Category Archives: Performance Management Skills

Preparation, preparation, preparation was, and continues to be, the quality standard of bringing our best to work each day. Leaders who are prepared for the conversation, the solution to the problem, the outcome of the situation, the resolution to the conflict, or managing the performance issue will more easily guide others to a satisfactory outcome.

When you are going to give feedback – either positive or negative – preparation is usually more important than the delivery. If I have prepared well (and have, in my mind, anticipated and planned for the many pitfalls and turns the conversation might take), the delivery will take care of itself. To a confident and competent leader, preparation, preparation, preparation is the key! Continue reading →

If you are the director or supervisor of an organization, undoubtedly you have had to address numerous performance issues. This post continues the topic, Giving Feedback. As you navigate one of the most stressful parts of a supervisor’s job, I hope it will be helpful to you. I address some of the potential pitfalls and some of the successful techniques, and encourage you to start practicing. If you have a tried-and-true strategy for addressing concerns, continue to use it! But, if you are the supervisor who would rather let things go, and hope for the best – instead of confronting a performance issue – then read on, begin with small steps, and try it this way.

Once you begin to address concerns in a timely fashion; once you have a template for shaping your words and conversations; and, once you meet with satisfaction and turn a performance issue around by giving feedback, you will be empowered. It gets easier each time you do it. You still have to prepare, but your delivery becomes more confident, and the results more successful. Continue reading →

Many directors struggle with giving constructive feedback to their teachers. Many try to avoid it and hope that poor performance, or even missing a deadline once, will somehow improve on its own. I’m here to tell you that it does not happen on its own. Directors must intervene in some way to bring the problem to light, and to set the appropriate expectation for future performance. What I have learned in managing hundreds of people is that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ In other words, if I can prevent something from happening in the first place, then I won’t have to deal with it later. Time is a precious commodity to the director of a child care center; how to make the most of it is the never ending quest! Continue reading →