Managers believe that an organization’s purpose is performance. Performance = “any outcome that is deemed valuable by an external customer or internally by the company.” For Tofugu, value comes down to progress.
The manager’s most basic responsibility is to help each person grow and point their focus toward performance.
But there is a dilemma: a manager does not have direct control over their team members (nor should they).
Each individual can decide what to do and what not to do. Not only do they have ownership over their role(s), they are also the ones doing the work and making things happen.
Sure, you do have some influence — and you can do some of the work, too — but you can’t really force things to happen. That’s called micromanaging and it doesn’t work in the mid-to-long term. It makes people resentful. It burns you (and them) out. Nobody is happy.
So what can you do?
Define the right outcomes and then let each person figure out how to achieve those outcomes.
Defining the right outcomes creates some tension that encourages colleagues to take responsibility. By defining (and measuring, when possible) required outcomes, you’re creating an environment where each employee gets the thrill of working toward visible goals.
For us, those come in the form of Objectives and Key Results.
The beauty of this system is that you can work with your team / tell people what the objective is, and then let them help you to break those down into (measured) key results. You’re defining what success is, and they’re figuring out what it means to get there. At the end, you have a list of key results that you all agree on: when the key results are complete, so is the objective. And, the objective should be the thing that will bring the most progress to Team and/or Company goals.
Other things to consider with outcomes:
It doesn’t matter what you think — it matters whether or not the learner is learning, and how much progress they’re making toward their goals. If the outcome isn’t valuable, it’s not going to help the learner, and it isn’t going to help Tofugu, either. The learner is the ultimate judge of value.
Are the outcomes in line with Tofugu’s goals? Are they in line with the team’s goals?
Know what your team member’s strengths are. Define outcomes that play to those strengths. Make sure the right person is working on the right things.