How To Improve Your Team’s Success With A Performers Review
In my 29 years of working with leaders and managers, I have rarely heard any of them say, “I’m so excited about doing the performance reviews for my team.” They see it as another “elephant” in their schedule. 🐘
Performance reviews ARE important. Some of the benefits include:
I also believe there is another type of review you should do to improve your team’s success. It’s a performers review. This one is not about their performance per se, but is more about how you are doing as the leader of their team. Hopefully you already get this feedback from your team (formally or informally). If not, a performers review can uncover some of these valuable insights.
I hear your deep sigh and feel your resistance. Self-reflection is hard. Keeping yourself busy protects you from the uncomfortable yet critical work of self-reflection and change. “I don’t have time to think about that right now,” you convince yourself. As I say in Always Growing, “You are always a gardener. What grows, and how it grows, is up to you.”
If you aren’t investing time in looking at how you can be more effective in leading your team, you are allowing all kinds of “weeds” to take root, including:
So while you continue to procrastinate on those performance reviews, why not use some of that time to do your own performers review. Here are the four questions to get you started:
Which performer(s) need more of my attention?
When you are busy as a leader of manager, it’s easy to wait for the problems to come to you. The reality is that some of your team members may be struggling, but not want to say anything to you because you seem so busy.
Which performer(s) are experiencing limited success because of me?
I know that’s a difficult question to ask yourself. Recognize that you aren’t intentionally holding them back… you simply haven’t invested the time to best determine their needs for growth.
Which performer(s) need more applause from me?
Saying “good job” or “I appreciate your work” is always a good start to recognizing a team member for their efforts. How could you take it to the next level for those team members who have been going the extra mile? Some suggestions include:
Be specific: Instead of simply saying "good job," provide specific feedback on what the person did well. For example, say "Great job on completing that project ahead of schedule. Your organization and attention to detail really paid off."
Use positive reinforcement: Connect the "good job" to a positive outcome or consequence. For instance, say "Your excellent performance on this project has really impressed the team. As a result, I would like to assign you a more challenging task next time."
Encourage growth and improvement: Instead of just praising the end result, focus on the effort and progress made. Say something like, "I can see how much effort you put into this project, and it really paid off. I'm excited to see how you continue to grow and improve."
Personalize the praise: Tailor your compliments to the individual's strengths and achievements. Acknowledge their unique contributions and highlight what makes them stand out.
What performer(s) do I want to add to my lineup?
This isn’t necessarily about physically adding someone to your work team. It’s about determining what you need to improve your success professionally or personally. What could someone do (i.e. a performer) that would be of value to you right now? Maybe there’s an assignment you could delegate to an existing team member. Perhaps there’s even a personal project at home you need to hire someone to do to relieve your stress.
While I believe these four questions are essential, you could use others like:
Which performer might be feeling left out right now?
Which performer needs to be inspired/motivated/encouraged?
Which performer needs to be stretched/challenged?
Which performer needs clearer expectations?
Which performer needs a change?
The big idea here is that you are reflecting on how you are growing your team, and what you could do differently to be even more successful in your role. Who knows, doing a performers review first might actually get you excited about doing those performance reviews. Now THAT would be a miracle indeed!
