PerformancePlus!

Hi faithful readers,

I’m currently preparing for a trip to northern Malibu California where my Son Kyle, his wife Amber and my two grand kids Lola and Leon live. Hence the reason for this brief late post. I am returning on January 16, 2012 and will give you a substantive post on the following day. Sorry for this delay

I will now take this post to discuss some of my findings from this last year’s (2011) blog postings. Out of 2200 reply’s from you my readers, 200 have been very constructive and complimentary of the site and our posts. I have assessed the remaining 2000 as spam or trash for the following reasons:

1. Heavy use of business or personal back-links to promote the response writer’s own stuff (sorry guys this site is not about promoting somebody else s  stuff)

2. Outright references to such things as Porn subjects or unrelated products of services that have nothing to do with the posts.

3. Also numerous posts that do not make any sense at all, total gibberish.

Relalizations:

1. Only around 10% of the responses have something constructive to say and 90% do not even appear to have read the blog’s material

2. I now understand why so many people abandon their blogs because of so many responses of pure crap

Path forward:

So with these realizations I have decided to recommend some RESPONSE PRINCIPLES that those of you that want to constructively participate in a meaningful dialogue through this blog you will have little or no problems with these principles and the rest of you, which may hopefully be only a small handful, I honestly say tough Sh..!

THE RESPONSE PRINCIPLES:

1. If you use a business back-link in the response to a post I will either trash or spam the response.

2. If you do not give me a real name and email I will either trash or spam the response

3. If I send an email question to your comment please respond to the question or let me know you do not have a response. If I do not receive a response I will assume your original post was a spam and I will trash it.

4. A blog is intended to be two way, not just from me to you. So please respond in some way , when you feel moved to do so, to my requests for additional information.

5. If you really do like the blog and its content then offer questions that pertain to specific parts of the content. It helps me to focus on what’s important to you and may help me to think about the subject in a deeper way which in turn can improve the quality of my posts.

6. If you have a different perspective on the blogs specific content then please share it, we all can benefit from a different look.

That’s it for now. I hope you will find these principles helpful as we go forward, thanks,

                                                             Mal Bowen

To all my Family, Friends and Readers.

May your Christmas and New Year be all that you truly desire!

with Love and Care,  Mal and Amanda

The Roles and Responsibilities of Supervision

As you saw from the Mind-Map shown in my previous post in this second set of posts on “Accountability” I will be providing some meat here on the first leg of the Performance Management/Accountability System (PMAS), specifically the roles and responsibilities of supervision. This post will hopefully create a clear context for the development and use of the PMAS. So let’s start with some definitions I have used over the 15+years of managing large teams.

A definition of Supervision: Someone who manages the actions/work of their employees/team in the accomplishment of the necessary tasks and functions in the successful production of a company’s products and /or delivery of a company’s services.

Key roles of Supervision:

• Coach
• Mentor
• Organization advocate
• Employee advocate
• Customer advocate (in superior companies)

Key responsibilities of Supervision:

• Ensure their employees and teams understand and are properly trained to successfully follow the policies and procedures defined by the company
• Staffing
• Employee and team training and development
• Employee and Team Performance Management (setting of goals, delegating, providing feedback, progressive discipline, performance reviews, etc.)
• On the job safety and well being of the employees they supervise

Note: The above lists of roles and responsibilities are not intended to be all inclusive. They do however represent the primaries from my experience.

So using the above as a context I will demonstrate in my 3^rd (December 16, 2011 Post as I’m going to be on vacation at my Son’s home in California on the 19^th of December so you get it a few days early) and 4^th posts of this second set on accountability how to create an effective Performance Management /Accountability System that contributes, in significant ways, to all of the key roles and responsibilities of supervisors and managers in any business. I look forward to creating that next post as an early Christmas present to all of you. PS: Sorry this post was a few days late.

With love and care, Mal Bowen and Amanda Simons

Hi Readers,

We will not be posting this week on “Accountability” because of the Thanksgiving holiday but will continue on the first Monday in December 12-5-11. We fervently hope that these coming holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas and the others being celebrated in other parts of the world) give us all of time to stop and ponder what it would be like to have “World Peace” on our tiny planet and specifically what each of us could do to move us all in that direction. My belief is if we all did a little it could help a lot and that we are all Accountable for making it happen.

May the Divine (in whatever form that takes for you) be with all of us. With love and care.

Amanda Simons and Mal Bowen

This is the beginning of the  second set of posts on “Accountability. Since I’m not clear how many post there will be let’s call this Post 1 of ?. The first 5 “Accountability” posts were about clearly defining accountability both personally and organizationally. In this second set of posts, of which this post is the first, we will show you what a Performance Management System would look like that would ensure that accountability successfully takes place.

The following Mind-Map gives you some high level sense of what will be detailed in our blog on the first and third Monday of each month on this continuing subject of Accountability.

Please continue to post your questions so we can better meet your needs regarding this important subject.

Thanks, Mal Bowen and Amanda Simons

So let’s talk about what all this stuff about accountability means in terms of application (where the rubber meets the road) in the wonderful world of business. To do that I would like to share the basics of how we at Performance Consulting co-create and help you implement a Performance Accountability System (PAS). A brief road-map looks like this:

• Help put in place a Strategic Plan that clearly articulates the Strategic Intents, Strategies and Tactics that are framed in a set of categories/containers that cover the key components of all successful businesses and organizations. (We will detail this Strategic Planning process in are next multipart set of articles following this blog set on Accountability, so stay tuned)

• Out of this planning process we help you create Performance Matrices for yourself and each of your Leadership team members that capture the specific Strategic Intents, Strategies and Tactics that each of them has primary responsibility for. Yes they do share many of them but at the tactic/task level it becomes clear who is primarily responsible and accountable for what.

• Performance Matrices are then prepared by the leadership team members with their direct reports and then throughout the organization at all levels of the business on all Strategic Intents, Strategies, Tactics/Tasks etc.

• The contents of these matrices are formally reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis with all employees and their supervisors. It’s the grist of ongoing conversations about how individual performers are doing and what’s working and not. These conversations point out what needs to change and how those changes will be accomplished and what’s going well. These matrices are formally reviewed and updated quarterly with all team members. As you can see this process makes your Strategic Plan a living document that enables the operational execution of your Strategic Business Plan. It turns plans into actions and actions into results. A great additional benefit is four quarters of matrices are also the substance of a meaningful annual performance review, something of a rarity these days.

• Please see our Website at www.PerformanceConsulting.org for details of the Strategic Planning Process and other services we offer.

There is more to the Performance Accountability System (PAS) but you get the idea. If you would like to discuss this process or any other products or services offered at Performance Consulting please email us at MMBowen@PerformanceConsulting.org or call me at 928-227-3028.  A 30 minute free consultation for all our Blog readers is guaranteed. We know we can help you in this area so please pick up the phone and call today.

Thanks for reading, Mal Bowen

In this month’s feature we are going to provide you some chunks from an Accountability Workbook that my partner Amanda (Toby) Simons has created that identifies many of the major elements of how to build an accountability culture. Cheers!

CREATING A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY

• Use trigger words that help people see when they are stuck in a victim mode
• Tell inspiring stories
• Manage by walking around
• Use the frame work (clearly outlined and detailed in our accountability workshop-ask me about this workshop)
• Create role models
• Create expectations for accountability
• Remove finger pointing, blame and punishments from the environment
• Focus on positive movement forward (what’s affirming movement verses what is not)

HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

• Clearly define the desired results
• Determine where and when possible a mutually agreed upon time for a progress reports and the completed outcomes
• Deliver praise, coaching and clear constructive improvement recommendations

LEADERS MUST ROLL MODEL ACCOUNTABILITY

Things leaders can do to stimulate and model accountability:

• Remember you are accountable for your own personal work AND for assuring that the work of the department is completed. This means you are accountable for assuring that your employees are also completing their work.
• Constantly ask yourself the questions, “What else can I do?” to achieve the result I desire?  Never get complacent and think that there isn’t a better way to do things or more things that can help.
• Always urge your people to ask the same question.  Let it be known that you expect them to explore what they can do. If they come seeking help, walk them through a self reflection.  Help them think and they will become more competent and more confident.
• Invite people to give you feedback on whether or not they perceive you operating from accountability.
• Provide honest, yet encouraging feedback to others who fall into a victim mode.
• Train and coach subordinates on an ongoing basis to enlarge their skill set and capabilities.  In the long run, development benefits the company though competent staff and employees by enabling them to continue to learn and grow.
• Develop Performance (Accountability) Matrices with every employee. These provide a way to have jointly agreed upon performance measures and goals.
• Actively observe activities and offer coaching, rather than wait for others to report their progress on assignments.
• Never delay reporting progress.
• Focus your discussions on things that you and others can control rather than on the uncontrollable.

ACCOUNTABILITY IN A NUT SHELL

• Take responsibility for saying “yes” or “no” when asked to do something

• Make clear agreements about what you will do, what kind of help you think you may need, and by when you will complete the task

• Once you do so, you own your actions which means you are not the victim of anything or anyone

• Do whatever with integrity it takes to fulfill your commitments to action

• Seek help when you get stuck or don’t know what to do next

• Tell the right people in a timely manner about your status, when you are going to be late, have problems, or need input

• Work until you are complete or make arrangements for a complete transfer to someone else who will complete it

• Fix the problems, which includes getting help when needed

• Take the credit when it due, and likewise, take responsibility when something goes wrong

• And when it is necessary transfer ongoing tasks to others in a comprehensive way so that the ball is never dropped

Bottom line, you are 100% responsible for the outcomes of tasks you agree to take on. All of this adds up to creating and environment where being accountable is accepted as the norm not the exception.

If you are like many managers, you may think that accountability is purely an individual issue.  It is true that the way work is accomplished is through the efforts of an individual or groups of individuals.  And of course individuals must carry out their commitments.  But if you think this is sufficient to maintain high levels of accountability, please think again.

Organizations play a critical and essential role in making it possible for individuals to fulfill their accountabilities.  Accountability is a natural outgrowth of good planning, conscious organizational design, and ongoing communication within the organization. Organizations create the container in which accountability occurs.  By container, I mean the processes systems, structures and culture that enable people to:

1. Know what the company is focused on accomplishing and by when.
2. Understand how their particular role or job contributes to the company achieving its goals.
3. Have an agreement with the employer about what is to be accomplished, by when and to what standard.
4. Create linkages with others who may impact the results of their accountabilities.
5. Get the training in specific skills that may be needed to do their jobs.
6. Get help removing barriers and obtaining the needed resources to accomplish their goals.

Ultimately, the organization is your people and in the context of this conversation, the main person who impacts an employee’s ability to carry out their accountabilities is the immediate supervisor.  Every study that has ever been done on organizational performance points to the key role the supervisor plays in how employees feel about the company and how they perform, or don’t.  And supervisor in this sense applies to any manager who has others reporting to him or her.  So Boards, CEO’s and senior managers are also supervisors.  Creating accountability is the job of everyone who supervises starting at the top of the company.

So what are the things that must be in place to assure that the organizational container is strong and can support the individuals in the company to be successful?  We feel that essential steps in building a solid accountability foundation include the following.

Step 1: Think Systemically

The first and perhaps most important step in creating accountability is viewing the need for accountability from a whole system perspective.  The individual is always working inside the organization and all the systems in the organization must be consciously designed to create the structures that support individuals in being accountable.

Step 2: Have an Operational Plan

If you actually view accountability in the context of the overall plan and design of your business, you will soon realize that it must be tied to your strategies, tactics and action plans.  If you do not, people may end up working on job tasks that are unrelated to your strategic focus. Accountability gets tied to strategic planning through an operational plan.  And the more specific this plan is for all areas in the company, the better.

Step 3: Implement a Performance Management System

Performance management speaks directly to the job of good supervision. Some of the givens are clear and current job descriptions, good hiring practices, training and development, and ongoing coaching.  It is also important to have good market driven compensation systems, solid reward and recognition programs, and effective evaluation practices. The three main components of performance management that we tend to find missing are:

1. Direct linkage of the individual’s roles and responsibilities to the operational plan.
2. Mutually established and understood performance expectations that are reviewed regularly (at least quarterly and more ofter where appropriate).
3. Freedom to act. By this we mean, the individual is clear what their authority is and are able to exercise it without constraint.

Step 4: Ensure Individual Accountability

Once all of these things are in place, it is possible to help an employee on an individual basis be accountable.  But once again, this requires a lot of set up and input from the supervisor.  It must be clear that the employee is committed to the company. They must be willing to take responsibility, which means take ownership for their actions and decisions. They must be empowered which comes from the organization.  This means they are given the needed authority to act.  It also means they have the needed skills, support and input to be successful. Only then can accountability really occur. And in this sense accountability means doing whatever is ethically necessary to make sure the desired outcomes are realized, mistakes are corrected, and then ensuring the organization learns from those mistakes so that performance improves over time.

Step 5:  Monitoring and Altering

Finally, it is critical that both the supervisor and the employee have a plan in place to constantly monitor progress of specific accountabilities. In this way, both will know that things are on track, if adjustments are needed, or if additional resources and support are required.  In the absence of a good monitoring system, good plans will go awry. Then use this process to administer consequences both positive and negative. All of us want to know how we are doing both what’s working and what is not. It’s the only way we can improve. The importance of these conversations can not be over emphasized. The details of this step are another feature article that will come in a future issue. So stay tuned.

In our experience, creating organizational accountability is a major ongoing commitment of attention and resources within the company.  The good news is the payoff is big. You will have more involved and committed employees who take responsibility for getting things done.  Bottom line, effective accountability throughout a company is what makes the difference between poor or mediocre results and high performing individuals and teams.

Well that’s it for today. Part 3 of 5 will be posted on the blog the 19th of September, 2011. Please let me know what worked or didn’t work for you in this post and what questions you have about what was said, and most important what your thoughts are.

Hello to all our fellow travelers,

I(Mal Bowen) just relocated to Dewey, Arizona where I’m continuing my spiritual practice and movement, my consulting practice and beginning to relax a little in this wonderful environment with lots of friends and great surroundings.I will say I’m still about a week away from having most of my office and home in place, so wish me luck. Bon Chance!

This blog part of our Performance Consulting website called PerformancePlus! will be a sharing of learning’s and questions from both myself and Amanda(Toby) my wife and partner. These learning’s and questions will be drawn from both our personal and professional lives as the distinction at this point in our lives has become harder to make. I only hope you will join us with your comments and submissions if you like the playground for learning we are trying to create. I will be posting roughly once a week starting now. I’m going to start with a post I used a few days over 5 years ago today as a beginning, so bare with me for any of you that remember it.