After you talk to a team member about performance or behavior, he or she should leave the meeting thinking about what they will do differently. Nothing else. Prepare and conduct your meeting to eliminate distractions, deliver helpful, coaching feedback, and offer workable suggestions. Clarify your expectations. Solicit » Read More
Category: Performance Management
Boss’s Tip of the Week: No more “run faster” goals
Joan Crawford screamed, “No more wire hangers!” I’m screaming “No more ‘run faster’ goals!” “Run faster” goals are the ones where you decide to “increase sales” or even “increase sales by 51.25396 percent” and the only change is that you’ll » Read More
Boss’s Tip of the Week: How to talk about behavior
One thing new supervisors dread most is talking to team members about behavior. One thing experienced supervisors hate most is talking to team members about behavior. Here are three steps to start out right and increase the odds that your conversation about behavior will go well. Tell them why you’re talking » Read More
Boss’s Tip of the Week: Let them know what you expect
The people on your team should know what you expect from them. If you don’t tell them, they will guess. At best, they will only get things partly right. That’s a recipe for chaos and confusion. It also means that hard working team members will be “caught” doing something wrong. That’s bad for » Read More
Boss’s Tip of the Week: Performance Solutions Checklist
In your career as a boss, you’ll deal with hundreds of performance problems. Each one will have a unique solution, but most of them will fall into one of four categories. Use the categories as a checklist. Learning solutions work when the problem is a lack of knowledge or adequate skills. Resource solutions work when » Read More