Manage the performance of your people more easily by having a good working relationship with them at all times, not just when their review is due...

When managing the performance of an individual, there is no value whatever in a Performance Management process being an ambush (ever been there? We all have!).

During the natural and informal, day to day interactions you have with your people, ensure minor issues are raised; small parts of bigger shortfalls are tackled, in the moment.

If the formal process is a big scary, rare and unpleasant event, it's more about the boss than the individual!

Remember, your role is to extract the very best value from each and every one of your people and so your best actions are to help them succeed more; much more.

And you do this by building an ongoing, informal relationship which builds over time.

Daily interactions (call them conversations even!) have many values, but nothing is any more valuable then being inquisitive about how they are doing themselves in their job.

Regularity of these conversations makes them much, much easier as you become less a boss and more a friend! There are other valuable spin-offs too.

Here are four things you can do right away:-

1. Make it an everyday action to spend time with your employees. I know you might do that anyway, in meetings, goal-setting, coaching even. Get informal. Have easy and fun conversations.

2. Notice more and share. In non-confrontational ways (I suggest you try asking questions, even if you know the answer), discover more about what your people are doing. Just getting to know them and what they are about is very rewarding - not just in the 'nice' way, but for the knowledge about them you will gain.

3. Let them be who they are, share themselves, not just about their job, but about them, their interests and passions. Get to know them as people.
4. Encourage them to reflect regularly on their performance - day to day even. This gives a regular upgrade in how they perform and avoids the dreaded once-a-year mammoth deflation.

If you want to read more on tips to help you with getting the very best performance from your people, checkout the link below on the Coaching Businesses to Success website. The daily blog on there has a lot of regular updates too!

Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com.

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