Reflecting on our conversations and especially the most recent one, I note a few points for discussion.  Some points involve the form or the intent of these meetings.  Some points are the content, especially from the last meeting.

On Form:

Validation

Conversations with dear friends you respect are key to maintaining a realistic perspective.  These conversations either validate what you are thinking or feeling or they can disclose quickly the invalidity of your thinking.  Of course, it does help to have a trusted and trusting friendship.  Superficial discussion will not be very productive.

Perspective

Conversations with Steve always offer another perspective.  In these discussions, we will discuss one of our situations and invariably the other will provide a different interpretation of the facts, make a different set of assumptions, and suggest a different perspective for consideration.

Synergy

I  have spoken of synergy before in these pod-casts.  These conversations invariably result in something that goes beyond either of our insight or understanding, as if a third person distilled the essence of our thoughts and formulated a thought greater than either of us considered.

On Content:

The Problem

Steve and I covered some interesting topics in our last meeting.  One was the economy.  We talked about  the economy, the fallen stock market, the failing banks, the failed corporation, asteroids, the unemployment rate.  We went down multiple paths of discussion on each and several times asked the question, “What’s the solution to the …… situation?”  We discussed multiple alternatives and the ineffectiveness of each.

Steve then identified the real issue, “I don’t think we know what the problem is.”  It certainly does seem that governments, corporations, and enterprises worldwide are taking actions to address a problem that is not clearly defined.  Otherwise, it seems to me that some evidence of progress would exist, rather than a reliance on the argument that “things would be worse of we had not done (fill in the blank)”.

True Value

With stock markets failing, 401K accounts at 50% to 60% of their value within the last year, with corporations and employers significantly reducing costs daily to survive, and with a future significantly more uncertain than 1 year ago, I raised the point that the only things we could really count on are the family, the friends, and the relationships we maintain.

The Management Message

Above, I spoke of validation, perspective, synergy, precise identification of the problem, and true value.  In our management role, we need to form relationships with our business associates that provide us true value, providing us validation, a perspective, and a synergy as we address our objectives, solve our problems.  And most importantly, we need to be able to precisely identify our problem.

The performance review

• provides the basis for equitable reward for the employee’s contribution. [rewards contribution]
• Highlights the employee’s strengths
• Identifies areas in which the employee may improve to achieve higher ratings and/or more responsible assignments.
• Provides the basis for fair salary administration across the organization. [makes salaries equitable]

The performance review is a formal, scheduled meeting.  The manager asks the employee to prepare a self evaluation prior to the meeting.  Using the employee’s self evaluation and the manager’s project and task information, the manager writes the review.  The review considers and documents factual, observed performance and rates the performance using the position description as the standard for acceptable performance.  I suggest a 4 category rating system.

• A zero rating means that the performance criteria was not met.
• A one rating means that the employee’s performance met the requirements of the job.
• A two rating means performance exceeded requirements in some aspects of the job.
• A three rating means that the employee’s performance exceeded requirements in all aspects of the job.

The manager rates each of the employee’s assignments using this rating system, then computes or derives an overall rating using the individual assignment ratings and their relative weights or importance.

The manager notes and comments on the employee’s strengths and areas of improvement and documents these comments in the performance review document.

Having completed the review documentation, the manager schedules the review with the employee.

The performance review is a formal, scheduled meeting.  In the meeting, the manager provides the employee with a copy of the review and provides the employee the opportunity to read the review.  They discuss the review, the manager answering any questions the employee may have.  The manager may change a rating if the employee provides factual comment that the manager did not consider. In matters of opinion, the manager’s opinion prevails.

During the conversation, the manager discusses the employee’s strengths and areas of improvement. The manager and the employee will schedule a separate meeting to discuss a development plan to address these areas of improvement.

Both the manager and the employee may then comment on the review.  The manager should summarize the meeting in his comments.  The employee may comment on the review too. If the employee disagrees, the employee’s comments should so reflect it.

The manager and the employee sign the review.  The employee’s signature states that the employee understands the review.  The signature does not signify agreement.

The employee and the manager set a meeting to create a performance plan for the next year.  They also set a meeting to create or update the employee’s development plan.

Summary:

• Based on facts only
• Rates 0-3
• Comments on each task
• Notes strengths and areas of improvement
• Conduct the review
• Manager and employee write summary comments and sign

Counseling takes two forms.

The first are scheduled interim reviews during the performance period. The manager meets with the employee and discusses what the performance review would be if it were conducted now, today. The manager discusses the basis for the assessment, identifying deviations from the plan. The manager and the employee investigate the reasons for the deviations and devise an approach to address them. Both individuals may have assignments in the corrective plan. The manager also recognized the employee’s demonstrated strengths. The manager and the employee discuss how these strengths may be further enhanced and utilized. The manager documents the counseling session and provides a copy to the employee.

The second form of counseling is immediate, occurring when the manager or the employee identify a significant deviation from plan. The manager and the employee meet and discuss the deviation. They jointly identify the issue, identify corrective action, and agree to address the issue. They also schedule a meeting to follow up on the issue and its correction.  It is important to note that either the manager or the employee can initiate this discussion. [Added Nov 13, 2008] It occurred to me today that constant immediate counseling would be demoralizing.  The compassionate manager should reserve immediate counseling for those situations that require immediate attention.]

These mid course corrections are essential in maximizing individual and organizational performance.

To summarize:
Feedback is essential.
Impromptu meetings address issues that require immediate correction.
Periodic reviews summarize performance to date in the plan cycle, providing areas of improvement and identifying strengths to exploit.

The expectation stated in the performance plan should be based on the position description that describes the employee’s job.  If the position description and the performance plan are not congruent, then the employee is not being appropriately evaluated or paid.

The goals stated in the performance plan should be SMART goals.  Refer to my earlier podcast for a discussion of SMART goals.

I don’t think that the goals should be behavioral.  For example, a goal to “maintain good customer rapport” is behavioral or not measurable.  Such goals are not quantifiable and contribute only indirectly to the bottom line.  Behavioral issues should be addressed when the manager observes deviations from the organization’s standards.  Behavioral features like attendance, respect, team player, etc., are conditions of employment.

Plans should be brief, ideally documented on one type written page.  I think if plans can not be so briefly described either the performance objectives have not been completely thought out or the plan is describing how to accomplish the objectives.

Plans should state what is desired, not how to do the job.  The employee will select the appropriate strategy and behaviors to accomplish the job.  Doing so is the value add that the employee brings to the organization.

Plans, while based on the position description, should provide some possibility for growth, challenging the employee to develop new skills or to perform at the next level.  Plans should contain and identify objectives that exceed the requirements of the job, thus providing this challenge for performance and growth.

The plan should be a working document.  The employee and the manager should each maintain a copy of the plan and should periodically review the plan together.  I will discuss Performance Counseling in another podcast.

To summarize:

• Base performance plans on the job description.
• Use SMART goals.
• Define task objectives, no behavioral objectives.
• Be concise.
• Make the plan a joint working document.
• Write the plan to provide a challenge.
• Review performance against the plan periodically.

A position description should exists for each position in the company and should be the basis for determining the compensation for each job and subsequently for each person in the organization.

the position descriptions allow the company to set salaries consistent with the industry and also to ensure that the individuals within the organization are being fairly and equitably compensated in relation to each other.

Position descriptions are also the basis for hiring.  They define the skills and abilities of the desired candidate and suggest where the candidate should demonstrate experience in the required duties and responsibilities.

Second, the job description is the basis on which the manager writes the performance plan, in cooperation with the employee.  It defines the level and extend of the tasks that are valid for an individual in a particular job.

to summarize:

• Job descriptions describe each job in the company.
• A job description describes the duties, responsibilities, authority, and skills associated with the job.
• A particular job description describes the expectations that an individual in that job should meet.
• It allows the organization to establish salaries consistent with the industry and consistent within the organization.
• It is the basis for hiring.
• It is the basis for performance planning.
• It sets the acceptable level of performance in a performance evaluation.

A search on the Internet will reveal several sources from which an organization may obtain a set of job descriptions if the organization does not have descriptions for their job categories and does not wish to independently develop a collection.

This framework contains 4 elements:

• The Position Description
• The Performance Plan
• Performance Counseling
• Performance Evaluation

The position description describes the job that the employee performs in the organization.

The performance plan describes management’s expectations of the employee in terms of results.

Performance counseling provides the employee relevant comment and feedback, during the performance period, allowing the employee to capitalize on strengths and improve when needed improvement is identified.

Performance evaluation formally reviews performance during the performance period and serves as the basis for salary administration and employ development planning.

In the next 4 podcasts I will discuss each of these items in more detail.

Plan the meeting.

• Define what the desired outcome of the meeting is.  Too many meetings occur without an end objective.  Consequently, few of these meetings achieve the intended result.
•  Identify the meeting participants who are capable of making the desired outcome a reality. Avoid inviting spectators.
• List the minutes of any previous meetings that have been held to achieve this outcome.  Occasionally, it is necessary to frame the problem for the participants in a meeting, then meet again to reach an agreement.  Recalling the minutes of previous meetings hopefully prevents addressing issues that have already been decided.
• Define the meeting duration.  Keep the meeting as brief as possible.  Like work, meetings tend to expand to fill the time allocated to them.
• Construct an agenda that states the desired outcome and includes references to the previous meeting minutes. Include a list of the meeting participants.
• Schedule the meeting at a convenient time and place for all participants.  Be sensitive to time zone differences for dial-in participants.
• Send out the invites.

Conduct the meeting.

• Start on time and end on time.
• Begin the meeting by stating the desired outcome.
• When discussion drifts from the desired outcome, gently bring the discussion back to the stated outcome.
• Work for synergy within the meeting participants.  Encourage discussion.
• Reserve time at the end of the meeting to summarize the meeting to assess the success of the meeting in accomplishing the desired outcome. Obtain agreement that the outcome was achieved.
• If the outcome was not achieved, list the issues and obstacles that prevent accomplishing the outcome, identify and owner for each issue, and agree to meet again.
• Conclude the meeting on time.

After the meeting

• Write up the minutes of the meeting and send to all participants.
• Include in the minutes those items that have been agreed upon and resolved.
• List items requiring further action and the owner of each.
• Send the minutes to all participants.

Rinse and repeat.

Recall we have five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and tactile. Of these senses, people tend to use sight, hearing, and tactile more than smell and taste, especially for internal processing and storage of information. So we will focus on sight, hearing, and tactile senses in these discussions. [Note that the verb in the previous sentence is visual. I will talk more about this in a moment.]

Each of us has a preferred sense that we use. I am visually oriented. I prefer to see information rather than to hear information and I seldom identify with any information as a feeling or experience. If you want to communicate with me most effectively, show me something. Provide the information to me visually.

Take a moment an identify your preferred system.

To most effectively communicate with someone, we want to tailor our communications in his preferred representational system.

• If a person is visual, show him the information or use phrases that are visually oriented.
• If a person is auditory, then tell or use auditory cues in communication.
• If a person is kinesthetic, provide for hands on, experiential communications or use cues that appeal to feeling.

Note that we can use words that appeal to the preferred system rather than communicating through that system. I can say something to someone and cause that person to see something internally.

The preferred representational system is also our preferred method for storing and processing information internally. My recall is almost always visual. I need to construct a visual representation of it in my mind to be able to retrieve it effectively. I have a friend who is auditory and can recall conversations word for word. But being visual, I can not begin to imagine how a kinesthetic person organizes and processes information.

These are our preferred strategies but we all process information in all three systems. Once we understand our preferred system we can ensure that we obtain and manage our information most effectively by using our preferred system. I always takes notes, make mindmaps, to capture auditory information. I also brainstorm and plan using visual tools. When I start a project I try to build a visual scaffolding in my mind on which I hang data about the project as it unfolds.

I welcome those auditory and kinesthetic people to post a comment a the blog to discuss how they manage the acquisition and retention of information using their preferred system.

As managers we want to maximize our effectiveness in communications. If we listen to people and to their phrases we can determine what representational system they prefer. We can tailor our language to provide information and to express ourselves to others using their preferred system.

People give us clues to their preferences in their conversation.

• If a person uses phrases like “I don’t see what you mean”, “that isn’t clear”, or “show me the money”, the individual prefers a visual representation.
• If a person uses phrases like “that doesn’t sound right”, “that doesn’t ring true”, or “countrymen, lend me your ears”, the individual prefers an auditory representation.
• If the person uses phrases like “that does not feel right”, “let me get a handle on it”, or “he rubs me the wrong way”, the individual prefers a tactile representation.

We can use these clues to guide us in structuring our language for effective communications with the individual. In meetings, lectures, and other group settings, we must communicate in all three systems, particularly in our examples, to effectively communicate with the participants.

To summarize.

• People have a preference in how they receive and process information, typically visually, auditorally, or kinesthetically.
• We can figure out what they prefer by observing their language. Other means exist that I will describe in another podcast.
• We can tailor our communications with the individual to use their preferred system.
• If we are communicating with a group, we need to provide our message in all three systems, especially in our examples.
• We need to know our own preferred system and enhance our use of that system in our internal processing.

Good luck.

If you do not manage yourself, someone else will. And when you allow this to happen, you compromise your ability to provide significant added value to the position you hold. You compromise the ability to serve the stakeholders, the shareholders, and the customers of your organization. You become an agent of someone else, accomplishing their vision and fulfilling their dreams. Being an agent in itself is not bad. We are successful when we help others to be successful. But we need to do this consciously rather than unconsciously.

If we do not have a strategy for self management and the the skills to do so, someone else will manage us instead.

So what is the strategy for self management? We have to start with the mission statement I spoke about several podcasts ago. We live for something. If we do not focus on who we are and what we live for, we can be assured that someone else will provide us that direction for his or her own ends. We need to center ourselves with our mission statement. I have also spoken about the value of a plan and the need for goals in our lives. These features, our mission, our plan, and our goals, create the framework under which we live, manage, and make decisions.

I think there is one other element in this framework. Our mission, our plan, and our goals state what we DO and only implicitly state who we ARE. To borrow a quote from someone, “we are human beings, not human doings.” Actually, I think we are both, but what we do is a result of who we are.

So on another sheet of paper, I encourage you to list who you are, what attributes make you uniquely you. Then review your mission, your plan, and your goals to see how your attributes of being are reflected in your doing.

This is the framework we use for decisions and direction: our mission, our plan, our goals, and our concept of being. This framework keeps us from becoming easily distracted, misdirected, or manipulated.

The podcast is located here.

Have a happy holiday season.

The notes from the podcast are available here.

• Negotiations
  • We negotiate every day of our lives.
    • Are all relationships continuing negotiations?
  • Examples
    • John Grinder: win/win or no deal.
    • Stephen covey: Think win-win.
  • Negotiation is trying to solve the same problem from different perspectives.
    • On the surface, it often appears that the objectives are different.
    • There is a level at which both aspects are part of the same problem.
  • This common area needs to be identified and used as the basis for negotiation.
  • Then the mindset
    • Realize that the problem is a common one.
    • Realize that you will collectively solve the problem.
    • Value the other pseron, his needs, his views and urgencies.
    • Seek win-win rather than win-lose. Covey and Grinder.
    • You can not solve the problem you think someone has until you solve the problem he thinks he has. Timberlake.
    • Understand the need that the other one has.
    • Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Covey

The podcast notes are available here.

• What the manager thinks about his organization matters.
• Request from reader to discuss the Hawthrone experiments
  • Western Electric Company, Chicago
  • 1924-1933
  • change in working conditions had unexpected effects
  • belief that change occurred because subjects knew they were being measured for the effect
• Observer Effect
  • Schrodinger’s cat
    • observation creates meaning
  • can not observe [measure] something without affecting it
    • tire pressure
• Subject expectancy effect
  • subject expects a result and unconsciously manipulates the situation to produce the result
• Observer expectancy effect
  • observer expects a result and unconsciously manipulates the situation to produce the result
• Placebo effect
  • probably Subject Expectancy effect
  • I will please. [latin]
  • the ‘drug’ has no medicial value
  • the patient’s expectation creates positive or negative results
• Pygmalion effect, Roesnthal Effect
  • Teacher expectation of students enhanced student behavior
• Commonality
  • Expectation
    • What the manager expects influences what he gets as a result
    • What the employee expects influences what he produces as a result
  • We can not intact with the organization without affecting it in some way.
    • positive
    • negative
  • People react to a manager’s attention
    • Ph.D. Kenneth Blanchard, M.D. Spencer Johnson: The One Minute Manager
      • one minute praises
      • one minute reprimands
  • our regard for our organization and the individuals in it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.
  • The subconscious mind does not differentiate between a fact and a belief
    • placebo effect
    • mental images
      • Elston Howard and Warren Spahn
    • manager’s motivate beliefs
• Manager’s action items
  • expect the best from everyone
  • regard everyone as a valued contributor
  • promote an environment where people expect the best from themselves
  • be an active participant in the organization
  • promote positive mental images of success
  • discourage negative thinking
  • remember fear and faith
    • fear: mental images of what you don’t want to have happen
    • faith: mental images of what you do want to have happen
  • be authentic, sincere, and legitimate
    • avoid manipulation
      • Hawthorne experiments
    • mind games