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More Great Questions to Improve Performance

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In an earlier post – Great Questions for Improving Performance through 121s I offered some questions that have worked well for me in 121s.

Well, here are some more.

  • What could you do which, done really well, would make a real difference to this organisation?
  • What do you need, from me, in order to help you to make your best contribution to the company?
  • What are the things for which I, and the organisation, should hold you accountable?  What should we expect from you?
  • How can we best use your knowledge, skills, passion and interest to help the company develop?
  • Who uses the outputs of your work?  What can you do to make sure that your outputs are well used?

Of course these questions can also work well outside of 121s.  The real point is that only when you start to explore questions like these with each member of your team will you really start to improve communication, teamwork and performance.

And of course the answers to the questions change continually as the business and its environment change – so this needs to be an ongoing and frequent dialogue.

This is the real work of coaching, development and performance management.

The Only Thing I Can Manage

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It has yet to be proven that anyone can really manage anyone else. We can influence, encourage even persuade. But manage?

The only person that we can really manage is ourselves. So next time as a manager you are confronted with a problem start to look for the solution in ever increasing concentric circles – starting from your desk.

The only thing that you can manage is you.

Yet so many managers fixate on managing other people, managing problems and opportunities that they hardly ever consider their own potential for development and change.

  • What changes can you make in the way that you do your work that will help those that work with you to do their best work? 

Great Questions for Improving Performance through 121s

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I recommend that you divide your 121s into three sections.
The first 10 minutes are for your team member to share what matters to them – but the second 10 minutes are yours.
The art of using this time well is to have some really well chosen and insightful questions.
Some of the questions that I think have been most effective for me are:

  • What else should I know about your work?
  • What would you like to tell me about this organisation?
  • Where do you see opportunities that we do not exploit?
  • Where do you see problems that we have not yet recognised?
  • What would you like to know from me about the organisation?
  • What do I do that you would like me to do more of?
  • What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?
  • What would you like me to start doing?

Now some of these questions require that you have a pretty strong relationship already, so they are probably not for the very first 121 meetings. Wait until you have developed some rapport and trust.
It is important that you are prepared to listen to the answers and respond effectively.
If you are not prepared to act on the response to a question, or fully explain your reasons for not acting, then it is best not to ask the question.
Remember – this is a 121. It is not the Spanish Inquisition. You will probably not have time for more than 1 or 2 questions – especially if you are also using the 121 to give feedback and to coach (which you should be!). 121s are about regular, frequent conversations that allow you to cover ground over a prolonged period of time. So don’t rush it.

What questions have worked well for you in 121s?

More great questions here.

Performance Improvement with Brilliant 121s

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One-to-ones are weekly, structured, half hour meetings held individually with each of your team members. They provide the bedrock for an effective trusting relationship that is essential for high performing teams.

The most common excuse that managers give for not using One to Ones is that they will take too much time. In practice, managers who use One to Ones effectively report that they actually save time – lots of time – and improve performance quickly and permanently.

Key Benefits

  • Improve your relationship and communication with all members of your team
  • Find time to coach every member of your team – every week – to improve their performance
  • Save time on line management to invest in thinking more strategically and working on your own projects
  • Shift the emphasis from fire-fighting to creating value
  • Close the gap between practice, values and mission
  • Improve effectiveness, whether in the for profit or third sector

If you would like to learn more about 121s then please click here to find out more about our events.

There are some great 121 questions in this post.

Anger and Decision Making

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Imagine that there are two people. You have to choose one of them to make an important decision. The first is cool, calm and analytical. The second is red-faced, with a vein throbbing on the side of their neck, angry.

Who do you choose to make the decision? Of course its a no brainer. Cool calm and analytical right?

WRONG!

According to recent research

“angry subjects were better able to discriminate between strong and weak arguments than the ones who were not angry—suggesting that anger can transform even those people who are, by disposition, not very analytical into more careful thinkers”

Despite its reputation as a trigger for rash behaviour, anger seems to help people make better choices—even aiding those who are usually very poor at thinking rationally. This could be because angry people base their decisions on the cues that “really matter” rather than things that can be called irrelevant or a distraction.

So armed with this knowledge what is a good manager to do?

Well firstly I do not recommend that you go around making sure that everyone is good and mad before they decide whether to have tuna or cheese with their salad. No, save this knowledge for when a big decision has to be made.

Translate ‘anger’ into a ‘sense of urgency’. Make sure that people know that their decision will have consequences that matter – to them. Get the adrenaline flowing – this matters. Anger evolved as a physiological state designed to make us make things happen. And this is what good managers are all about. Making things happen – albeit through other people. Developing a culture that is characterised by a sense of urgency will help people to take more and better decisions.

But be careful. Although the researchers do not report on it, I am sure that while too much anger might not be an issue to a Neanderthal backed into a cave by a sabre toothed tiger – it would be an issue for a manager being asked about a slipped deadline by their boss. My guess is that you just need to ‘feel the edge’ to gain the benefit in your decision making at work.

So anger matters – and (at the right levels) it helps. It is a great motivator that can fuel good decision making and action. Anger and passion are just flip sides of the same coin. Just how much passion can your culture stand?