The First 90 Days (49 page)

Defining Performance Metrics

Establishing—and sticking to—clear and explicit performance metrics is the best way to encourage accountability.

That is, select performance measures that will let you know unambiguously whether a team member has achieved his or her goals.

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The Incentive Equation

The
incentive equation
defines the mix of incentives that you will use to motivate desired performance. Here are the basic formulas:

A. Total reward = non-monetary reward + monetary reward

The relative sizes of nonmonetary and monetary reward depend on (1) the availability of nonmonetary rewards such as advancement and recognition, and (2) their perceived importance to the people involved.

B. Monetary Reward = fixed compensation + performance-based compensation The relative sizes of fixed and performance-based compensation depend on (1) the extent of observability and measurability of peoples’ contributions, and (2) the time lag between performance and results. The lower the observability or measurability of contributions and longer the time lag, the more you should rely on fixed compensation.

C. Performance-based compensation = individual performance-based compensation + group performance-based compensation

The relative sizes of individual and group-based performance compensation depend on the extent of interdependence of contributions. If superior performance comes from the sum of independent efforts, then individual performance should be rewarded (for example, in a sales group). If group cooperation and integration is critical, then group-based incentives should get more weight (for example, in a new-product development team). Note that there may be several levels of group-based incentives—team, unit, and company as a whole.

Avoid ambiguously defined goals, such as “Improve sales” or “Decrease product development time.” Instead, define goals in terms that can be quantified. For instance, “Increase sales of product X by 15 to 30 percent over the fourth quarter of this year,” or “Decrease development time on product line Y from 12 months to six months within the next two years.”

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Establishing New Team Processes

Once the team and their goals and incentives have been established, the next step is to think through how you want the team to work. That is, what processes will shape how the team gets its collective job done? Teams vary strikingly in how they handle meetings, make decisions, resolve conflict, and divide responsibilities and tasks. You will probably want to introduce new ways of doing things. But take care not to plunge into this task precipitously. First, familiarize yourself thoroughly with how your team worked before your arrival, and how effective its processes were. That way, you can preserve what worked well and change what did not.

Assess Your Team’s Existing Processes

How can you get a handle on your team’s existing processes quickly? Talk to team members and support staff, and to your new boss or your predecessor. Get them to brief you on their functions and walk you through the key processes.

Read meeting minutes and team reports. Probe for answers to the following questions:
Participants’ roles.
Who influenced your predecessor most? Who played devil’s advocate? Who was the innovator? Who avoided uncertainty? To whom did everyone else listen most attentively? Who was the peacemaker? The rabble-rouser?

Team meetings.
How often did your team meet? Who participated? Who set the agendas for meetings?

Decision making.
Who made what kinds of decisions? Who was consulted on decisions? Who was told once decisions were made?

Leadership style.
What leadership style did your predecessor prefer? That is, how did he or she prefer to learn, communicate, motivate, and handle decisions? How does your predecessor’s leadership style compare with yours? If your styles differ markedly, how will you address the likely impact of those differences on your team?

Target Processes for Change

Once you grasp how your team functioned in the past—and what did and did not work well—it is time to use what you have learned and establish the new processes you judge necessary. Many leaders decide, for example, that their team’s meeting and decision-making processes would benefit from revision. If this is true of you, begin spelling out in specific terms what changes you envision. How often will the team meet? Who will attend which meetings? How will agendas be established and circulated? Setting up clear and effective processes will help your team coalesce and secure some early wins as a group.

Altering Who Participates

One common team process problem—and a great opportunity to send a message that change is coming—concerns who participates in core team meetings. In some organizations, key meetings are too inclusive, with too many people participating in discussions and decision making. If this is the case, then move rapidly to reduce the size of the core group and streamline the meetings, sending the message that you value efficiency and focus. In other organizations, key meetings are too exclusive, with people with potentially important opinions and information being systematically excluded. If this is the case, then rapidly move to judiciously broaden participation, sending the message that you will not be playing favorites or listening to just a few points of view.

Managing Decision Making

Decision making is another fertile area for potential improvement. Few team leaders do a good job of managing decision making. In part, this is because different types of decisions call for different decision-making processes; most team leaders stick with one approach. They do this because they have a style with which they are comfortable and because they believe they need to be consistent or risk confusing their direct reports.

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Research I’ve done in collaboration with my colleagues Amy Edmondson and Mike Roberto suggests that this is