The Pebble - Setting Clear Expectations and Avoiding Unproductive Friction

As part two of my leadership and running series, we discuss small issues that can become big problems if not addressed early enough.? This is specifically related to managing poor performers or those who don’t have a team-first mindset.

In running we often use the analogy of the pebble. When you are in a trail race and a small pebble finds its way into your shoe, it is an annoying nuisance though generally innocuous, at first.? But over time, that pebble creates friction.? Friction between your foot and shoe lead to a blister. That blister will change your stride, foot placement and gate.? During my most recent 100K at Black Canyon in Arizona, I took 134,829 steps. Early in the race, I had some small rocks that found their way into my shoe.? I didn’t want to stop, take off my shoes, shake them out and then try to catch up with the pack, but also knew that the minute lost would be nothing compared to the risk of not addressing the intrusion.? If I had a pebble that led to a blister resulting in poor running form, there is little doubt that an injury would have followed, putting my successful finish at risk.

My strategy to mitigate the negative string of events started a few hours before the race.? I always tape my feet before a race using Leukotape. This is a very strong tape that doesn’t come off in water.? It forms a protective barrier between skin and anything that creates friction.? I wore high socks that further limit rocks from getting into my socks.? But even with these methods of avoidance, some rocks found their way in.? Those rocks created a little friction against my tape and required a slight update to my tape-job at the next aid station.? In all, fixing this took minutes and didn’t devolve into anything worse.

The keys here are to:

1.???? Mitigate the risk before the race

2.???? Address the issue when the pebble appears

3.???? Repair any damage caused as soon as possible

A small issue that creates friction can become a big, resulting in failure

The key is to identify those areas of friction and manage them appropriately. But it starts long before the friction starts. I’ll walk through a common example that takes place in some organizations and then identify a different path that would generate a better outcome for all parties involved.

The Big Performance Conversation and avoiding discomfort:

A manager recognizes that a team member is consistently missing key objectives.? Via live conversation, the manager raises the concerns.? The team member is surprised and disappointed to hear this feedback.? To avoid further hurt feelings, there is no email documentation as this manager didn’t want to add unnecessary awkwardness to the relationship.? Over time, the performance does not improve or worsens. Fast forward a few months and the company is conducting a focal process or promotions.? The team member did not receive the recognition they felt was deserve and raised the concern to their manager.? The manager explains how the company values the team member’s contributions, but their performance was not at an appropriate level to receive any sort of increase.?

The best outcome here would be that the employee would internalize the feedback and ask for specific steps to exceed expectations.? But an equally likely outcome is that the employee begins to look for external roles or raises the oversight to HR as an unfair merit allocation practice.? Now, you have an irate employee who feels personally slighted.? They may also take on a negative demeanor and could plant the seeds of discontent with anybody who will listen.? Not only are they missing their objectives, but they are dragging others down with them.

The pebble should have been addressed earlier:

Even before that first performance related conversation, clear expectations should have been properly set.? Team members need to understand the overarching vision for success of the organization and know how they can directly impact that success.? Cascading the organization’s goals into objectives (Key Performance Indicators or KPIs) that are understood and addressable by each individual contributor will help everybody know what they can do to help the company win.? Those KPIs should be documented and discussed on a frequent, reoccurring basis.? After each discussion, the progress toward KPIs should be documented.? It doesn’t need to be an overly formal document but does need to show where the team member is winning, where they are missing and where the organizational leader should offer help or guidance to improve chances of winning.? In the best scenario, the “Big Performance Conversation” may never need to take place as it is an ongoing dialogue as part of the regular business practice.? ?Moreover, those KPIs should be shared laterally so that support teams (Product, Dev, Marketing, Sales) can all see which initiatives are important and may be able to share how their efforts could help other team members succeed.

In this scenario, one of two outcomes take place. The first outcome is that the team member processes the fact that their performance is not meeting expectations and, with the guidance of their manager, improves.? Now, we have a productive member of the team who may earn a promotion or other opportunities.? The second outcome is that they do not improve. You will need to manage them out and the performance documentation will help your efforts, both from a compliance and ethical perspective.? Nobody likes to fire people, but if they are consistently unable to carry their weight and have been given the appropriate notice, help and opportunities to succeed, your obligation to the team and company dictates an obvious next step.? Make this call before the relationship sours and before the team believes that sub-standard performance is acceptable.? This will help friction with other team members.?

As a leader, it is your responsibility to set clear definitions of success for your team and your team members.

The Pebble is a strong metaphor for something that causes friction if not immediately addressed.? Your job as a leader is to avoid pebbles getting in the way of your organization’s ultimate success.? Address potential causes of friction before they start, remove the cause of the fiction once identified and repair any damage done once that source has been removed.

It is impossible to avoid all performance issues from occurring and friction will arise in your group from time to time.? But the steps outlined here will help you set the right expectations for your team and find greater success as an organization.

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It is worth noting that this article is written from a negative standpoint. It focuses on the potential outcomes if you don't set clear objectives and conduct ongoing discussions with your team members as they relate to these initiatives. Normally, I'd rather focus on the positive outcomes generated when your team knows how their activities ladder up to the success of the overall organization and when they can see how activities of other teams will help them win.

In a future article I will share some thoughts on transparency of KPIs and priorities across an organization to create the most effective collaboration.

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