If you ask most managers what their biggest challenges are, most will give you an answer related to employee management. It might be discipline, dealing with conflict or employee productivity issues. Let’s face it, most managers don’t start out wanting to manage people, most end up there because they are good at doing the technical part of their jobs. Of course there are managers who are naturally good at being leaders and they are able to have happy, productive employees. However, for the majority of people, leadership is tough and how to get the most out of employees can be difficult.
Although it does take time and effort, becoming a successful leader is not rocket science. The first premise you must believe, is that the majority of people come to work wanting to do a good job. If you don’t believe that you might as well stop reading and find some other way to pass your time.
But what goes wrong? Why is it that everyone has good intentions but miscommunications happen and problems arise? Too many times managers wait until they are so aggravated that all they want to do is fire the person. It really is possible to avoid these types of situations and make sure both manager and employee get the most out of their working relationship. Managers can create a coaching environment where the goal is to help the employee succeed by following a few simple steps.
1. Set expectations – this means sitting down with employees and discussing what needs to be done and what it looks like when the person is successful. (For example - Joe needs to make sure that by the first of the month, every month, a report is sent to the senior management team. This report needs to include the following information, then list exactly what needs to be in the report). The other key with this step is to make sure that you get confirmation from the employee that they understand what you want. Just because you are totally confident that you know what you want doesn’t mean the person listening gets it. It also gives the employee a chance to ask questions. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the employee knows what to do, this is where misunderstands arise.
2. Follow-up with one-on-one meetings - the frequency depends on the position, more complex management or technical positions most likely would benefit from meeting every couple of weeks and for more routine jobs once a month may be sufficient. During these meetings you have the opportunity to find out if the employee is running into issues, or if you have issues with their performance this is a good time to address it in a non-threatening manner. The sooner you can discuss problems the more at ease you both will be. This is your opportunity to coach the employee and keep them on the right track. This is also a great opportunity to talk about the employee’s career aspirations and how you can assist in their development or to find out if they are having any problems or if they need your help. A word of caution, don’t let these meeting replace spot feedback that is important and necessary. If an issue crops up that needs to be addressed and you won’t be meeting with the person for days or weeks, make sure to take the person aside and discuss the problem. Also if someone does something good, you shouldn’t wait to give them that feedback either.
3. Formal Performance Reviews – most likely your company already does this, but don’t wait until that annual performance review to have a formal conversation about performance. If you are conducting your one-on-one meetings you on the right track, but half way through the year you should sit down and conduct a more formal performance review. This will help make sure the goals that were set are still pertinent and it also gives both parties a chance to make adjustments if the performance is not where it should be. By the time you get to the final performance review, there won’t be that same negative anticipation that most likely existed in the past since there won’t be any surprises.
Although you may be wondering how to fit this in to your already busy schedule, it is worth the time and effort! You can improve productivity, improve retention and both things equate to an improvement in the bottom line. Once you start on a regular schedule, your one-on-one meetings can be quick and to the point if there are no issues, and if there are issues you will be saving yourself time in the long run. If you need to deal with disciplinary problems it can become very time consuming and can also result in issues for the whole team. So next time you think you don’t have the time to have meetings to set expectations or to hold one-on-ones, consider how you would rather spend your time and energy, dealing with problems or creating an open, effective coaching environment for your team.
Tips for Giving Feedback
Giving feedback effectively is important, and if you do it right, it is a lot easier to give. Just saying “good job” may make the person feel good but it won’t ensure that they repeat that behavior again. If you tell someone exactly why they did a good job, they will know what to repeat in the future. So make sure you include what was done right, then why it was effective. For example, “John, when you gave such a detailed report to the group it was really an excellent job, that detail really helped them to understand the material and helped them to get on board with the project.”
For negative feedback you do the same thing but add what they could have done that would have improved the outcome. “John, when you gave your report I could see that the group was confused, they had more questions at the end then when you started. An alternative way to approach a report like that in the future would be to add more detail so that people really understand what you are trying to tell them.” Also, always stay away from getting into personalities or making your comments personal, stick to the facts and if appropriate the behavior.
Bad feedback can do more damage than no feedback so make sure you are making the most of the feedback you are giving. Whenever you read articles about why employees leave companies, the number one reason is very often their relationship with their direct supervisor and giving effective feedback as well as constant communication can improve that relationship.
