Several of the top supervisors I studied had a very simple set of behaviors for dealing with the annual or semi-annual performance review system that so many people love to hate. Now some companies are using software to make those “best practices” easier.
All the top supervisors I studied understood “performance evaluation” as a part of their everyday job, involving lots of contact, conversations, and coaching. Several also allowed their team members to see the boss’s performance notes at any time and to add a written comment to the file if they chose. As a result their annual or semi-annual review meetings contained no surprises and were more future-focused than their peers.
I just read two articles about ways that software is making it easier for managers to follow use the practices my top supervisors used. The Toronto Globe & Mail carried Iain Marlow’s article, “Boosting the Performance of Performance Reviews” and the Management Innovation Exchange (MIX) told the story of how the Gilt Groupe used software “to foster a culture of continuous feedback, enable coaching relationships outside traditional hierarchies, and encourage meaningful recognition.”
The featured software in both articles is Rypple. Marlow’s article centers on Facebook’s adoption of the software, while the MIX article describes how Gilt Groupe’s VP Engineering started using the software as an experiment.
One way that software helps us is by making the most effective behaviors easier than it was before. That’s happening here. It’s easier for managers to document observations and make small corrections when they use the software. A manager can praise a team member publicly or send a private message.
The other way that software helps us is by creating new opportunities. Team members at Gilt Groupe can publicly praise each other for good work, for example. The result was an increase in positive communication between team members.
Business in theory (and too many management books) is presented primarily as an economic activity. But business is practice is surpassingly social. It only makes sense that social media will provide ways to do business more effectively.
