The Metiss Group's Blog

We’re approaching the time of year when the holidays come fast and furiously.  Your direct report may have family members coming to visit, or they may be traveling out of town for the holidays. College students may be re-entering the home.  Parties may be hosted, homes decorated, and baking prepared.  Of course everyone faces shopping, wrapping, and sending of cards with varying degrees of interest.

The very things that may bring one direct report happiness and excitement may bring another stress or depression.  One-on-ones are designed to be about the employee and their success.  Simply asking about what they have planned for the holidays may give you an idea if they are anticipating the time with trepidation or excitement.  That knowledge may play heavily into your delegation plans, milestones on projects, or resources deployed to projects at hand.

Empower your employees by delegating and supporting their workload based on all of their commitments.

The left and right hemispheres of our brain provide different functions.  Our left brain focuses on tactical or analytical activities while our right brain is used for strategic or creative activities.  We function best when we focus our attention on one of the brain specialities at a time.  In fact, many leaders structure their meetings so as to deal with tactical and strategic thinking in different sessions; however there are times when employing both aspects are critical to the success of a given effort.

Challenge yourself and empower your direct reports to include both tactical and strategic components in their job definitions for short term and long term success.

In his book “The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains”, Nicholas Carr argues that our reliance on the internet is changing how our brains operate.  As we become more reliant on the internet, and electronics in general, our brains are required to do less memorization and deep reading.  With facts and data being just a few keystrokes away, why tax our brains with memorization?  Why read a complete article or book, when with a few clicks several summaries and reviews give us what we need to know?

‘Tis the season…for football, dance, cheerleading, soccer, etc.  As I watched my favorite team scramble for a win on Saturday, I thought about all the coaching these players would get during and after the game, despite the win, as the team worked to improve.

Then I pondered all the feedback we’ve all gotten through the years, probably since we were tots, as we learned sports, the arts, or scholastics.  We expected and paid our coaches, mentors, and teachers to give us feedback.  We were all prepared for typical course corrections, and we didn’t cry about it, we didn’t complain, we used it to improve our next efforts and when we received praise, we knew we earned it.  We knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these leaders from whom we took direction wanted us to win, or succeed in however that’s measured.

So why, as business leaders, do we shy away from giving direct reports course corrections or positive feedback in a timely, specific, direct manner?  I frequently hear “the direct report will get defensive,” or “I don’t want to hurt their feelings,” but with all the experience they’ve had receiving feedback, we know they shouldn’t be fragile.  I can’t help but wonder if it is because we doubt our direct reports really believe our intention is to see them succeed.  Between traditional HR departments telling us “constructive criticism” must be documented in case we ever need to discipline a direct report or sever their employment, and employee representatives working to convince employees their supervisors are out to get them, our intentions are under severe scrutiny.

What if you explain individually to your direct reports you want them to be wildly successful and in order to do that you plan to give them more direct positive feedback and course corrections in a very timely manner, much like all the coaches with whom they grew up?  Look your direct report in the eye and convey your genuine desire to see them succeed and give them permission to challenge you if ever they begin to doubt why or how you are delivering the feedback.  Then watch the trust and productivity soar.

Empower your employees with candid feedback delivered with the commitment to their success and watch your team grow.

Hopefully you have a job description or accountability matrix for each of your key jobs.  This “report card” is essential for holding your direct reports accountable for their performance.

Most leaders do a pretty good job identifying job priorities and success factors, but expected time estimates are often overlooked.  Leaders and direct reports assume a “do whatever it takes” approach to allocating time to the job’s tasks.  While it is true, a direct report’s time needs to be managed to accomplish the job’s expectations, having a time guideline in place and reviewing the time spent can make both you and your direct report more effective.

For example, suppose a sales direct report is expected to spend 50% of their time prospecting, 25% closing, and 25% in admin.  But together you and the direct report realized they are spending 25% prospecting, 25% closing, and 50% in admin; what’s wrong?  You may be overwhelming your sales direct with unnecessary paperwork.  You may have a sales person who doesn’t like prospecting.  In either event you can’t fix the situation if you are not aware of how the job is being done.

Empower your direct reports to “guestimate” the percentage of time they spend on their accountabilities, review it with them, and you’ll be surprised at the success you’ll create.

After much deliberation, you’ve finally made up your mind: you are going to sever the employment of one of your direct reports.  Of course, if you’ve been giving healthy feedback along the way, the employee should not be surprised.

Before reaching this decision, most leaders have had course correction conversations with the troubled direct report.  When you have these tough conversations, make sure there is no doubt in your direct report’s mind, they will lose their job if their performance does not improve.

Make the course corrections direct and clear.  “I’m not happy with your performance,” or “You are on thin ice” leaves too much to interpretation.  Instead try “Tim, I believe you are capable of completing your work on time and we want you to succeed; but keeping your job largely depends on your ability to deliver your reports accurately and on time.  Let’s review your progress in one week.  In the meantime, don’t hesitate to let me know what obstacles I can remove that will help you out.”

Make your feedback clear and you’ll empower your direct reports for success.

Hopefully you have a job accountability matrix for each of your direct reports capturing the job’s activities, priorities, and success factors.  Maybe you have a “job description” instead listing the job’s requirements and expectations.  Maybe you have a tattered sheet of paper detailing what you’d like out of the job.

Whatever you are using to scope your direct report’s job, be sure to review and update it regularly.  We recommend reviewing job accountabilities during each quarterly performance review session.  By reviewing the accountabilities regularly with your direct report, you both are reminded of what is important.

Do not assume the job’s description is static and cannot be changed.  The document is a dynamic, evolving view of the job and should be updated as the job evolves or changes.  Your direct report should be responsible for “owning” this responsibility and keeping you apprised of changes.

Empower your direct reports to manage their job accountabilities and watch both your careers succeed.