170Managing Individuals
listen to the elements of the critique that they’ve honed in on, and
pay atten tion to the images and metaphors they use. If you don’t
under stand something, ask.
•
Noticing nonverbal cues. Observe your employee’s body language
and tone. Do their voice and facial expressions match what they’re
saying? Comment on what you see and ask them to tell you more
about it: “Bill, you seem angry. Did something I say seem unfair to
you? Tell me about it.”
• Paraphrasing what your employee says. By restating a response
in different words, you show them that you understand their point.
If anything is unclear, ask more questions until you are on the
same page.
Step 5: Create a new performance plan
Give your employee the fi rst opportunity to develop a plan to close any
gaps between their current and required performance: “What would you
propose?” They’ll be more committed to a solution they’ve authored and
more explicitly responsible for carrying it out. As with coaching, you can
challenge questionable assumptions or offer ideas to strengthen the plan.
In some cases, you’ll need to be very directive. For staff with major perfor-
mance gaps, the product of this conversation will be part of their record
and should include:
• Specifi c goals
• A timeline
• Action steps
• Expected outcomes
• Required trainings or resources
You don’t need to limit this conversation to strengths and problem
areas. Since an entire year may have passed since their last performance
review, take this opportunity to reexamine their overall performance goals,
Giving Eff ective Feedback171
too. Do they still make sense—for the individual team member, for your
unit, and for the organization as a whole?
Step 6: Get it on the record
Document whatever agreements you make and include:
• The date
• Key points from your employee’s self-appraisal
• Key points from your appraisal
• A summary of the performance plan
• Agreed-on next steps
• Performance goals for the coming year
Your company will likely require you to provide copies of this record
(as well as the review itself) to your direct report and HR. Keep a version
in your own fi les, too. In most cases, you and your employee will both have
to sign the review, and your employee has a legal right to append their own
comments.
Step 7: Follow up
After your annual performance review discussions, make note of the
follow-up that’s required with each of your team members. For high per-
formers, it might include coaching discussions to prepare them for new
responsibilities. Employees who are struggling should be monitored care-
fully around the performance plan you jointly developed. Consider these
options for your follow-up:
• Planning monthly or quarterly meetings to check progress
• Checking in virtually on a more frequent basis—for example, with
weekly email updates or a digital performance log
• Initiating a coaching relationship
172Managing Individuals
• Helping them connect with a mentor
• Auditing their needs for more resources or training
Giving feedback during a performance review is more formal and
therefore requires steps, like more elaborate documentation and prepara-
tion. But in delivering your review, the same principles apply as in the in-
formal feedback you supply more frequently: listen actively and maintain
a tone of partnership.
Both corrective and positive feedback, given well, can solve imminent
problems and also help your employees grow in their careers. By giving
feedback in a way that your employees can hear and act on, you’ll build
their trust in you as a guide and advocate, and provide value for your orga-
nization as well.
Recap
■
Giving your team members feedback is critical to helping them succeed in
their jobs.
■
Positive feedback reinforces good work. Corrective feedback urges the
recipi ent to change course or adjust practices that aren’t working.
■
Sharing feedback in real time gives you and your employee the best chance
to resolve the issue in question.
■
Following a process in which you ask questions and have an open view of the
outcome of your feedback will make it more eff ective and easier for your col-
league to hear.
■
Coaching is a proactive dialogue between you and your team members
intended to foster high performance and long-term development.
■
Though coaching is not just for your stars, not all situations are right for
coaching.
Giving Eff ective Feedback173
■
Similar principles hold for delivering performance reviews as for other
forms of feedback, though performance reviews also call for more-formal
documentation.
Action items
When giving feedback:
❏
Seek an objective understanding of the situation you want to address by
examining your own biases and assumptions.
❏
Plan what you want to say in the conversation and rehearse with a col-
league if you can. Let your employees know ahead of time what the topic
of your meeting is, so they don’t feel blindsided.
❏
During the meeting, talk about behaviors, rather than motivations.
❏
Elicit your employee’s perspective on the issue and resist the urge to
esca late the interaction if you feel challenged; ask more questions.
❏
Close the meeting by looking ahead: What agreement can you make
about next steps and future expectations?
When coaching:
❏
Check the list of cues given earlier to determine if the situation you are
facing now is right for coaching.
❏
Prepare for a coaching session by thinking through your own goals for
the coaching relationship.
❏
Open the meeting by asking your employee to take the lead. Listen to
what’s currently on their mind, and look for links between their goals
and yours. Use that common ground to defi ne a shared goal for your
partnership.
❏
Build a shared understanding of the issue you’re working on by asking
open-ended questions. Resist the urge to correct or override the em-
ployee’s point of view.
174Managing Individuals
❏
Reframe the issue by helping them see themes in what they’ve told you
and off ering new lenses on the problem.
❏
Close with a concrete action plan for what they’ll do next. Let them take
the lead here, but off er advice about what’s realistic.
❏
Follow up afterward with a formal coaching session or in casual
conversation.
When conducting a performance review:
❏
Ask your employee to conduct a self-appraisal. Use this, along with other
records of performance, to create your own comprehensive review of
their work.
❏
Open the meeting with a tone of partnership by asking your employee to
share a self-appraisal. Maintain a professional, friendly tone throughout.
❏
Next, go over your assessment of their performance. Balance positive
and constructive feedback, described in straightforward language.
❏
Probe for the root cause of a performance gap by asking for their per-
spective on a problem. Continue to discuss until you both understand
the underlying cause.
❏
Invite your employee to take the lead in creating a new performance plan
with specifi c goals and a timeline. Get plans on record and distribute
appropriately.
❏
Identify your own follow-up items, including regular check-ins, coaching
sessions, or other support as needed.
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.