Defining development objectives
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Development plans are often a source of frustration. It’s hard work to give feedback and write a plan for your team member – but then nothing seems to happen. Only when it comes to appraisal time is any action taken, and even then it is often half hearted.
There are many reasons why this happens.
One I regularly see is that the individual is unclear about what is expected of them within the development process (i.e. what good or completed looks like). It’s as if we take a lot of time and a devotion to SMART to create good performance objectives, but don’t do the same for the development part of the appraisal.
So, how can you create effective development objectives?
- Be really clear about the behaviour that is to be developed. Rather than giving direct feedback that the person might disagree with, we have a tendency to try to avoid saying it altogether or to dress it up in clever language. We use descriptions, almost euphemisms, to describe the issue. Instead we need to be clear and open about the problem.
- Be specific – don’t avoid the detail. By keeping the discussion at a high level you will often get less push back – but you’re also less likely to get any real development. For example, being told to “manage the politics better” or “be more organised” gives very little guidance about the behaviours that would be helpful. Paradoxically, the only person who can define the detail is someone who doesn’t need to develop the skill – because they are already good at this! By taking your feedback to a granular level, you can get your team member really clear on what they need to do.
- Start by saying what you see. Don’t go into the meeting having decided what the issue is, what’s caused it, and the best way of addressing it. Doing that can often cause challenges as you’re trying to steamroller the individual into going along with your pre-prepared diagnosis and plan. It’s much easier to go into the meeting and, in a very factual manner, describe what you see happening. For example, “Over the past 2 months you’ve had problems progressing 3 projects due to stakeholders digging in their heels and resisting decisions – and requiring us to rethink the plan.” This allows a discussion to ensue, and for the individual to help you to understand the issue and to find a resolution.
- Describe what good looks like. Rather than imposing a solution that your team member doesn’t buy into or resists, tell them first what you want to see as a positive outcome. Tell them what different looks like compared to their current behaviour. For example, if the issue is managing the politics, you might need to specify “Right from the start I’d like to know we’ve thought through all the people whose support or agreement is needed for the project to be a success – and that we know exactly what their criteria for success are, so we can review decisions and know what reaction to expect.” This will allow the team member to consider how to move between the current and future states.
Get into the detail of making it really clear what good looks like in terms of practical behaviours. Very often team members don’t need training courses or intensive coaching – they just need to know what to do to make you say “Yes! That’s perfect!”