The general idea behind performance management is to regularly work with employees to ensure they consistently meet pre-established performance-based goals.

Sounds simple, huh?

It’s not.

First, not everyone agrees with what the expression “performance management” actually means.

Some think it’s the annual performance appraisal review. Others believe it means just managing the performance of their employees through coaching and disciplinary action. Still others don’t see the process complete unless it involves 360-degree feedback.

Truth be told, performance management may well be all these things depending on the program your organization implements. But whatever the structure, performance management needs to be seen in its entirety.

So think big picture.

Second, the process itself can be taxing because it is a process that you, as manager, must engage in daily to ensure that the performance of your team is reviewed, maintained and improved.

This means observing, coaching and documenting the performance of each person on your team as a part of your regular routine and providing feedback to them in a timely and appropriate manner.

Finally, performance management requires that you and your employees understand what is expected and by when. And the only way to do this is to establish goals.

That’s why I suggest using a tool that I’ve utilized for years in both my professional and personal life. It’s called SMART goals and will make at least one portion of the performance management process more manageable by helping you and your team members to determine and set the goals that make performance management possible.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 11:54 am and is filed under Performance Management. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.