In the last two blogs, I’ve been discussing the in and outs of the Personal Progress Meeting (PPM). This week, I’m going to share with you a little bit about a PPM system and some final notes on the PPM in general.
The PPM System
Outline steps and have a PPM form in place (not sure what to include in your PPM form? Refer back to Part I and Part II for tips)
–Set the time
–Direct report should fill out form and bring to meeting
–Items are discussed
–Actions are decided
–Commitments are made to complete actions
–Agreement
I want you to see how these meetings can be the vehicle for you to give them those two long term motivators – sense of mission and purpose and feedback/communication. For you, these meetings are the fastest, surest way for you to learn about yourself and develop real management and leadership skills.
Frequency of PPMs
The faster you want to build your business effectively and reach your Strategic Intent, the greater the frequency.
–Weekly is best.
–Fortnightly is okay.
–Monthly is only just acceptable
–Anything less says you don’t really care about your people or your business
Something else that comes up here is that sometimes there is an issue that will come up that needs addressing right away. If that happens, address it right away. There will be a temptation to say that you’ll wait until the next PPM and then bring it up. If it’s serious enough, do it immediately. There are times when you can just note it down and bring it to the next PPM, but if it’s serious, then it cannot/should not be held over until the next PPM.
How the PPM helps you to develop your managing skills – factors:
Listening – this is about you listening. It’s about them. It’s their space, not yours, during this meeting. This is about you building your listening skills.
Questioning – building your questioning skills. I’m going to give you some examples of what questions you can ask in these meetings.
Thinking systemically – taking an overview. Thinking, if there’s an issue or if something could work better, what’s the system? What’s the best way to approach it?
Patience
Predictable
Lack of cynicism – cynicism has no place in these meetings. It has no place in business at all.
These are some of the skills that you can be developing as you move your business toward its Strategic Intent through developing your people to be the best they can be, and by delivering these personal progress meetings.
I mentioned some of the questions you might want to ask in your PPMs. These are open-ended questions. You want to build some solid, strategic plans and some really strong work relationships. You want to build a high morale and improve performance. These are all by-products of good questions. And these meetings are where you as the manager get to help the staff member be the best they can be. This is not a forum for you to talk and tell. It’s for you to lead and listen. It’s a very potent communication tool that will help you discover all kinds of important information about your business, your staff, yourself, your customers and create insights that otherwise might have remained hidden.
Asking these questions can have a really powerful effect on your work and life. These questions should be asked without leading, prompting or interrupting. A good practice is to suspend any assumptions and make sure you listen to the answers…
What is it that you would like to see accomplished and how do you see it happening?
What are your thoughts? What are your concerns?
What’s the most important priority for you, and why?
What would you like to see improved? (Believe me…they know the best ways that things can be done)
Sometimes your staff member will make a statement that you’re not completely sure about, don’t make assumptions. Instead, ask them to tell you more. Say, can you help me understand that a little better?
Ask things about their performance and what’s getting in the way of their improved performance. How can they change that? How can you help?
If you could change one thing in your life, or your business, or this department, which would have the biggest impact? What would it be?
What accountability do you take for something happening or not happening in the business? What responsibility will you take? What actions will you take to address these issues, and by when will you address them?
These are just some of the questions you can ask in your PPMs. Remember, your staff member will come with the form prefilled in so there is a lot of meat for discussion there and a lot of space for you to learn more about them and help them be the best they can be.
Until next time…
P.S. Learn more about working ON your business–talk to the coach! Click here to connect with me!