Have your expectations of your staff changed recently? Do you need something different from the people you manage? Do they know what this ‘different’ is?
What we want from the people we manage can change on a regular basis. These changes come about when the needs of the business change, the customer requirements change or the way we do business changes. When this happens, our view on what good performance looks like also changes.
Where things become tricky is when the people element of change is lost, when the new expectations of the business aren’t articulated to the people who need to know the most. What we know is that one of the key things that people want from their manager is clarity, especially in times of change.
The challenge, then, is to ensure that on a regular basis we update that view of good performance and then communicate this to our staff.
Here’s a simple three step process that enables you to check that you’re clear on what you want from the people you manage.
Step One
This’ll take you a few minutes of good thinking time, so firstly make yourself a cup of tea, and if you can switch off the phone that would be great.
Then take a blank sheet of paper and write down your answers to the following question:
What do you want from the people you manage?
Stuck? Here are some ideas (taken from a recent workshop):
Now as much as I hate jargon, for the purposes of the rest of the exercise, we need a name for the words or statements you’ve written. Let’s call them attributes.
Step Two
Delete from the list all the attributes that your staff are currently demonstrating consistently and well.
Step Three
Anything left on your list?
These will generally be the attributes that you want and need your staff to demonstrate but which (on the basis they’re not currently demonstrating consistently and well) I’m guessing there’s a lack of clarity about.
Here’s The Practical Application
For each of the attributes left on your list ask yourself the question, ‘have I described this attribute to my staff?’ and if the answer is ‘no’ go on and do that.
Not sure about how to describe attributes?
See my next post Managing by Numbers is Easy – But How Do I Manage Behaviours?
