Team Performance Management Part I
Like most organizations bigger than a small business, we have a performance management process in which every employee participates. The structure of the process is focused on individual goals and performance metrics. Unfortunately, managing performance at the individual level doesn’t work well in a team environment. In Scrum, peoples’ focus needs to be on how the team is performing and delivering to support the business, not the individual. In fact, using an individually-focused performance management process not only doesn’t work, but can actively work against progressing as a team. As a team member, consider how individual performance assessments would impact your motivation to help the team look good, at your own expense … it doesn’t.
There isn’t a great deal out there on performance management in Scrum or for a team. A lot of what I’ve read just dismisses formal performance management as a waste of time or counter to Scrum best practices. This is especially true when the Scrum Master, who should be in a supportive role for the team, is asked to conduct or participate in performance reviews of team members: it doesn’t work very well. But the reality is most of us have to adhere to corporate policies, and therefore have to follow the process our HR groups have laid out. My current situation in thinking about this problem is that I am not the Scrum Master, and some of the team members report directly to me, and some report to a manager who works under me. I am in a situation where I have to do performance reviews, though, and where I need to these to support team performance. So, what do to, what to do … .
There are a couple of critical issues to deal with: (1) the process itself, as well as (2) any incentive plans that are tied into it. Fortunately (well … maybe not so fortunately) my organization doesn’t have a high-valued bonus system tied into personal performance, so at least I’m not working against that. For this post, I’m going to focus on the second issue: building a performance management document which supports team work.
My perspective on the performance management process is that is gives a manager two tools: (1) a framework to have conversations (sure, that’s something you shouldn’t need a framework for …), and (2) a document which describes how or what a staff member needs to accomplish. This second point is the critical consideration for framing an effective performance management document. It needs to be effectively written to support team-focused work.
Written properly, the document can provide appropriate incentive to perform in different ways, although this depends on the stakes involved (e.g. is there significant financial incentives at stake?). My experience is that different people respond differently to this document — some argue every point and demand concessions, even if it isn’t a high stakes process, and other are more relaxed about it. Nonetheless, even in a low-stakes situation with employees who are laid back about the process, the document and how it’s structured can impact behaviour.
So now we arrive here: how does one craft a performance management document which effectively supports a team focus for individual members? I’ll describe my take on this in the next post.
