Motivating People in a Team Environment

How do you handle performance reviews and set goals for people on teams while a company is still focused on rewarding individuals?

There may be a delay from when a company moves to using an Agile approach and the time for their HR department to catch up and adjust their practices accordingly with a new work environment.

Imagine a work culture where employees take responsibility for soliciting feedback on their own performance and development. Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins discuss Abolishing Performance Appraisals, Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead. As outlined in the book summary: "Coens and Jenkins argue instead that appraisals do not accomplish what they are supposed to and that, in fact, they are counterproductive. They offer compelling evidence to demonstrate that appraisals backfire as they examine the five functions (coaching, feedback, setting pay, determining promotions, and documentation) for which appraisals are designed." 

Ian Cook provides an overview of this approach: http://www.refresher.com/!abolishing.html

The challenge lies in that managers are expected to set goals for individuals in an Agile environment where the person is working on a team where priorities are set by the Product Owner and the team is guided by the Scrum Master while HR is mandating that goals be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Based)

In the following article (http://www.agilejournal.com/articles/columns/column-articles/5742-performance-management-for-agile-people), Alan Atlas breaks down performance management for agile people while focusing on the following primary management concerns:

• How do I evaluate individual performance so I can give the right pay and bonuses to the right people?
• How do I identify star performers and keep them from leaving?
• How do I identify poor performers so I can “manage” them (usually implying “manage them out”)?
• How can I support/reward team performance in my company’s individual-oriented performance management system?

These are the primary areas of focus, however while still on that middle ground during a transition to Agile, HR is still expecting that goals be set for individuals the same as in a traditional environment.

An approach of identifying some desired behaviors as well as a some specific goals may be a reasonable middle ground. Looking at what the individual does to improve the performance of the team, the level of quality consistently achieved and incorporating feedback from other team members may be incorporated into an approach. Differentiators may include how they assist other team members, active contribution and maintaining quality while striving for continuous improvement as a team. Another approach may be in setting the same goals for individuals on a team. Some goals may be a balance of both specific goals and general goals. Some people will get feedback and set benchmarks for improvement and while team goals are tied to producing product, look at how are team members are contributing to achieving those goals and tie in individual goals or setting the same goals for each of the team members. What have you found that works in your environment?

Sustainable Pace

It is important for teams to find their sustainable pace. This applies to individuals and businesses as well.  Sustainable pace is working at a rate that can be maintained long term, not just for a short period of time working at full capacity, rather a reasonable rate that can be sustained.

"Endless business requirements, desired features, market pressures… There is always more work that needs done. Sometimes, it may feel like endless sprints where you thought you saw the finish line, but every time you round the track they tell you there’s another lap. You dig deep and pull together the energy to continue to sprint, but again, you round the last turn and push forward toward the end and people on the sidelines are yelling “another lap, another lap” and you check to see if you can find the energy to keep going, but you can’t. You keep thinking you’ll have a break but it never ends. The sprints are seemingly endless back-to-back cycles and you see no end in sight. You need to catch your breath, you need water, you’re getting blisters… You’ve burnt out"... 


Read the full article on Sustainable Pace: Trusting Your Teams on the Scrum Alliance Website.

Become more capable than you ever imagined

The best way to weather times of famine is to save in times of prosperity.  To protect your career before it’s threatened by company downsizing and other impacts of the economy, here are 5 steps to follow.

1. Maximize opportunities for professional development: Take advantage of your company’s training programmes and at the beginning of every year carefully plan courses to take.
2. Showcase your value: During a recession companies don’t stop needing services; they just need different services. Look at your strengths and match them with new need emerging needs.
3. Be committed to continuous improvement: Be willing to consider relocating or travelling just to expand your options.
4. Defy the Impossible: What might seem impossible can be overcome with hard work, delivering quality work and a willingness to ask.
5. Take a risk with a higher possibility of reward: Be confident enough in your own abilities and set up a business of your own or become a partner with a business owner.

Taken from The Recession experience of Maria Matarelli; a professional coach and personal mentor. For more tips on improvements and personal development, follow@mariamatarelli on Twitter, Download the book from The eBook Library Or enter 50% paperback discount code BLC1000 to get the book at The eBook Library.

Blog also posted in the Business Leaders Book Club

Accomplishing Goals or Losing Time

Day in and Day out...
Have you heard someone say "I can't believe another year has gone by"? Just yesterday, it seemed like summer and already another winter is approaching. I used to have moments of thinking time was passing by too fast or not knowing where the summer went until I made a shift in my perspective a handful of years ago. I had been working in a job, wanting to get ahead, thinking of a certification I thought I should be working toward, but not really making any progress. The days came and went and they just seemed to pass me by.

I have since deemed that first certification my "Everest". It seemed so difficult to achieve, but the only real roadblock was me. My procrastination. Then one day there was an announcement that the certification requirements were changing and there was a deadline to take the test before they came out with the new version. In lieu of this new externally imposed deadline and not wanting to have to start over, I became determined to get that certification. After taking a prep class, occasionally studying here and there, and carrying the book around with me for about two months straight, I sat down and really studied over a four-day weekend, scheduled my exam within a few weeks and went and passed it!

This achievement seemed out of reach until I thought of how much more complex it would be to start all over from the beginning with new material which sounded less desirable. I refer to this as my "Everest" because it was the biggest challenge in my path that until I conquered it, I couldn't seem to move forward in other development areas. I imagine that if you were to climb to the top of Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain with a peak 29,002 ft above sea level, other mountains would seem like a piece of cake after that. Well thats what happened with me, by the time I finally buckled down and conquered that Everest, it was like an opening of floodgates. I saw that it wasn't as difficult as I had made it out to be. My next achievements and ambitions became easier and easier to complete. Things aren't as hard as you may have originally thought once you make up your mind to go and do it. Only the first of anything is hardest to get.

The Mindset Shift
When you set goals that you are working toward, as time passes, you are making progress toward that goal. You can identify incremental achievements along the way and find inspiration and momentum from small wins. As time passes, instead of feeling like time is passing you by or you are losing another year of time, you will be that much closer to achieving your high set, far reaching goals and conquering milestones along the way. When you shift your focus to be more goal oriented, you are making progress with every day. You just need to identify what you want to strive toward.

Time flies. Whether you are making progress toward your goals or just feel like you are losing time is all in your perspective. Behind me is no longer lost time, it is gained experience, accomplishments, additional knowledge and one step closer toward reaching my next goal. Get inspired. Set your goals today and embrace that sense of accomplishment and excitement of achievement that comes with it.

Aardvark

The need to call aardvark: A tool for meeting effectiveness

I was working with a team on a website redesign and our Product Owner was working with the design team to ensure they had the proper requirements. He began to pull in other stakeholders for input and was working closely with our web editor. After a few sprints, they pulled me in as a stakeholder to see the progress and give input to the aspects of the site that related to my work.

They invited me to participate in the online collaboration tool and I read as much as I could to get up to speed but many conversations had taken place on and offline prior to my engagement. Before the meeting with the design team began, we were discussing how to best use our time with the team effectively. I was aware that I may have thoughts or input on a topic that had already been discussed and didn't want to de-rail the conversation or waste time talking about something they had already resolved.

We agreed that we needed a code word of some kind to use in the event that we were getting off track. A few suggestions were thrown out, then out of my subconscious came "Aardvark". It had all the qualities of a good catalyst and seemed so appropriate with the perfect element of random arbitration. It was harmless, yet cunning and the perfect neutralizer.

We agreed upon Aardvark and we were able to utilize it soon enough. When a topic was a side track, aardvark was exclaimed and we were able to jump right back on target. We delegated a facilitator for the portion of the meeting that we were leading, but the second portion yielded many open ends and thus resulted in multiple rabbit trails. Aardvark was utilized regularly and it worked brilliantly every time. No offense was taken at the exclamation, rather side tracks were averted.

The design team chuckled a bit at the first use of the word, but did not question its use at any time. It was not disruptive and was an effective tool for prodding the conversation along while avoiding any hurt feelings or misinterpreted interruptions. Because we had set expectations for the usage and meaning of the utilization of our new catalyst to efficiency, we were able to reap the benefits to proceed as a higher performing team.

There was an instance or two where we did veer from the agenda and that was because a high level discussion led to another then to another outside of the focus of the work for the near upcoming sprints. It could have been that as the long afternoon transpired, some of the participants began to sink into a moderate state of complacency, drifting in and out of attentiveness. An "Aardvark" moment must be identified in order to be utilized effectively. An Aardvark will not be called out on its own.

We do recommend the use of Aardvark in conjunction with a facilitator for best results, although it can be used by a team that does not have a set facilitator as a group self facilitation method. The beauty of calling Aardvark is that it was derived by our team for our team and was the perfect arbitrary word to serve the purpose of keeping ourselves on track. We recommend that you try calling Aardvark as a way to keep your next meeting on track. 

you can buy your own aardvark here...

Getting Stuff Done: Back to the Basics

Have you worked in an office or for a large organization for an extended period of time and gotten caught up in the hoopla of the corporate merry-go-round. Where you one day realize that you didn’t really do anything but push a little paper around, have some conversations in email and maybe attended a few meetings. Volleying the ball out of your court to keep movement. My favorite is a round of 5+ emails to set a time for a phone call. 

I discovered an amazing technique for getting things done that can be referred to as “pick up the phone”. A seemingly long lost form of communication in our electronic media age. It can be surprisingly refreshing to see what can be accomplished by picking up the phone and making things happen. 

I encourage you to try it. The next time you are about to craft a carefully thought out email to volley back and forth some ideas, try picking up the phone and save the time delay of the electronic exchange.

Work in Progress: A Constant Struggle

Overwhelmed with too much Work In Progress?
"I have all this Work in Progress (WIP) but I can't seem to get anything done..."
Sometimes it can be easy to start up a bunch of work and you may feel productive because you are constantly busy, but do you ever stop to ask yourself what you are accomplishing or ensure that you are finishing tasks through to completion. Taking a step back to review what you are completing may be a good periodic step.

Gain Momentum from small wins
If a task seems overwhelming, breaking it down into smaller pieces could help it become more manageable. You can gain incredible momentum from small wins. Completing work in progress can stimulate fuel from a sense of accomplishment. Remember to celebrate your successes and utilize that positive momentum.

Identify your roadblocks
Take a moment to survey your current situation and look for what may be preventing you from making progress. Sometimes, small roadblocks may derail your focus that you may not be aware of. If you are trying to do something that is not your core strength, maybe you need to find someone with that skill and work with them to complete the task that stood as your roadblock.

Leverage your strengths
What are you good at? Are you spending your time on something that does not come naturally to you? Identify things that you can do to use your strengths and see if you can either build your skills  in that area vs. leveraging the skills of others with that expertise to allow you to do the things that you are good at.

Beware of inefficient multi-tasking
Studies have been done on the inefficiencies of multi-tasking. Compared to working on one task until it is done, multi-tasking can often lead to a lot of tasks started, but nothing finished. This can lead to subconscious discouragement. You could be operating  in a constant state of Work In Progress unknowingly missing the stimulation and encouragement that comes from small achievements and pocket wins.

The impacts
Without a clear order or idea of everything that needs to be done and your current progress, one could have a general sense of unease along with this inefficiency which only causes a lag in performance and may lead to less accomplishments.

Assess your current work in progress and really look at what may be keeping you from being productive. It may be the case that finishing up some of those loose ends could free your subconscious to be more effective while you complete needed tasks.