On completion of this tutorial you will be able to:
- State why clear objectives are important in appraisal interviews
- Describe a techniques for creating clear objectives
Setting Objectives
Managers are required to get specific tasks done by their team. To do this effectively, the team members must understand their individual contributions to the activity. This means that each individual has to have their own specific objectives.
The benefit of clear and precise objectives comes when a manager and a member of staff sit down for an appraisal interview. With clear objectives the discussion of past performance should be simple and this will leave time to review and revise objectives for the coming period and to discuss career aspirations.
A report by two psychologists (Latham & Locke in 'Who's the Manager?' F. Patten 1981) found that staff commitment was highest when their work was:-
- Focused on set goals
- High in volume
- Against specific deadlines
- Part of a smooth working routine
By and large these can be incorporated into good performance objectives. As the saying goes
If you do not know where you are going, do not be surprised if you do not get there !
Three Prime Areas of Objectives
Objectives are needed so that individuals know what is expected of them. This breaks down into three prime areas:-
Task
What precisely are the tasks that the individual is expected to perform? Are there any measures on these tasks - numbers of items to be processed in one day? Lines of code per week? Customers to be served in one hour? The more precisely you as the manager can set down the tasks, the easier it is for the individual to perform them.
When someone starts a new job there is usually an induction period and the tasks they have to do are clearly expressed. Once someone has been in the job for a while there is a tendency to assume they 'know what to do' and to leave them alone. However, circumstances change, other team members change, strategic goals change and it is good to specify again the tasks for each member of the team.
An appraisal interview is an ideal opportunity in which to discuss changes in these objectives and to set and agree again operating objectives. This is particularly important where there is a need for team members to work together - this way you will prevent two prime errors - repetition of work and/or everyone thinking that someone else was doing this piece of the task.
Times
Deadlines are needed. Say when you want the work done - and also in what form (initial ideas, final report, quick brainstorm, collected views of the team ). When you are setting deadlines you need to discuss these with the individuals to check for realism - can the work be achieved in the time set? If not, what can you alter - time? number of people working on the task? final state of work (that is accept first draft)?
Realism is however key - there is the tale of one in-house IT department at the launch of a new major project with the 'customer' present where someone asked "which of these deadlines can we miss?"
Style
Style means the behaviour and manners expected of the individual - how they do their work, not what they do. Some organisations work with behavioural competencies which focus on the manner in which people work together. Items to discuss here would be practise on answering phones; office 'dress'; ways of getting others to co-operate; limits of authority.
Behaviours are what people see and react to. Individuals need to know how their behaviour affects others and whether it helps or hinders their work. Apart from the general 'rules' about behaviour in the office it can be hard to talk with someone on their own behaviours. This is where the rules of feedback (see later) and collecting data on performance are key as is the establishment of an open atmosphere in the working environment.
SMART Objectives
All goals and objectives must be SMART. SMART is an acronym for:-
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely
As a manager it is important to set SMART objectives. Each objective must be easily understood by all so that there can be no ambiguity when discussing performance. The key question to ask anyone at goal setting time is:-
" How will we know that you have been successful? What will we see, hear, touch, find, use that assures us that you have achieved this objective?"
If each objective is measured against this key question and given a time limit and resource allocation then both the manager and the member of staff will be able to monitor progress during the period and measure achievement at the end. Equally this will make it easy to see where successes arose and failures occurred.
Summary
Setting clear and achievable objectives is a key start to any appraisal system. Without clear objectives then the appraisal interview becomes difficult when measuring past performance. The acronym SMART is best used when setting objectives and also asking the key question on evidence of a successful outcome.
