Leadership in a Changed World: Creating a High Performance Environment
The key to having a successful team is managing their performance so that they can feel and be successful. Performance measures that are effective need to be SMART.
- Specific – unambiguous, clearly defined.
- Measurable – to track and learn.
- Agreed – all parties are on the same page.
- Realistic – Must be achievable.
- Timely – we know when it needs to be delivered by.
Measuring Performance
If we set objectives, we also need to ensure we have ways to measure performance and success.
Quantitative Metrics: Evaluate performance based on things that can be measured numerically.
Qualitative Metrics: Evaluate what employees are experiencing perhaps using specific wellbeing questions. Using regular reviews to measure performance whilst gather insights on what experiences look and feel like when great performances are achieved, you will be able to focus on how you can create the experience environment for individuals in which their performance can thrive.
Using one-to-one communications to inspect what we expect With our current transitional working practices, it is best that we focus on setting performance indicators that are based on achieving the outputs, i.e: the end result being achieved or expected and not necessarily the steps it takes to get there. For example, place a performance indicator on the total number of sales achieved and not on defining the number of sales calls that staff are required to make.
Communicating and checking in with each individual is important but as discussed in the article Leadership in a Changed World – Your Team, fostering psychological safety (FPS) is all about trust. We don’t want to overdo it or micromanage our teams, equally we want them to feel supported, we therefore need to create a support and review programme that works for individuals’ varying needs.
- How can we conduct reviews and check-ins in this new remote and hybrid way of working?
- Plan in advance and know what you are going to cover.
- Share documents that both parties can add talking points to prior to the review.
- Consistency with intervals between reviews.
- Following a structured format that becomes recognisable each time you have a review.
- Be present when conducting the reviews and utilise active listening techniques.
- Where possible, meet in-person occasionally.
- Ideally in a neutral and suitable environment.
What should we be asking our team members?
Check-in: How are you feeling?
Reflect on achievements: What have been your key successes and greatest challenges?
Analyse methods: What are you doing differently? What strengths have you drawn on? What development areas have you identified?
Support & Development: Are you facing any challenges? What support do you need?
Pairing this with understanding the motivations of individuals will help you develop the leadership insights to fully understand what drives your team to excel. Our next article Understanding Motivations of Individuals will take a deep look in to what motivates us and how this knowledge can further help you nurture fantastic performance across your team.
Agreeing individual expectation
How have our objectives and expectations for our teams changed in the last few months?
- Increasing requirements demand more flexibility.
- Individuals are responsible for setting their own targets taking their own circumstances into account.
- Individuals are holding themselves accountable.
- More frequent performance and task reviews are in place.
- Short-term objectives with milestones are being used to keep remote teams on track.
- Higher consideration is given to balancing work/home life integration.
- Re-defined roles and taking on additional responsibilities due to reduced team numbers.
- Support for those who are re-learning and adapting their skills.
