This travel guide outlines a four-stage journey to reinvent performance management with a focus on agile practices, emphasizing continuous feedback, collaboration, and people analytics. It addresses challenges such as unclear communication, unfulfilled expectations, and thwarted intentions while suggesting strategies for overcoming these obstacles. The guide promotes a culture that values clear expectations, risk-taking, and support for employees amidst changes in performance management approaches.

1. A travel guide to peak performance
The next 4 stages to reinvent
Performance Management

2. What is Agile Performance Management?
2
As of now, we suggest adjustment towards:
• Agreeing commitments Setting goals
• Helping managers everyone coach others
• Providing more continuous micro feedback, support, and
growth or change (shifting the focus from annual evaluation
and rankings to continuous feedback feed forward and
development just in time learning)
• Being more collaborative, social, and faster-moving
• Providing people analytics for decision support
…. and this will continue to evolve

3. 3
Last time we commenced our journey
Plan your route
Which direction will you take, how far do you want
to go, and how to avoid the sinkholes
Prepare for your journey
Pump up the tyres, check the warning lights and fill
up the fuel tank
The hill climb
How to overcome resistance and build momentum
Getting to know your travel companions
The essential relationship skills for an enjoyable trip
Recap: The 4 essential first stages

4. 4
Today we’re entering tougher terrain
Traffic Jams and Scenic Lookouts
The 3 causes of upset and how to work around
them
Picking up hitchhikers
How do you get support for the change, and which
types of supporter can help with what
Alternate Route
Changing your attitude to embrace conflict
Stop! Are you ready to remove ratings
If you are planning to remove performance ratings,
what are the pre-requisites?
The next 4 stages to create an agile culture

5. Traffic Jams and Scenic Lookouts
5

6. To put it simply, 3 things cause upset#
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Simplification can be useful in agile approaches
1. Withheld Communication
2. Unfulfilled Expectations
3. Thwarted Intentions
What should we do when upset rears it’s head?
# Originally from Werner Erhard/Landmark Education

7. Withheld Communication
7
Growth Mindset requires risk taking & courage
Cause of the Jam Things to do at the Scenic Lookout
Withheld Communication
Communication that is not clear occurs when our message is
not heard the way we want it to be. Not communicating
clearly leads to conflict through misunderstanding
Communication that is not direct occurs when we fear there
will be consequences for speaking the truth. Tacit repression
leads to conflict through resentment.
Communication that is not complete occurs when we leave it
to the listener to fill in the blanks. This causes conflict through
confusion and fear of failure.
In Understanding your travelling companions we looked at differences in
communication styles. Acknowledging varying communication styles and
perspectives explains why clear communication can be challenging.
MindTools have a great checklist covering the 7 C's of clear
communication here
(https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_85.htM)
Overcoming fear is a harder nut to crack. In her book "The Psychology
of Fear in Organizations" Sheila M. Keegan advises
•Build trust. That means being straightforward, admitting
mistakes, keeping promises, showing vulnerability and letting
go of grievances.
•Improve your listening skills. Focus on what your employees
are saying to you. Hear and interpret their verbal and nonverbal
communication. Maintain a neutral and open attitude. Most
importantly, don’t judge.
•Encourage risk-taking and reward courage. Urge employees to
experiment, learn and improvise. Help them rediscover their
sense of joy and intrinsic reward of working.
•Treat employees with respect. Acknowledge their worth and
help them succeed.
Another great book in support of speaking up is "The Courageous
Follower" by Ira Chaleff

8. Unfulfilled Expectation
8
Improper delegation is a disaster waiting to happen
Cause of the Jam Things to do at the Scenic Lookout
Unfulfilled Expectations
We expect something to happen as a result of others, and it does not.
This causes conflict through attachment of blame
Our work life is filled with many expectations; how we behave, what we produce,
what we wear, when and how we are appreciated, and the knowledge, skills and
resources we bring to work for example.
The cardinal rule is an implicit expectation is an unrealistic one rather than an
unfulfilled one, so make sure expectations are explicit (and consistently applied) as
your starting point.
Assuming you've done that, you've narrowed the expectation gap to unfulfilled
realistic expectations. Follow an expectation management lifecycle to handle these.
Assignment - Progression - Delivery - Closure
Assignment
If expectations are being set for you make sure you know the context by asking
questions. What's expected, how might it be achieved, when is the outcome
needed, what is it's priority against other things, and how will success be measured.
If you're setting expectations and get no questions, ask for your brief to be echoed
back to you and listen carefully that it's fully understood.
Progression
Get incremental buy-in, it will always work better than a fait accompli.
Raise challenges or failure early, there's nothing worse than facing failure without
any options to avoid it.
If you're holding expectations, check-in often (not to be confused with
micromanagement) to guide the outcome you're seeking.
Delivery
Leave contingency for corrections (e.g. time & budget).
Collaborate to finalise work whenever possible to close any expectation gaps jointly.
Closure
Once an expectation has been met it's important to reach closure. That's your time
to appreciate the work done, reflect on the experience and refine expectations for
the future.
The main thing throughout this lifecycle is to leave no doubt that expectations are
being met and immediately address where they are not.

9. Thwarted Intentions
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Do you have people ‘winning at all costs’?
Cause of the Jam Things to do at the Scenic Lookout
Thwarted Intentions
We wish to take action but are unsuccessful due to
Lack of skill
Lack of will
Lack of time
Lack of resources
This leads to conflict because of guilt and remorse
Being intentional is encouraged.
Intentions are how we commit to learning, to goals and to doing our
best.
Problems arise though when people become attached to their
intentions rather than committed to them.
Attachment limits objectivity, flexibility and creativity and instead
fuels us to "win at all costs".
It's visible as anxiety, fatigue and competition.
Build a culture that celebrates the insight from failure as a way to
reflect, learn, reframe intentions and recommit and you'll see
increases in innovation and contribution.
Supplement that with a process that rewards the way goals are met,
and not just that goals are met and you'll start to weed out those
people winning at all costs and burning everyone around them.
The principle of winning the right way is one of my personal
passions. I highly recommend you read "Winning Well: A Manager's
Guide to Getting Results---Without Losing Your Soul" by Karin Hurt
and David Dye
.

10. Picking up Hitchhikers
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11. What is your stand?
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How do people decide if they want to join in?
What’s the one simple thing
that people can do to be seen
to be part of your
‘movement’?
Are you standing up for meaningful work?
Are you standing against anxiety in the
workplace?
Standing for lifelong learning and supportiveness,
for recognition and appreciation, for autonomy,
empowerment, transparency
or against ineffective bureaucracy, artificial
hierarchy, or dog-eat-dog extrinsic motivation
schemes?

12. Be easy to follow
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Favouring followers drives momentum
There will be people craving an agile
performance management culture
Supporting them is a better use of
energy that coercing others
The tipping point is where it
becomes less risky to join than not
to join the change

13. Using 3 types of influencers
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Network Analytics help to visualize the people dynamic
Connectors - people in the network
who bond others together and span
social, cultural and economic circles
Mavens - people who connect us to
new information and start word-of-
mouth epidemics
Salesmen - charismatic people with
powerful negotiation skills needed
to persuade others
Taken from “The Tipping Point” Malcolm Gladwell

14. Take a firm line on detractors
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Change the people or change the people
1. Listen to their concerns and make reasonable
adjustments if needed
2.Encourage a growth mindset to fight their self-
sabotage
3. Isolate the detractor from situations where they
can sour others (particularly if they are influential)
4. Remove the detractor from the environment
completely

15. Alternate Route
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16. Conflict – Good or Bad?
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There is potentially great value from conflict
"There is giant untapped potential in
disagreement, especially if the disagreement is
between two or more thoughtful people".
Ray Dalio CEO Bridgewater Associates

17. It depends!
17
or possibly high cost
On average US employees spend 3
hours a week dealing with conflict
27% of employees report conflict
led to personal insults and attacks
22% of employees report conflict led
to illness and absence from work
10% report project failure being a direct
result of conflict
Psychologically, conflict is
a disagreement that
represents a perceived
threat to position,
interests or needs.
In Australia exit interviews reveal that
chronic unresolved conflict is a decisive
factor in at least 50% of all employee
departures

18. The push & pull
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Surfacing & resolving is critical
• Leaders speaking last during ideation or
problem solving, avoiding prejudicing the
dialogue or outcome
• Celebrating those who openly question
decisions or challenge the status quo
• Appointing a devil's advocate in
meetings to search for problems,
shortcomings and oversights with group
decisions or plans
• Getting tough on team members who
later show they had withheld perspective
that could have been valuable if tabled
1. Focus on the facts and
behaviours in question
2. State the impact on you, your
team or the company
3. Consider why a rational and
ethical person would indulge the
facts or behaviours that are
troubling you
4. Know what is non-negotiable
to you and why
Push conflict handling skills Pull conflict out into the open

19. 5 levels of conflict
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Though sometimes not necessary or possible
Differences
Misunderstandings
Disagreements
Discord
Polarization

20. Stop!
20

21. Rating Reliance
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Why the dilemma?
A proxy for recognition
To simplify communication
Bonus eligibility
Salary Level
Promotion/Succession
Performance Improvement Plans
Talent Management
Learning & Development
HiPo Acceleration
etc….

22. 3 inherent flaws
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Alternatives don’t carry this baggage
BIASED THREATENING HISTORICAL

23. HR Data is everywhere
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Use current data & people analytics for decisions

24. Remove the rubric
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Ask reviewers what they undisputedly know
Given what I know of this person’s
performance, and if it were my money, I
would award this person the highest
possible compensation increase and
bonus.
Given what I know of this person’s
performance, I would always want him or
her on my team.
This person is at risk for low performance.
This person is ready for promotion today.

25. Multiply your data points
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The more in-year reviews there are more informed periodic decisions become

26. Capture the stories, calculate the score
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Qualitative data can become quantitative with algorithms
Rebekah was extremely
knowledgeable, very helpful, great
personality, explained everything
& always with a smile … her
assistance & patience prompts me
to acknowledge her & refer her to
my friends who need the same
assistance that I did. Thank you.
Rebekah works in the Electronics
Department of Target in
Selinsgrove, PA, United States
“Please give us your feedback” Based on your most recent experience, on a scale
of 0 to 10 where 0 is not at all likely and 10 is
extremely likely, how likely would you be to
recommend us to your friends or colleagues?
1 2 43 5 6 7 8 9 10

27. Consider retaining 1 last rating
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If beliefs don’t align, the rest doesn’t matter
I believe what you believe

28. 28
Look out for the next 4 stages of the journey
I-spy Bias

29. Learn more ….
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www.paycompliment.com/xecr1r
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