Chapter 8 – The Quarterly Conversation, page 111.
- To the degree that you master Quarterly Conversations, you will improve your relationships with your direct reports, and ensure you are continually on the same page.
- When we ask our clients to begin scheduling Quarterly Conversations with their direct reports, we’re met with some skepticism and resistance. Here’s what we hear:
- “I talk to my people all the time.”
- “I’m already meeting with my people every day.”
- “I don’t know when I’ll find time to meet.”
- “I don’t want them bringing me problems, I want solutions.”
- “I’ve been talking, but they’re not listening to me.”
- “Every ninety days. Are you serious?”
- We’ve been asked lots of questions regarding Quarterly Conversations. Here are some concise statements that will address most of them:
- Schedule the conversations well in advance.
- Ideally, meet face-to-face.
- You and your direct reports need to take time to prepare.
- Let the 5-5-5 be your guide, not your master
- Core Values
- Roles
- Rocks
- Check-in on “What’s Working and What’s Not Working.”
- The conversation is mutually beneficial; you’ll each walk away with constructive feedback that will make you both better.
- A quarterly timeframe works best because an understanding of shared objectives begins to fray around the ninetieth day. The business climate changes, the industry shifts, and you’re continually challenged to meet customer expectations.
- When you schedule Quarterly Conversations for the first time put your direct reports mind at ease.
- Say something like, “To make sure you and I are always on the same page and keeping expectations clear, I want to meet with you every three months.”
What’s Working and Not Working
- The primary purpose of the Quarterly Conversation is to discuss two questions:
- What’s Working?
- What’s Not Working?
- What’s Working
- Begin by asking them what is working.
- Let them share their accomplishments, tasks, or procedures that they feel are going well within the organization and with you as their boss.
- You should listen and try to understand the following:
- What are they most proud of accomplishing during the last quarter?
- How did they accomplish this?
- What process or procedure worked well?
- What obstacles did they overcome?
- Who was most helpful to them?
- Do they feel they are working on things that matter?
- Do they feel appreciated for the work they do?
- Did you provide them with the tools they needed?
- Did you keep expectations clear?
- After they’ve shared what is working, it’s your turn to share what you feel is working.
- This is an opportunity to recognize and thank them for their accomplishments, behaviors, and progress.
- Be prepared with specific examples.
- Don’t confuse excellence with perfection. You can still heap praise on someone and still expect improvement.
- What’s Not Working
- When asking this question, take time to create a safe harbor for flushing out issues and getting to the root cause.
- Just listen. Don’t fill the silence.
- In her book, Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril, Margaret Heffernan defines willful blindness as “something we could know and should know but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know.”
- Experts who researched “Willful Blindness” discovered that when employees are asked the question, “Are there issues at work that people are afraid to raise?” Eighty-five percent responded yes.
- Great People, those at or above The Bar, are likely to be the most willing to tell you, “What’s not working.”
- While they share what’s not working, you should be listening and trying to understand the following:
- What process or procedure is broken?
- How well do they understand the root cause of the issue?
- Was the solution to their problem directly within their control?
- Did they have the responsibility, accountability, and autonomy to act?
- Did they plan well and fail to execute?
- Did you fail them in any way?
- Did you provide them with the necessary tools to succeed?
- When they are finished sharing what’s not working, don’t respond with your solutions yet. Just list the issues.
- Next is your turn to share what you feel is not working. Be sure to:
- Come prepared.
- Articulate in bullet-point fashion.
- Provide some explanation for each bullet.
- With their list and your list now in front of you, it’s now time to go into “solution mode”:
- Decide what can and can’t be solved.
- Be prepared to help but remember to keep the monkey from ending up on your back.
- Use the following to frame your questions:
- Given how things turned out, what could they have done differently?
- When did they realize there was a problem?
- What action did they take?
- What is their plan to address it so the issue won’t recur?
- What resources will they need?
- How do they think you can help?
- Should they take action first and then let you know what they did, or should they make a recommendation first so you can then decide together what action they should take?
- How will you both know that you corrected the issue?
- To be great you must know about all the issues (real or not); second, to reduce your anxiety, put the issues into the following three categories:
- Ones that can’t be solved
- Most of the issues on the list during a Quarterly Conversation fall into this category.
- These just need a response, answer, or acknowledgment.
- To be a great boss, you have to get good at saying something along the lines of, “I hear you and know it’s an issue that’s driving you crazy. What I need you to understand is that the issue that you are describing exists for the following reason [state the reasons] and it’s not going to change. I just hope you can live with it even though I know you don’t agree with it.”
- Ones that you must solve
- Unfortunately, you have to take on and solve these issues, either by working with other bosses in the organization or with the owner.
- First, agree on a timeframe for solving it (day, week, month, or year).
- Then, agree on the exact plan of attack for solving it so that you can effectively manage your direct report’s expectations.
- Ones that they must solve
- Ideally, you want to push as many of these issues down to them, especially when they are truly their monkeys.
- First, agree on a timeframe for solving it (day, week, month, or year).
- Then, agree on a plan of attack for how your direct report will solve it.
The Annual Review Versus the Quarterly Conversation
- The Quarterly Conversation and the Annual Review should complement each other.
- The Annual Review should be documented, signed by both parties, and placed in the employee’s file.
- An employee should have three Quarterly Conversations and one Annual Review each year.
- We recommend you do not discuss pay raises and other changes in compensation during the Annual Review.
- Here’s an example of a simple Annual Review form:
- Special Note:
- You should never wait for a Quarterly Conversation or Annual Review to address behaviors or performance that you feel hurts the organization or your relationship.
- Remember the 24-Hour Rule that we discussed in the management practice of rewarding and recognizing in chapter seven.
