No one appreciates being micromanaged. It can lead to frustration, from both parties. But employees need to feel like they can ask for help, and that they will receive it. How do you find this balance? This article, based on a study covering hundreds of companies, finds three ways to provide help but avoid micromanaging: not offering help preemptively, clarifying your role as a helper, and creating a rhythm of your involvement.
TRANSFORM PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT INTO PERFORMANCE MOMENTUM WITH THE A.M. PROGRAM
When combining an A.M. Engagement with A.M. Program, we are your consultants, coaches and administrators, “powered by” the A.M. software, as we help you design an effective system starting with people and process—how they are working together.
As the Program engagement comes to an end, your organization will have the system and content that fits you, and is a natural part of how people work together.
TRANSCRIPT :
The Aligned Momentum Leadership Operating System is going to fit into their workday, into their lives—to make their life easier, because that’s what software is for. It is not for you to fit in our box and be a “should do.” It is a “want to do.”
With the A.M. Program we will come in and also be your administrators for a while as we train others, and as we continue the consulting engagement—to truly get that rhythm in your organization—and get these new Aligned Momentum ways woven through your organization.
So that, as I describe in the book, The Pivot: Orchestrating Extraordinary Business Momentum, you are moving toward that state where alignment and momentum are both in place.
Where Clarity, Mastery Mindsets, Nimble Decision-making, Strategic Thinking, Talent Adaptability, and Managers as coaches are all in place.
We’re here to help you and that is what the AM (consulting) Program is for.
DOING PERFORMANCE REVIEWS RIGHT WITH A.M. REVIEWS TRANSCRIPT
Performance reviews do have a place in your organizational plan. The reviews are intended to look back at performance.
They provide more feedback and learning in a different way than the day-to-day “Hmm, that didn’t go so well, let’s work on that.” Or “Wow, that went great!” That day-to-day continuous feedback. Still do that.
But performance reviews help someone in their career to grow. Performance reviews help you understand what is actually being done in the role, that perhaps the role description isn’t describing right now, and will help position you and all of your team to understand what talent is going to be needed in the future, and who among your existing workforce is capable of doing that.
So Aligned Momentum Performance Reviews will help you create a performance review process that is positive, especially when used with the rest of the modules within Aligned Momentum.
A.M. ASSESSMENTS HELP MANAGERS LEAD TRANSCRIPT
Today, we expect managers (or anyone who leads a team) to lead better; to build more collaborative teams; to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion; to hear all voices; to reduce risk; to lead… better!
And yet, that is very difficult to do: to be consistent, and to truly ask all the right questions and hear all the voices, always live. Aligned Momentum (A.M.) Assessments help.
They’ll help those that are responsible for the culture to get their arms around, “What is it like to work at this workplace?”
It helps all the managers who are working individually, one-on-one with people, to understand, “Are the people in our team getting along? Are we truly building a collaborative team? Are we ensuring the DEI that we expect? Are we hearing all voices? Do we have risk?”
And cross teams. “Are people working together for the betterment of the organization and all?” Aligned Momentum Assessments will help.
A.M. ASSESSMENTS PROMOTE INCLUSION AND BRING CLARITY TRANSCRIPT
Online assessments gather the de-identified data that will help you take the best next steps as a leader to be a better leader, and create a more vibrant workplace.
Achieving alignment and momentum requires engagement from everyone. And people are not going to be engaged unless they are part of it.
It’s no longer “Top down, this is what we’re doing, now buy in.” No.
It is about creating this this voice! You’re hearing the voices, you’re a voice—everyone else has a voice. And do that, simply, through assessments.
These are: workplace assessments—people are giving you an idea of what it’s like to work with each other peer-to-peer, and what it’s like just overall to be in that workplace.
And there are also 360 assessments to use for people who are your next leaders. Are they the right ones to step into the role? And what needs to change? How can you give them the resources? What can they look at in themselves to be the leader that is needed for the future?
Look at the Aligned Momentum (A.M.) Assessments as a means to create this rhythm of continuous input and feedback within your organization. Not only for more brilliant execution of strategy, but also for a better future.
WHY A.M. CONVERSATIONS IS VITAL FOR PLANNING AND EXECUTING PRIORITIES TRANSCRIPT
People want to know that what they’re doing matters. They also—individuals—we want every individual to be setting their own priorities aligned with what matters most for the organization.
Now, how are they going to know that they’re on track? The best way is conversations.
And with Aligned Momentum Conversations, we put that together in a way that makes sense for both (individuals and managers). The managers have that information in a way that they can respond the most effectively for both.
Is it, “Yes, you’re right on track.” “No, you’re not on track. Hey, let’s meet.” Or, “I’m not sure about this. This may have changed. Let’s get together and talk about it.”
That’s all that’s needed. But it’s so rarely done, and so rarely done effectively.
So give all of your managers throughout the organization, team leaders, and their teams, this tool: Aligned Momentum, along with Priorities Conversations, that will help them be better leaders, and help everyone in the organization do what matters most.
REPORTS FOR EVERY A.M. MODULE TRANSCRIPT
We at Aligned Momentum know how important good data is for you to make decisions from all that you’re doing.
We would not put a system in place that would not provide you with the decision support reports that you need.
With every module that I’m describing, there is at least one report that you can view that will help you take best next steps, help you make those decisions, for now, next, and future.
WHY A.M. STRATEGY?
You want your strategy to be brilliantly executed.
You want all of those taking the lead within your organization to truly commit to strategic objectives, to be the champion, and to help guide their teams toward brilliant execution of strategy.
So, how do you do that?
WHAT IS A.M. STRATEGY?
So you have a strategic plan. You—usually a small group of senior leaders—have gotten together and finalized: looked out into the future, looked at the vision, come up with strategic moves, strategic objectives, and then brought that back into an execution plan for the coming quarter. Or perhaps a year, and it will be revisited each quarter.
And during that process, I hope that you have well defined the strategic objectives, and taken some time to discuss how you think they would be measured. And that’s critical.
It’s still just, at this point, what you think needs to be done for brilliant execution of that strategy. Because you don’t know—those closer to the work know. And so this is where Aligned Momentum (A.M.) Strategy comes into play, and why it’s so critical.
HOW DO I USE A.M. STRATEGY?
So, with Aligned Momentum Strategy, it will enable you in a simple but highly effective way to broadcast strategy—those strategic objectives—out to all the division / department heads to start.
And they can work with their teams, as makes sense, and they’ll look at the strategic objectives, even if they’re part of the leadership team, will look at them again and say:
“What actually, of those objectives, can my team affect?” Not control, but affect.
“And of those strategic objectives then, if this is what we can affect, how would we do that? And based on how we would do that, how would we define progress? What would progress look like? What would be those measures?”
And so then, the strategic map, this draft strategy map, is updated with the input from others, and brought back into a full strategy map.
The strategic objectives haven’t changed. It’s possible that if no one in the organization is saying they can affect a strategic objective, it needs to be revisited.
Yet, you will have a much more likely plan that can be brilliantly executed.