A VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS | Call or text now for a FREE consultation: +1 (770) 765-3692 | 
Management Observation Program Best Practice 6 – Observation Announcement Timing
Philosophically speaking, no one, including managers, should ever be afraid to have ‘the boss’ know or observe what he or she is doing. Being human, we naturally feel self imposed pressure to perform well especially when we are being watched. Subsequently, management observations will always make the conscientious employee at least somewhat nervous. When then does a manager announce that he or she will be observing an individual’s performance? In most cases, shortly before the observation begins.
Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.
|
Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually). Not sure? Click here to learn more. |
Buy the Article Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Management Observation Program Best Practice 6 – Observation Announcement Timing for just $2! |
Management observations profoundly influence the behaviors of those observed. Done well, this tool positively reinforces desired behaviors. Performed poorly, this tool will undermine the management team’s credibility and fosters cynicism towards managers and their performance standards requirements. Therefore, it is critical that those performing these observations do so in a consistent, high quality manner.
Management observation programs seek to reinforce desired behaviors while also capturing data to enable the identification of improvement opportunities. Both of these objectives require observation repetition in order to be effective; enough reinforcement points to alter or establish reflexive behaviors and an adequate number of data points collected to enable a statistically sound conclusion to be formed. Realizing the desired number of observations is most easily achieved through a quota system.
In order to be fully effective, a management observation program must have credibility with those being observed and provide organizational performance improvement information. Credibility is established when those observed can expect both repeatable evaluations by one manager and consistent evaluations by different managers for a given job performance relative to established standards. Organizational performance improvement information is yielded when evaluation data from across the organization is aggregated; providing insights to the common patterns of desired and undesired employee behaviors.
Business Programs