next three months.
It isn’t the most exciting thing, but it can dramatically affect your relationships and career. Give it a try. Create your own contract.
And email me if you have another answer to my first question. What is something good you’ve seen that has come out of this economic turmoil?
