Mutual Performance Evaluations Most work groups get by pretty well with a manager evaluating each employee's performance annually. The rest of the year, people get praised when they do a good job and corrected when they don't. Change Teams, Champions and Team Coaches require a lot more feedback much more frequently. One reason for this is that the people working together on a Change Initiative usually don't know each other that well. Another reason is that these initiatives don't last very long, certainly not a year. Because a Change Team, Champion and Team Coach work without a boss, they must constantly monitor and manage each other's performance. Take time to evaluate what's going on in these relationships frequently. A team, its Champion and Team Coach must make every effort to learn from surprises, failures and successes throughout the Change Initiative. What can be learned from "lucky breaks?" How can you generate more "luck" like that? What is there to learn from disappointments and breakdowns? How will these serve you as you complete your work? Talk about team, Champion and Team Coach performance issues at least every two weeks. This is useful to help the team and the Champion (and the team and the Team Coach) determine where they stand with one another. Make notes of these checks so everyone can go back and review where they have been and see more clearly where they are going. Change Teams, Champions and Team Coaches have a short time to do a lot of work. If performance is not discussed regularly, everyone will likely fall into the habit of tolerating disappointments and ignoring excellence. The Change Team's performance may be in trouble if four weeks pass without creating visible results in the Change Initiative. If the Team goes beyond six weeks without making an obvious change to the process, it should seriously consider disbanding. If the team does not disband, the Team Coach and/or Champion should seriously consider resigning from the team. If either of them resigns from the team because it is not performing, the team may be out of business. Other Team Coaches and Champions likely won't take the team on, and a team can't continue without them. As the team forms, agree to a few questions everyone will answer about their own performance on a regular basis. Questions like: What percent of my commitments am I making on time? How am I contributing to others' performance? What actions have I taken to improve teammate performance? Your team should select its own performance review questions. Fair warning: performance reviews by your peers are often tougher and more straightforward than ones you may be used to getting from a manager. Open, honest, direct and frequent communication about performance between the Champion and the team as well as the Team Coach and the team is a necessity. That communication also ensures everyone remains aligned on the initiative and its progress. Written by Heidi Jeanne Hess (Veronica Boaz and Doug Wesley contributed) Check Point (Please complete and submit the Form below) When
you are finished Updated: July 5, 1998 |
