Performance and QQTR

This week is about performance and performance management. The issue has come up a lot lately as organizations struggle to get the performance they want and, more importantly, need. I have lumped the two terms together because they are inextricably linked. You cannot get the performance you need and want without performance management. Ignoring this is akin to relying solely on responsibility (employees' subjective feeling of obligation to do something) rather than accountability.?

Accountability is the nature of the manager-direct report relationship. It is about defining the work and the specifics of a task. Once the task is defined, the following need to occur:

1. Monitoring of the task or work to its completion
2. Coaching to adjust performance to ensure completion the way you want it completed
3. Assessing effectiveness all the way to assessing how well the employee is completing the work

These three steps are the essence of performance management, with one key addition of defining the expectation.

Whether you use the terms “goal setting”, “task assignment”, “setting objectives” or “defining KPIs”, they are all the same thing, and all revolve around setting the standard of expectation of what is to be delivered. At Forrest, we advocate doing this – you need to define the QQTR:

• Quantity you expect
• Quality standard that you expect
• Time it needs to be delivered by, and
• Resources available to the employee to use

Two points here: this needs to be done in Dialogue – meaning the person has to agree that they can and will deliver to the QQTR – and must be within the individual's capability to complete it.

QQTR needs to be more, though. You need to ensure that they understand the Context of the work. Only you can define the Context and the work. They also need to understand the priorities, and you must make sure these are clear too. Not everything can be the #1 priority, so your planning will be important to be clear on what your priorities are.

So, the stage is set for performance with the pieces required for performance management. Why, then, do we not get the performance? Seven times out of ten, the steps above are not followed. The remaining 30% are because they are not done well. Here are some typical examples of where it goes wrong:

• We have not adhered to QQTR; instead using an popular mnemonic like SMART to try to describe what is required in the task or goal
• We have not planned the work well, we have assigned it to the wrong person, or overloaded our employees
• The employees have not agreed to the task as assigned and not advised if they are overloaded
• We fire and forget the task; we don’t monitor and coach along the way
• Circumstances have changed sufficiently to make the original QQTR unobtainable and, because we are not monitoring, we have no idea, and our people fail to tell us in time to be able to adjust the QQTR
• We focus solely on the output of QQTR that we have failed to assess their effectiveness in doing it, and they have either not done it well or disrupted the organization in doing it, thereby creating resentment in the organization
• We have not clarified the “why” as the Context, so they are unable to plan how they will deliver the QQTR fully
• We don’t spend the time and assess the risk carefully of which tasks are priorities. Without thinking about?the risk, we open ourselves up to fear either in ourselves or our people, and fear stymies action

The great elixir of performance is communication. Communication is the only way two or more brains can work toward mutual aims, so you must get good at it. If your people are afraid to bring you issues, things will fall apart. So, instill a culture of Best Advice and demand that you receive it. Only this way can you overcome that fear. Spend time sharing and, even more importantly, listening – not just listening to the words but hearing the feelings.

Performance Management is not an HR system. It is how you get what the organization needs and wants. As a good managerial leader, you should delegate as much as possible. As a rule, we say delegate anything that you can. This way, you can help your people to grow.

As you can see, ensuring performance is a lot of work, but it is your work. If you want the prize of performance, you have to put in the time of preparation and follow-up.

I haven’t covered it all, and I look to you for your insights as well. It is a good use of your time to reflect on these things, and having the courage to change, will save you in the long run.