Tag Archives: feedback

04-Managing a project team, creativity methods, feedback, stress-testing recommendations, team dynamics, team roles

4 Ways You Can Drive Seismic Performance

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As I reflected on Professor Noonan’s closing remarks last week, I thought about how can I make a difference to my team. How can I bring value not only to my department, but also to my employer. Professor Noonan emphasized that everyone has the potential to make a contribution, to think of some process or task that can help drive results and improve productivity.

I came across this article on Forbes that drove home this point for me, “4 Ways You can Drive Seismic Performance”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericschiffer/2014/08/13/3-ways-you-can-drive-seismic-performance/

The article suggests the following key takeaways:

1) Face Yourself On the Stand And Fire Away – Step back and reflect on what matters most to the company to elevate it. It can be as simple as automating a report.

2) Act to Kill – This sounds a little violent :), but it is just a sensational way that the article suggests that you should be deliberate and consistent in achieving your daily professional goals. Act!

3) Commit or Go Home – Commit and do not fear failure.

4) Rewire the Jet at 36000 feet – Keep progressing even in the face of hindrances.

In essence, “figure it out” and “get it done!”

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics

7 Ways to Build Accountable Organizations

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I believe that my organization needs to change our system of accountability and feedback.  We all walk the halls and complain to each other about how things could be better and that so-and-so department doesn’t do their job properly, but no action is ever taken!  It’s almost as if pointing out someone’s flaw is looked down upon instead of seen as trying to build a weakness into a strength.  We do have annual reviews with our managers but I don’t think any real constructive criticism takes place because we all continue to work in the same manner that we have for the past seven years since I’ve been at this company.  Don’t get me wrong- I really enjoy my company and plan to make a career there, but I think we could definitely be better.

This article I found on Forbes.com expresses some views of how to create a culture of accountability. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccl/2012/02/28/7-ways-to-build-accountable-organizations/2/

My wife is blessed to work in an organization where feedback is constantly provided on an employees performance.  It is amazing to see how efficient her co-workers behave and how well motivated they all seem to be.  Their feedback driven culture echoes the authors sentiments about continuous improvement and constant evaluation.  I need to figure out a way to get my wife’s company’s culture into my company.

I believe that I will soon be in a position to lead one of our three sales teams so I will definitely start with what I can control.  The more challenging task will be to take our model of accountability and spread it into the other departments.  In order for our company to succeed we all need to know that the other groups are performing as well as possible.  To me it all comes down to communicating clear expectations and not being shy to question a process, especially if things could be done better.

Is your company one of constant feedback?  Do you have any interesting methods of enforcing accountability besides compensation structure?  I am all ears . . .

04-Managing a project team, feedback

How to Give Meaningful Feedback

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Coinciding with much of what Professor Smith taught us Fall semester, Michael J. Maubossin, an investment strategist and author of The Success Equation,  was featured in a video on hbr.org in which he suggests 4 tips to provide meaningful feedback to employees.

  1. Ignore the factors your employees can’t control

    Companies that incent employees with stock prices ignore the fact that stock prices often follow market trends, so it can be an inaccurate measure of a company’s or employee’s success.  Consulting firms  sometimes reward based on days of utilization — a metric dependent not upon performance of the consultant, but upon how many consulting engagements sold by the firm’s salespeople.

  2. Understand the difference between luck and skill

    The author presents a basic rule of thumb: if the person can perform a task poorly on purpose, then the result is likely based on skill. If not, then the result is based on luck. “You can’t lose the lottery on purpose, but you can lose the big sale.”

  3. Pick a metric that is persistent and predictive

    In this context, persistent means that you get the same results time after time, i.e., accountants completing reports accurately and on time. Predictive means if employees do well with that metric, they serve the goal the company is trying to achieve. For example, timely financials correlate with building company value.

  4. Focus on employee behavior and process

    A focus on process ensures the best odds for long term success of the employee and the company and is most conducive to identifying and correcting performance decreasing behavior.

In my experience,  picking a predictive and persistent metric is the most important concept to keep in mind when developing a feedback program. Giving employees clear expectations provides them a means to guide and measure their behavior and allows management to more easily hold employees to the company standard.

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics, team roles, Uncategorized

How to Give Constructive Feedback

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Giving feedback can be one of the hardest things we do as managers or employees. Somehow the word “feedback” has taken on a negative connotation. But getting or giving feedback doesn’t have to be painful — and it’s a skill we are all going to have to learn.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard at my company is the fact we don’t get enough feedback throughout the year.  Many people joke that if they don’t hear any complaints, they just assume they are doing a good job.  But feedback is essential for mitigating problems — and helping employees realize their full potential.

Forbes has a great article on tips to how to make the feedback process better for you and your employees. Here are some of the key tips I got out of it:

1. Be honest. Employees can spot a manager that’s not being straightforward a mile away. Just keep your comments short and sweet.

2. Give real-life examples. Keep track of what the employees is doing wrong or right. It helps you to understand where they’re coming from, and why they’re doing certain things.

3. Lay out a plan of action. Figure out ahead of time how to mitigate negative behavior or reward good work.  It doesn’t help to say “You need to work on this,” or “Great job!”  You and the employee need to put a plan in place that’s actionable, achievable and will help them move forward.

4. Be willing to accept feedback yourself. Employees aren’t perfect. And neither are managers. This helps foster trust between employees and managers if you can take your own advice!

So what’s been your best or worst experience with feedback?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2013/11/19/how-to-foster-employee-trust-and-growth-through-constructive-feedback/

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, creativity methods, feedback, team dynamics, team roles, Uncategorized, work plans

Managing Virtual Teams

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We often have to work with people in different cities in my business, and sometimes even different time zones! It can be a huge challenge to coordinate work with people you usually don’t see on a day to day basis.  It seems like more and more companies are moving to teleworking, so I thought it would be good to go over some key tips on managing a virtual team:

1) Organize regular meetings with individuals as well as the team as a whole.

This doesn’t have to be in-person; a phone call or Skype can be just as effective. The main thing is you want to make sure everyone is on the same page. The team needs to feel cohesive and like they are all “in the loop” on what’s happening. We do daily “show calls” with all of our team members in Abu Dhabi, London and here in Atlanta. While this may not be feasible for every team, even a set weekly/monthly phone call can be good to foster communication and a sense of inclusiveness.  A phone meeting is also a good way to address any team problems out in the open.

2) Rotate locations: Try to make sure members spend some time physically with the team in their home base, even if all members can’t all be there at once.

This is a critical part of getting a team to work together effectively. Once you put a face with that voice on the phone, you form a  personal connection with that person. It’s also good to see how people function differently while working in the same room. This gives you the opportunity to confront any workflow or personnel issues. This would also be a good time to help the team bond through a social activity, games, etc.

3) Recognize cultural sensitivity.  Be aware of cultural differences on your team so you can head off any potential issues.

I work with people from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life. It is so important to be aware that people often have very different styles of communication and management.  A good way to head off issues is to make the team aware of the expectations for communication and conflict resolution. For example, a manager could instruct team members to mediate conflict themselves, before rushing to upper management to handle the situation.  Team building exercises and cultural awareness classes could also help.

The biggest takeaway I got from this article is the importance of having good communication!  It’s not easy managing a team flung across different cities or countries. But the team will work a lot more smoothly if everyone is kept in the loop, and any problems are dealt with quickly and transparently.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2013/06/20/managing-virtual-teams-ten-tips/

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics

Effective Delegation

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At work I am often tasked with ensuring that younger engineers are  billable on my projects. I find this task much more difficult than the project itself, probably because of my ineffectiveness at delegation. Carl Selinger, in The Art of Delegating, discusses 4 ways engineers can be better delegators:

  • “Clearly describe what needs to be done and by when”: Here Mr. Selinger discusses creating the proper framework to allow the delegate to be successful and communicating this framework to them. I have experienced where a misinterpretation by the person helping me results in them progressing down the wrong path. However, it is also important to not construct a framework that is too restrictive as it limits the delegate’s creativity. Mr. Selinger’s next point also speaks to this.
  • “Accept that the work will not be done exactly as you would have done it”: Provide the delegate with some freedom in making decisions – this may result in them making mistakes, but in my experience the feedback they receive from those mistakes is their best learning tool.
  • “Keep track of delegated work”: It is up to the delegator to keep track of all delegated work. I think it’s important to let the delegate concentrate on the details of tasks they have been assigned and leave the tracking of their progress to me.
  • “Give constructive feedback and criticism”: As I mention above, the feedback engineers receive on their work is the best way to learn. Mr. Selinger calls for “good, substantive points”. I think all feedback should first discuss the project at hand and also include a more generalized version so that the younger engineer can apply it to future tasks.