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Author: The Mindful Manager

Down Sides to Skip-Level Meetings

Down Sides to Skip-Level Meetings

balancing act cleaned up

In a prior post, I wrote about having skip-level meetings with team members and the benefits of doing so. Skip-level meetings mean I skip one or two management levels and meet directly with individuals on their teams. We talked about the benefits of doing skip-level meetings, now let’s talk about the down sides.

One down side to skip-level meetings is that my managers may feel like I am going around them or disrespecting their authority. Perhaps the manager is insecure in their management skills or position, or perhaps they don’t entirely trust me. Maybe both.

I acknowledge those concerns; they are valid. Having successful skip-level meetings is a delicate balance. I don’t want to disempower the manager. So I am careful when I talk with an individual they are clear on what I will – and will not do. This ensures the employee does not get mixed messages about who manages their day-to-day activities.

I will listen and consider what they are saying. I won’t take action without input from their manager.

There are delicate situations in which I have concerns about a manager. The skip-level meetings are a way for me to determine if those concerns are valid.

When there is an issue with a manager, it means I need to get more data points so that I can discuss the issue with the manager. Sometimes the issue is successfully resolved, sometimes it means parting ways. Having the manager leave is difficult but it is more difficult to keep him if he is having a negative impact on the team.

Sometimes there is an issue with an individual on the manager’s team. That’s the manager’s responsibility, and I totally step out of the manager’s way. Though I do follow up to make sure the issue is successfully resolved.

In a skip-level meeting with someone, if that individual has a suggestion or recommendation for a particular situation, a good one, I first encourage her to talk with her manager. If there is reluctance, I try to determine why because I prefer that the employee talk to her manager. At some point, I need to step away so I’m not getting in between the manager and his employee.

I’m not always successful at the stepping away part. I’m sure I’ve frustrated some of my managers when I don’t step away. Why don’t I step away? Sometimes I really want to see something changed due to a recommendation or insight from the person with whom I met. Sometimes, change needs to be encouraged. That’s when I don’t step away – when there is a reluctance to change.

The upsides to skip-level meetings out weight the downsides.

In the long run, I think the down sides to skip-level meetings are out weighed by the benefits. We are a management team and need to support each other. And skip-level meetings provide a crosscheck ensuring we are all seeing what needs to be seen as well as taking care of the issues in the organization.

Image: NL Shop. www.clipart.com/433789

Introverted Managers Do Care

Introverted Managers Do Care

I’m an introvert. There I’ve admitted it in public! It’s difficult and uncomfortable for me to talk to people at team gatherings or company meetings. Even just talking to folks that report to one of my managers or directors is hard.

Yet, I find that if I sit closed off in my office, which I prefer to give myself some peace and quiet, this results in people thinking I am aloof and distant and uncaring. I’m always surprised when people think these things of me because I DO care.

So the question is how, as a manager, do I show people I care? Well, here is my recipe for showing folks you do care.

Find ways to show you care.

First, I began scheduling skip-level meetings. Instead of meeting with someone on my direct staff, I meet with those that report to my managers or to one of their managers.

Now I should note, this practice does freak my employees out at first. They don’t understand why I am meeting with them. They don’t expect an upper level manager to take the time to meet with them so they don’t always know what to say or what is expected of them and initial meetings can feel awkward on both sides of the desk.

However, I find that when I continue to meet with staff members, they start talking to me. And this is where it gets good. Because when I start considering what they say and implement some of their ideas, a really cool dialog begins. After all, they are the ones doing the actual work and often have ideas that I could never have because I’m not on the front lines like they are.

I really enjoy these skip-level meetings. I find the people I meet are interesting and have good ideas. If you want to build trust with your staff, this is a great way to do it.

Once I have skip-level meetings in place, then I begin leaving my office door open. And when folks walk by, I say hi. If they linger, I invite them in. This promotes even more of that great dialog.

I also walk around the office. I stop and talk to people. This is really tough for me because I really am an introvert and meeting folks for the first time is scary. Out there on the office floor, I have to talk to people I might not know. Serious eek!

However, I find as I keep doing it, I get to know people and what they are working on. Best off all, the feedback from their managers are those employees really appreciate me taking the time to stop and talk. They feel like I care. And I do. Doing this builds connections for me too.

Introvert1

Why should I care whether they think I care? Everyone wants to feel valued and seen. By seen, I mean really seeing the people that are working for me; the people making the organization and me successful. They aren’t just replaceable widgets. They’re humans with hearts and lives and feelings. And I care about every single one of them.

Cascading Goals Down into an Organization

Cascading Goals Down into an Organization

When the end of the fiscal year approaches it means it’s time to create goals for the next year. At a large company, this can be challenging, as often the corporate goals are sometimes very high-level.

Frequently, I’ve seen people get very cynical about high-level company goals. Or worse yet, software developers who think the company goals have nothing to do with them personally. That’s simply not true. Everyone in the company needs to support the company goals. The work each employee does impacts those goals whether they realize it or not.

Let’s look at an example. If a company has a goal to increase revenue by 30% , how do I, as the manager, translate that into something meaningful for my development teams? I definitely want to support increasing revenue, after all, I want my company to be successful. I want my teams to be aware of this goal for the company and that what they do impacts that goal.

Let’s assume I have a software development team working on a new release of an enterprise software product. The new release will be out in spring. The question to ask is: How will this product release contribute to increasing revenue?

If the release is high-quality, customers will be happy. If it is of low quality, customers will complain and that information could impact sales to other customers. And, if the changes the team makes to the user experience truly are easy-to-use and intuitive versus not so easy to use and not intuitive, that will also impact customers and sales.

So in this example I am going to create goals for my team supporting the revenue goal using these two requirements: high-quality and easy-to-use intuitive software. The goals could be written as:

  1. Release the software with no priority 1, 2, or 3 defects. This will be measured by the number of open defects.
  2. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use. Measured by the feedback from usability studies and comparison with prior testing.
© 2008 Annette Wagner. All Rights Reserved.
©2008 Annette Wagner. All Rights Reserved.

Both of these team goals support the 30% increase in revenue goal. The next step is to translate these product goals into individual contributor goals:

  1. For each software development team member assigned to the April release, they will write unit tests and fix all p1, p2, p3 defects found by QA/QE.
  2. The software development team is required to work closely with the user experience team to create a user interface that is intuitive and easy-to-use and to support user testing needs.

By tying an individual developer’s goals into the company goals, everyone understands how they as well as their  team contribute to the company goals. This not only makes those goals meaningful and achievable, it makes the goals understandable and doable by the team members.

Those Irritating Yearly Performance Reviews

Those Irritating Yearly Performance Reviews

annual review road sign illustration design over white

Everyone groans when they are told they need to do yearly performance reviews. Why? While I’m sure you can state lots of reasons, I believe its because they aren’t done correctly. The first problem is that it is a yearly performance review. If I’m giving feedback just once a year to my employees, I’m doing something wrong.

Reviews are an opportunity to give people feedback on how well they are, or are not, doing their job. Giving feedback is key in keeping the communication flowing between a manager and an employee and keeping things on track. If we give feedback just once a year how can we possibly do a great job at remembering all the things that happened, especially early in the year?

When a review is a once a year drive-by, often no examples are shared with regard to why the manager is giving particular feedback. This annoys the employee and prevents a productive conversation. The better solution is to give your employees feedback continuously. This might sound time consuming, but it’s not.

Don’t wait for the end of the year to review someone’s performance.

Make it a continuous conversation throughout the year.

I keep a document I share with the employee that details what we both agree are his or her goals for the year. These include both business and professional development goals.

In weekly meetings with each employee, I check in with the person on their progress. We add the status of each goal directly to the document so we both know how things are going. By “we” I do mean both of us. It’s not just me writing this stuff up; the employee has a voice too. This doesn’t have to be done weekly. Do what makes sense. It can be bi-weekly or monthly. But don’t go beyond a month – that’s too long to go without discussing goals and status.

If an employee gets a kudo from a team member or from someone outside of the team, that feedback goes directly into the document. If there is negative feedback, that goes into the document too so that we can work on a plan for improvement.

When the annual review rolls around, you have all of the information in that document to complete the review. You can cut and paste, where appropriate, from the document into the formal annual review. When a summary of overall performance is required, you have the details in the document on progress throughout the year to review and then include in the yearly formal annual review.

Creating a meaningful conversation around progress towards goals

is a two way street.

A second problem with yearly performance reviews is that reviews are often considered a push activity – from the manager to the employee. The reality is that reviews are a two-way street. The employee’s participation is just as important as the manager’s. The employee has to be engaged or it won’t be successful. They are the ones doing the actual work and it is their career being impacted by the review.

Employees need to learn to ask for timely feedback and career development input. Getting feedback during a project helps the employee to course correct and potentially avoid issues. It can directly result in a more successful project which impacts their career in the long run. Career input while in the midst of projects motivates an employee, gains them skills they need, and keeps them on track and happy.

Performance reviews as meaningful conversations around professional growth and achieving goals spur your employees to do their best. So instead of focusing on a big time-consuming yearly performance review, spread your time out and invest smaller chunks of time throughout the year in your employees. You’ll save yourself headaches and have much happier employees.

Taking Time to Meet with Employees: Investment Opportunity 101

Taking Time to Meet with Employees: Investment Opportunity 101

Once one of my peers and I were commiserating about how our calendars were overflowing with meetings. I mentioned I was cutting down on meetings that didn’t have agendas and specific objectives because I wanted to make sure I had time to meet with my staff one on one. He looked at me oddly and very condescendingly replied, “I don’t have time to meet with my staff one on one. They should know what they are doing.”

His reply shocked me to say the least. Why? Because I don’t meet with my staff to tell them what to do or how to do their jobs. I meet with them to listen to them. To find out how things are going for them and what challenges they are having right now in their jobs.

Listening to people.

Smiling beautiful businesswoman in glasses talking to young businessman in meeting room

In our meetings, I make it clear that I am only there to listen. If they want me to do something or help them or give them feedback, they need to ask for that. I view these one on one meetings as an opportunity to provide support and mentoring to my employees. To meet them where they are.

When I meet with one of my managers, I hear about the morale of their team, the challenges their team is facing, the wins they’ve experienced. They talk through employee problems using me as a sounding board. When appropriate, I give suggestions or refer them to someone I think can give them better feedback or support than I can.

For me, these one on one meetings are the best investment I can make in their future – and my own. When you tell folks what to do instead of supporting them in figuring it out themselves, you are not supporting the value they bring to the table. And you are actually making your own job harder.  The conversations we have in our one on ones build bench strength and grow my staff members into their next role. And the best part? When my employees are successful, they make me shine.