My company is performing quarterly performance reviews this month, which means that members of my team are to submit a series responses to self-evaluation type questions, one of which is to describe their role and duties. One of the members of my team responded to that question with a copied and pasted version of their job description from our company’s website.
At first I was a little surprised and frustrated that they would put so little thought and effort into their responses. How could they expect to get anything of value out of our performance review meeting without putting any effort or thought into their behaviors over the last three months. Without that pre-work and serious introspection, our performance review meeting was going to be a waste of time.
Performance Reviews Suck
Then it occurred to me that that was exactly the point. These meetings had been a waste of time everywhere I had ever worked. Human Resources dictates that you must do performance reviews, because that’s what serious companies do. A manager takes hours of their busy week to remind their reports to fill out the company mandated paperwork, and then has to read the responses and schedule a meeting to talk about it. Notes are taken at the meeting, submitted to HR, and then never spoken of again.
I’ve never had the results of a quarterly or yearly review impact my job or career in any way, and I it was very rare that a manager put more than a nominal effort into caring about this process or my career. I would bet that the person who submitted their job description as their thoughts on their role at the company had had similar experiences. Why put in the effort if it won’t have any impact? Why put any thought into a document that is intended to check a box and will go into a filing cabinet to never see the light of day again?
The real question wasn’t why hadn’t they put any thought or effort into the responses, but why would anyone. As leaders, it’s our job to communicate to the team that any effort they put into their career will be supported and reciprocated by us. If they’re willing to put in the time to seriously self-examine your behaviors and determine which of those behaviors support your goals and which undermine then, then so will I. If they want to take a training class to expand your skillset, then I’ll help them manage their tasks and schedule to make sure they can do it.
In the end, once the direct report believes that they are not the only person who cares about their career, then they’ll start to open up to you about their goals, and they’ll be more receptive of criticism because they’ll trust that it’s constructive and coming from a desire to help. This same criticism, given before that trust has been built will not be so quickly or gladly received. In other words, if it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.
Better One-on-Ones
My quarterly performance reviews this month went very well, in part because no one was surprised. Their goals were things that we had discussed at their weekly one-on-ones. Any behaviors that I had noticed that I thought were counterproductive had been mentioned, and a plan for remediating those behaviors had been put in place. Progress towards goals was tracked at every meeting. The performance review had just become a formalized extension of a meeting that we had had weekly for months.
These meetings, like quarterly reviews, had always been painful for me everywhere else I had ever been. They were cancelled more often then not, because my manager had a conflict. This told me exactly where in the list of my manager’s obligations I stood. When we did have them, they were always updates from me to my manager about what I had been working on and when I thought I would be done. In other words, my one-on-one was intended to serve my manager’s need for an update and were always about my job and never about my career.
I believe that one-on-one’s, like a leader’s entire job, is to serve the direct report. My one-on-ones are focused entirely on the needs, concerns, and goals of those I’m meeting with. I only reschedule the meeting in the most urgent of circumstances, and almost never cancel it. Managing my team and their concerns is the most important part of my job, and this meeting is an opportunity to express that.
These meetings don’t have to be dire wastes of time. They can provide real value to the company, to the manager, and to the direct reports. At the end of every meeting I always ask if there is anything I can do to help, anything I can do to support them better, and every week someone says something that they hadn’t volunteered earlier. These comments, which would have otherwise gone unsaid, have led directly to the improvement of organizational processes. These improvements won’t happen if you focus on your needs instead of those of your direct reports.
Here is a summation of advice on how to win at one-on-ones:
- Don’t reschedule. These meetings are important, and should be treated that way. Exceptions to this rule should be very rare.
- Take notes throughout the week about things to mention at the meeting. These can be compliments for good work, concerns about behaviors, or organizational updates to share with them. If you don’t note it, you won’t remember to bring it up.
- ALWAYS focus on your direct report. If you take care of your team’s goals, your goals will take care of themselves. Use this time to find out what they need from you to better succeed.
- ALWAYS follow-up. If you commit to doing something in this meeting, do it and then provide an update at the next meeting. Nothing will lose you credibility faster than offering to help, but then not doing anything.
With a little effort and the right mindset, you can make one-on-ones and their awkward cousin, the performance review, fun, and informative. There’s so much value in these meetings that goes uncaught, because everyone has learned to expect so little from them. I wish you the best of luck changing that perception where you work.