How do you actually manage people - the behaviour matrix - The Manager - Cultivated Management
The Manager
THE
manager.
Edition 9
How do you actually "manage"?
Hi and welcome to this week's Cultivated Management newsletter.
I hope you've had a good weekend and are now all set for a busy week ahead.
I've been asked a lot recently about to actually manage "people".
So here's how.
"I'm a 3 at that" "No - I think you're a 6" "Well - maybe I am more like a 4"
"Nope - definately a 6"
"Ok - shall we just put down 6 then?"
How do you manage people?
You don't really "manage" people.
Not helpful I know, but consider this - if you think you are managing someone - then who thinks they are managing you?
You don't "manage" someone - you guide them to achieving their goals, objectives and deliverables. That might involve some coaching, some delegation of work, some support, some training and sometimes - some conversations about performance.
How do I talk about performance?
You talk about performance by talking about behaviours.
In the example at the top of the email was this discussion I've heard hundreds of times.
"I'm a 3 at that"
"No - I think you're a 6"
"Well - maybe I am more like a 4"
"Nope - definately a 6"
"Ok - shall we just put down 6 then?"
It's a conversation that many managers try to have with their directs where they talk about performance. And it seems ok on the surface - they are talking about how to grade someone against a competency matrix.
Ever been part of a team that uses one of those for management?
It's a common tool for management but in the example above neither the direct report, nor the manager, can decide on what level someone is.
Am I a 6 at communication skills? Or a 10?
Am I a 3 at coding in Java, or a 10?
Competency matrices are good for outlining the kind of skills you need in a team - they are poor for talking about performance.
Underneath each of these numbers is an example of behaviour.
"Well - maybe I am more like a 4"
"Why do you think I'm a 4?"
"Because when you do X and Y and Z" <-- Behaviours.
So if behaviours underly scoring of competencies then why not start with behaviours?
Behaviours are what people do, say and how they say it
Good managers observe people and they use examples of behaviours to guide people. When someone shows positive behaviours that are in line with the company values and goals, a manager must be there to give them feedback on it.
When someone shows negative behaviours that are not in line with values and goals, then a manager must be there to give feedback.
The culture of your organisation is nothing more than group habits - what people do every day. So if you want a good company culture embrace positive behaviours and limit negative behaviours.
In future posts I'll talk about how behaviours are governed by the system people work in, but that's a little deep for now.
But he/she is always doing something wrong.
Maybe.
"Observation and perception are two separate things; the observing eye is stronger, the perceiving eye is weaker"
- Miyamoto Musashi
We all suffer from confirmation bias so be careful. You see what you want to see. You hear what you want to hear.
That's why behaviours are so key - you must observe behaviours. Even then you'll face confirmation bias.
If you think someone always does things wrong - you'll see them doing things wrong. If you think they always do things right - you'll see them doing things right.
You see what you want to see.
Be careful - use behaviours, observe what they actually do, study, gain knowledge. It's hard work - but worth it.
What if I cannot observe them?
How are you going to give them feedback?
Be careful relying on second hand information - did the observer perceive or observe behaviours ?
Never trust third or fourth hand information.
Bob said that Rajiv had said that Helen said this. Not much you can do with this.
But Bob is lazy
Use behaviours - never attack the person. "Sarah is lazy" is an attack on Sarah - on her as a person - it's is not about behaviours.
"Sarah - when you sit there doing nothing even though there is work to be done, it is not a good thing for others on the team. Can you please try harder?"
This is better.
What behaviours matter?
That's up to you and your management tier (along with your team) to define what is important. I will include here several that I always start with, but they change, morph and grow as I and the team do.
They are a good place to start though. I identify behaviours in each of the following for each role I have. So for example, I may have Junior, Senior and Principle Engineer roles. I have a series of behaviour catagories that are relevant for each role, but my expectations of each role are different.
Let's say I have a behaviour I like which is "Communication Skills".
For the Junior I might define a few things I'm looking for; listens well, is good at articulating their ideas with their team, can present to the team well, has good written skills.
I will then observe the individual (not surveillance - just finding chances to see them in action) and look for examples of these behaviours - all related to communication.
For a Principle Engineer though I want more; is an active listener, understands Purpose-Audience-Context, makes others feel good, is an excellent presenter to the wider business, challenges using safe and constructive language, is an outstanding example of a good communicator.
I will then observe them against these behaviours.
Nobody will fit in a single box. Juniors may be excellent at presenting but poor at listening for example. But in order to be a Principle you must demonstrate behaviours that align with most of the boxes. If you're a Principle (let's say I inherit a team) and you're doing none of this - then we have a discussion on our hands.
This kind of matrix works well because it gives you a common language to talk to your directs about. Your direct reports know what they need to do to excel and move through their career. You can talk about performance based on what people ACTUALLY do, rather than what they say they can or have done. You have evidence and data for pay and promotion discussions. It's powerful.
So what other categories of behaviours make sense:
Communication
Technical Aptitude
International Outlook (required for companies with global offices)
Commercial Awareness
Mentoring/Coaching
Management
Productivity / Effectiveness
Process Improvement
Agile (break this one down for scrum masters and agile coaches)
Product Knowledge
Customer Interactions
And no doubt many more!
Your goal is to make it clear what behaviours you expect from people - find solid, observable examples, and talk to your directs about performance.
All new members of my team would have a 1:1 with me in the first week where we talk through this matrix. I would get their input and potentially change some things - after all - everyone is unique - even people in the same roles. Certainly in high performing companies people take on responsibilities outside of their job domain which need capturing in discussions about performance - and don't get me started on why Job Descriptions don't make sense for this.
Then we would review the performance as often as needed - ideally this should be once a month - but whatever works. Just make sure it's not once a year. Performance is an on-going activity.
Feedback your directs on behaviours should be weekly!
So, define your behaviours for each role you have, talk to your directs, manage based on behaviours, adapt and iterate, be careful of confirmation bias and gain the confidence to have tricky conversations.
How do I talk about behaviours?
You give people feedback. Ideally 10 positive to 1 negative. If it's all negative - check your confirmation bias - if it's truly all negative, you have a performance issue - more on this in future emails.
Have honest and solid conversations about performance. Find a model for feedback that you like - a quick internet search will find one. The manager-tools.com methods are good starters - I find them a bit wooden sometimes, but they can be helpful for those worried about their communication skills.
Base it on behaviours. Keep it short and sharp. Giving someone feedback is not a conversation - it's feedback. Deal with any follow up questions and don't leave it too long between negative feedback and your next face to face chat/1:1.
Give them positive feedback in the same way - be careful not to give them praise "well done", "great meeting", "nice work". This is praise.
Feedback is this --> "Great meeting Phil. When you wrangle people together like that, keep us on time and demonstrate great time keeping skills, it helps the team - keep doing it" <-- much better than praise.
--
Talking about performance with people is really hard - hence most managers don't do it. But it's essential, otherwise people will just continue to do stuff that is not good, outright bad, or not as good as they can - not on purpose - they just often don't get told anything else. Most people's intentions are sound - trust them - they want to do a good job, but sometimes their behaviours don't reflect that intent.
I go on and on about recruiting, but if you get the right people first time - you rarely have to give negative feedback :)
So go forth and give some feedback. Try it this week - look for one positive behaviour that someone does -and give them feedback on it :)
Rob..
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