There is this dance that we do with our work and possibly with our lives.
It's not the "do it once and do it right" type mentality.
It's more the "effective vs efficient" discussion.
Today - let me talk about Performance Reviews.
We want to make sure our performance reviews get completed at our company. And, we want them to be valuable, meaningful, impactful and worthwhile. That is a massive challenge.
To make something meaningful, impactful, worthwhile can take a lot of thought and a lot of time.
We came up with a process that makes a lot of sense and focuses on the "ONE thing" you can do that will have the greatest impact on your professional career and on the company. We give people a fair amount of room around that thought.
It doesn't have to be measurable, though it should be specific.
There is no "right" answer.
It can benefit the employee more, or the company more, doesn't matter.
What matters is that it is something meaningful that the employee is passionate about and that makes a real impactful contribution to them, the company, or ideally both! (In my mind, ANY employee doing something they are passionate about, has a positive affect on the company).
We have a quick discussion about strengths and opportunities. Ideally, more of a conversation. If the employee is underperforming - there is a separate process for that discussion. The performance review is meant for people that are "performing" and we want them to grow and enjoy their experience with the company more and perform even better at the same time.
So, in order to get it done, we put the entire process into our web-based tool that facilitates email notifications, reporting, etc.
The MOMENT we put it into that system, it gives a "corporate" flavor to the exercise. It's hard to have a really personal conversation when at the end I have to ask you to hit the "I Agree" button.
And, trying to administer 500 reviews and keep track of them requires some kind of system.
So, last year we started. We got 90+% complete throughout the year, but most people discussed the "ONE thing" only during the review, and many of the "one things" were fairly trivial or less than passionate activities.
THINK ABOUT IT... What is the ONE thing you would love to get better at? The ONE way you want to GROW this year? The ONE thing, that if you accomplished it, would have the greatest impact on your life, or at least your working life AND on the company? THAT'S AN EXCITING CONVERSATION... or at least it has the potential to be.
We need everyone to bring the right energy to that discussion. Especially the managers. So, to do it IMPACTFULLY requires training, requires setting up the people giving the conversation not only with the right idea of what we are trying to accomplish, but also with the right mindset, and the right 'approach and skill set' to facilitate it... TALL ORDER.
And, then we push people to GET IT DONE, on top of your daily workload of course.
We initially set a goal that all of the plans be done by March 31st. That was too aggressive. So, we moved it to April 30th. We had 95% complete by April 30th and we got to 100% in May. First time ever as a company that we got 100% done this early. AWESOME!
Now, we go back and look at the quality of the one things, and there is great variability. As you would expect.
Raise your glass 100% completion earlier than ever before! YAY!
But wait... my goal was not to do 100%, but to impact the lives of as many of our employees in a positive way with this process. Where is our follow up?
And, are we giving people feedback on their one things to make them clear and impactful... to evolve them... to stay engaged with them... that is the next step.
I am too critical - people that work with me tell me that. Because, I am constantly dissatisfied with the IS. And, while there is truth to that... I appreciate the IS... We have accomplished a better outcome than we ever have before. That deserves celebrating. But, that wasn't my goal. That is a step toward our goal. We have "completion" but we want "impact".
And, true, without any additional input, there will be "some" impact from this effort. But, think of all of the impact there could be - with every person we truly engage in this exercise - not just to "completion" but to "purpose".
I see this struggle in virtually ALL business exercises and processes, as well as life ones by the way... "Getting it done" vs "Maximizing the Impact". I see it everyday.
The truth is that you "maximizing the impact" is a function of time... It is in large part, time to think, and then the time to execute that thinking.
The thoughts that I can create and execute in an hour or a day, are different than the thoughts that I can create and execute in a week, or a month or a year.
Tryiing to maximize the impact of everything scares people. I get that. And, I am guilty of that too often. I want to maximize the impact of every friendship, of every process, of every workout... A lot of people don't like or appreciate that pressure. I am not sure I do.... It's just who I am.
LIFE (and business) requires COMPROMISE.
We want the GREATEST IMPACT in the TIME ALLOTTED for that task... and the TIME allotted should be set by the strategic impact of the task itself.
We often fail at prioritizing... and we end up giving time to the thing we care about most, or is most nagging, or is most urgent, instead of the one that will make the biggest impact.
This is where alignment of leaders in companies (or parents) is so important.
i do believe that with little effort you can exponentially transform the experience of things.
And, I also believe that everything can also be better.
And, I also KNOW that if we try to maximize everything - we FAIL at everything.
It is much better to decide and move forward and submit things with partial quality AND then come back to them and iterate them further, than not submit them at all.
I heard a exercise coach just yesterday saying, "SOME ACTION is better than INACTION". I get it and completely agree...
And, my job, or my fiber, is to make WHATEVER ACTION we take more purposeful... because I am convinced it makes the execution of that action more interesting and the return on that time more meaningful.
Life is a constant battle - or better - dance between completion and impact. It requires people who are more inclined to both - otherwise it's a line dance, and who really likes those?
I want an interpretive, free-style, improvised dance between completion and impact. I want them both... I just don't want anything to be mechanical... done for the sake of doing it... done "just to check the box"...
That... in my opinion is a sin. I don't want my name on anything that is done just to "check a box"...
Life is to short...
Be aware of the trade-offs...
Engage even briefly in the possibility of impact...
Make it count... but it never counts if its never done.
in harmony,
Nestor