You Still Have to Manage

Your job is to create, align and sustain aspiration, inspiration and perspiration! Many of today’s leaders, however, have become convinced (often times with the instigation of OD gurus), that management is no longer important, and that aspiration and inspiration are sufficient to propel organizational success. The truth is that they ARE absolutely necessary. Without management controls, however, results WILL NOT HAPPEN! Performance management is a process effective managers use to make sure that results happen; what’s intended to get done, actually gets done, and when it’s not, that it gets quickly rectified. Integral to that is the priority to review results vs. plan on a scheduled basis at every organizational level. Then, corrective actions must be developed and implemented where variances exist, to get back on track in real time. Delusion, wishful thinking and false hope are not part of this process. Management information must be developed that enables managers to measure what needs to be managed rather than managing what is currently being measured. We have crafted a six-section approach to help companies, divisions and departments create and implement successful performance management processes. It contains the following subjects:

• What is performance management?
• What is it not?
• What are the components?
• Guidelines for developing a performance management process.
• Expectations you should have of your performance management process.
• Guideline for management reports.
• Guidelines for conducting an effective performance management review.

As an example, the first section (What is performance management?) contains six steps of its own: 1. Performance management is an ongoing process for managing results vs. plan. 2. It’s a process to propel the development of the appropriate management reports at the appropriate detail. 3. It’s a process to assist in the development and usern of control systems to ensure the accomplishment of objectives. 4. It’s a process for conducting monthly/quarterly reviews for the purpose of: * reviewing actual vs. planned results * analyzing “off-track” results (positive or negative, within pre-defined parameters) * developing corrective action plans to get back on track 5. It closes the loop on performance vs. plans and provides the feedback to ensure that the managementrn process is dynamic: responsive to change, accommodating new issues and information, etc. 6. It’s a process for linking performance appraisals and compensation to the achievement of planned results. Although leadership is necessary and sexy, management is still a requirement for organizational and individual success. Copyright 2012 Rand Golletz. All rights reserved.