There is a longstanding debate as to whether people are more motivated by financial or non-monetary incentives. The obvious answer is that not everyone can be incented the same way and not every situation warrants the same incentive. This may be an obvious answer but it isn’t a very useful one because it doesn’t give…
A few weeks ago, a newly minted manager asked my advice on how to best manage by walking around. I gave him an encouraging – but non-specific – answer. This post is my follow-up to his question. Wander frequently Your employees may worry that you’re spying on them the first few times that you show…
The Mae West attributed quote “flattery will get you everywhere” may be good advice. Sometimes. Research published in the Journal of Marketing Research demonstrates flattery leaves a lasting and positive impression of the flatterer, even when people believe it is insincere. In the experiment, participants were shown a flyer from a fictitious clothing store complimenting…
One of the tenets of my management guidelines is that I emphasize results over effort. With a focus on outcomes rather than activities, I recommend metrics that track impact (how much change occurred) rather than output (how much was produced). I don’t like to reward people for trying hard if they were working on the…
Speedlinking on culture… Michael Hyatt tackles the unanswerable question “Which is most important to your organization—mission, core values or vision?” using the metaphor of an orange. You can distinguish [an orange’s] shape, its color, its size, and its smell and taste. However, you can’t do away with any of these attributes and still have an…
After a week during which I spent a lot of time discussing organizational design, I thought it might be amusing to update a classic comic which describes how different parts of an organization interpret customer needs. Like all humor based on stereotypes, it doesn’t reflect reality but we can’t help but cringe at a small…
A little more than six months ago, I took a new role with a group that was described as in need of a “turn-around” and an “updated strategy and direction”. I was urged to introduce a new mission/vision, strategic objectives, and revised key performance indicators. Given my performance management background, this seemed like a reasonable…
Two of my most popular posts (as measured by WordPress stats) are quotes about performance management (Feb 2009, Sept 2009). Given that popularity, I’ve listed even more performance management quotes: “An obstacle is what you see when you are no longer focused on the goal.” Anonymous (Anyone know who said this?) “Some people achieve the…
I’m not sure how it happened, but one morning I woke up and “alignment” had turned into a dirty word treated with the same disdain as other corporate buzzwords such as synergy, paradigm shift, and collaboration. I hear executives going out of their way to disparage the word. Alignment is much maligned. Given that this…
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post that pointed out the benefits of management by walking around can be achieved without actually leaving your desk. Some examples are as follows: Management can mimic the shopping experience of a prospective customer by visiting a Web site and trying to find/buy a particular product. It’s…