Assigned Goals & Some Feedback on Poor Performance

Did you ever receive a performance review indicating you had done absolutely no work on an assigned goal?  I have.

Do you usually set your own goals, or are your goals assigned to you? Do you easily accept any goals assigned to you?   I’ve struggled with this in the past when I wasn’t fully bought in, but over the years I became better at accepting assigned goals.  There were occurrences when I didn’t think the goals were fair or valid, and I put little effort to completing them.  One time I received a written performance appraisal stating exactly that.

Career Beginnings

I began my career writing computer code as a Cobol programmer.  I progressed well in the IT organization of the former New Brunswick Telephone Company. As my skills and ambitions grew, I decided I wanted to work in sales and marketing, so I took a position titled Application Analyst, which was a great job, although I didn’t fully realize it at the time. What appealed to me was that I would support sales people when they discussed technical solutions with customers, and this experience would enable me to transition to a sales and marketing position at a later date.

Using my technical skills, which were current at the time, I supported some customer software and hardware applications, and I accompanied sales people to discuss the art of the possible. I also performed some internal systems support.  There was tremendous variety in the job, and I learned a great deal, including the ability to manage multiple competing priorities. This is what I most appreciate looking back at the role.  

Very Direct Feedback

One year when planning my upcoming annual performance goals with my manager Phil, I was assigned the task of transferring an internal software application from a minicomputer to some other unspecified hardware, in order to speed up the remaining applications.  I was informed emphatically that my budget for this was zero. Zero.

I didn’t bother to clarify.  I didn’t seek to understand.  I decided he wasn’t serious. This goal clearly was not fair or valid. Then six months later I received my mid-year performance review.

In that review I received good comments in all areas but one, where the written comments indicated ‘Jim has done nothing to migrate the SAM system off the VS65 minicomputer.” That was accurate.  I guess more senior managers were more serious about getting this work done than I realized. (I still have that written review.  It’s a good reminder for me.)

After receiving this feedback, I interviewed some of the more senior managers to understand this better. I learned that the SAM system had been hogging system resources, and for many years there had been desire to migrate the application to another platform.  But it never got done, it never became a priority, it remained as an unglamorous piece of work, and frustration had mounted.

Additionally, the more senior managers knew that we had some decommissioned hardware that could operate the application on its own, although some complementary hardware would be needed.  So, I worked with some technicians and we got the work done, not without some of the twists, turns and surprises that occur with most IT projects.

Conclusion

It’s great when we can select our own goals. However, often organizations assign goals to people and work teams. Well aligned goals support other organizational objectives.

As leaders, we need to communicate clearly and frequently on the reasons goals were selected and assigned, and we need to communicate frequently on progress, and observed behaviors that will lead to goal attainment.

As team members, it is best to understand how assigned goals fit with other organizational objectives.  Regardless, as team members we do need to accept responsibility for working to achieve assigned goals.

Comfort Zones, Leadership and Listening

 

“Most people listen with the intent to reply, rather than with the intent to understand.”

That’s a quote from author Steven Covey from his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Do you agree with the sentiment? I admit that there are times when I’m simply waiting for my turn to talk. This usually happens when I’ve heard something I disagree with and feel a need to assert my point of view.  

I have become better over the years in these situations by simply making a note of my point, then focusing again on listening, and then making my point later. This is helpful as a participant or leader of contentious meetings.  I wrote about running better meetings here amazon.com/author/jimkokocki

I’ve improved my listening skills because of personal experiences, and because of roles I’ve served in business and volunteer groups. My active listening skills have improved immensely because of my weekly participation at a Toastmasters club.

At Toastmasters I’m often invited to evaluate a speech. While Toastmasters isn’t a pass/fail organization it is critical, if we’re to be effective at developing the communication and leadership skills of participants , that we listen effectively, and offer commendation and any suggestions for improvement with grace, protecting the self-esteem of the member.

There are other ways Toastmasters members practice listening skills at our meetings. For example, one member counts and reports on the use of ums and ahs, you knows, and other filler words and phrases. Most people will use a small quantity, but overuse becomes distracting and impedes the ability of an audience to receive and process a message.

Listening is also critical as a coaching skill. At times people simply need a sympathetic ear. When conflict occurs often the people involved merely need to tell their view of the conflict.  Most people don’t want to hold anger for a long time. Sometimes they simply need to tell their story and expunge the rage.  You can read more about managing conflict here https://gycz.blogspot.com/2022/02/dealing-with-team-conflict-real-and.html

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”  That was said by Bernard Baruch who was a massively successful businessman and statesman  (https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/us-history-biographies/bernard-m-baruch)

You can find abundant material offering methods to become a more skilled listener. Some good techniques to enhance your knowledge are offered here https://www.inc.com/matthew-jones/10-simple-steps-to-highly-effective-listening.html

 Some knowledge of techniques and approaches is helpful. But listening is a skill. How are you practicing and improving your listening skills?

Comfort Zones – A Sales and Decision Making Model

How do people make decisions?  A helpful way to consider how people progress through decision making is with decision making models.  A long time ago I learned about a model that works for marketing, sales and public relations.  I know the model as AKIDA, although it’s usually simplified as AIDA.

What is the AIDA model and the AKIDA model?

The AIDA model is comprised of

-         Awareness

-         Interest

-         Desire

-         Action

Here’s how it works. If a prospective customer isn’t aware you exist, he doesn’t buy your product obviously. If the prospect is aware you exist, he may develop interest in your product. A change in his needs and life circumstances may drive desire to purchase your product. And finally, a further life change, or a sales promotion you offer, may drive action to purchase your product.  Moving through these stages may take minutes, but it may take years.

The AKIDA model inserts knowledge after awareness.   This makes sense to me because without some knowledge of product features, benefits, and success stories it makes progression difficult. I suppose knowledge may be implicit with awareness, but I find it helpful to see it clearly called out.  It becomes obvious that part of our roles in sales, marketing, public relations and leadership is to drive awareness and knowledge that develops interest, desire and action.

An Example of AIDA (AKIDA)

Here's an example.  I’ve been an avid cyclist for years, and have a couple of nice bikes.  I’m generally aware of e-bikes, which are not terribly new, but are becoming much more popular these days.  I have awareness, but little knowledge about price, benefits, and I haven’t had discussion or thoughts about how they might fit my lifestyle or my transportation needs. I have awareness.  I have little to no knowledge.  I have no interest, desire or action to purchase. But it may be the case that an e-bike would be a great option for me now. So vendors need to be effective at driving messages to prospects like me to see us progress along the purchase decision.  

How To Expand Your Comfort Zone

I share this because I’m interested in how people make progress in expanding their comfort zones, which is in itself a decision. I’m interested in how you make such progress. Do you have awareness of what holds you back from making progress on goals and aspirations?  Do you have knowledge on options and alternatives that will set you on a path to making progress?  If you have awareness and knowledge how strong is your interest and desire to take action.

I spend a lot of time developing speakers both professionally and in Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a low-cost high value option to develop improved overall communication skills, public speaking skills, soft skills and leadership skills.  I’ve seen people join Toastmasters who say that they’ve known about Toastmasters for years but a life change drove them to take action.  Often there’s an urgent need to address a skills gap. Sometimes it’s a retirement speech, or a speech at a wedding, or a desire to play a role in their community.

The AKIDA model helps in planning how to reach prospects and offering solutions to their needs.

The Cost of Poor Communication Skills

Yesterday I was speaking with a Toastmasters friend from the eastern U.S. and he told me that the Toastmasters clubs in his area will be soon benefitting from some press coverage, sadly at the expense of some other worthy membership-based organizations.  He said that a newspaper columnist decided to write a series on the theme of New Years resolutions and she contacted organizations that people often turn to in order to act on these resolutions, for example, gyms, yoga studios, and others.   My friend had an interview with the columnist and at the end of the interview the columnist said she’s had trouble getting a response from many organizations but when she contacted toastmaster clubs each was very quick to respond.  Why do you suppose that is?

Is Public Speaking A Core Skill?

Are Toastmasters clubs better at public relations than other small organizations?   While Toastmasters is a large organization operating in 149 countries, each of the 16,000 clubs is a small organization, and in essence a very small business.  I’d like to believe the clubs are especially strong at PR but I don’t think so.  However, I know that the club members are confident about expressing their thoughts and ideas, and I speculate this is why our club members are prompt to respond to requests for interviews.  As a result of this confidence, more clubs will be featured by the columnist.  This is an opportunity lost for some organizations, and an opportunity gained for these Toastmasters clubs.

Do we treat public speaking as a core skill?  We should. It’s difficult to persuade a team, or make a sale to a prospect if you can’t communicate clearly. Related to this, yesterday I attended a briefing from a U.S. university about a program I have some interest in.   The session started with an introduction by the administrative lead, and further details were provided by the professor who delivers the program.   The professor was a clear communicator with simple, short sentences and well-organized thoughts.  The administrative lead was a poor communicator.  His presentation was not well organized and filled with ums and ahs.   At one point he uttered ah three times in a row as he struggled to gather his thoughts.  Silence would have been preferred, and fine. I found his speech habits terribly distracting in working to receive his message

Efforts Of A Listener

When someone is not skilled as a communicator, a listener will usually make the effort to interpret and organize what he or she is hearing.  And we’ll fight through unhelpful utterances like um and ah – to a point.  If we determine the information isn’t pertinent, or interesting, or too difficult to interpret, we stop making the effort, and this was the case for me yesterday.  I listened to the professor and enjoyed her content, but when the administrator resumed the session towards the end to make the pitch to signup, I listened briefly but then wasn’t willing to endure more of his poorly communicated speech.  That is likely my loss.  

So yesterday I heard the story of how some Toastmasters clubs will get some press coverage because they were prompt and confident to communicate their story. And I experienced a sales pitch so poor in its presentation that I disconnected from the session before hearing the full pitch.

There are benefits to good communication, and costs to poor communication.  Sometimes those costs aren’t readily recognizable.  Is this lack of skill in public speaking holding back you or your organization?

A Perspective from SHRM on The Cost of Poor Communication

Here is a perspective from the The Society for Human Resource Management

https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/communication/Pages/The-Cost-of-Poor-Communications.aspx

Tips For Making Achievable New Year’s Resolutions

Do you set New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t although throughout the year I will adjust goals or set new goals if I desire.

I’ve never found value in setting new goals simply because the calendar year was about to change.  It seems to me such an approach could naturally lead to failure because such a goal setting exercise is driven by an external driver, that is the start of a new calendar year, rather than an internal driver, such as the burning desire to learn a new skill or complete a long delayed project or task. 

That said, many people do set New Year’s resolutions and if that works for someone then I think that’s great. While it doesn’t work for me personally, any process that is helpful in enabling an individual to make progress and feel good about them self is fine with me.  So with that in mind I share this link to seven tips from Toastmasters International on successfully keeping resolutions.  And I will add an 8^th tip to this list.

 

https://mediacenter.toastmasters.org/2021-12-28-Toastmasters-Offers-7-Tips-for-Making-New-Years-Resolutions-Stick

 

 Tell People About Your Goals

My additional tip, an 8^th tip,  is to tell some people about your goals. You can share with one person, or many people.  In my experience such sharing is helpful for several reasons;

1. Adds a Level of Commitment. When I have told someone what I was working to accomplish, I felt more committed to making progress.  If you’re reluctant to share a goal, then perhaps you are not committed and willing to put in the necessary work.  But such reluctance could also be a result of not being sure of the amount of work and the next steps, of precisely what will be involved. However to have a goal doesn’t mean that you need to have everything figured out. This leads me to the next two reasons.

2. Clarifies Goals. We know that goals really should be quite specific, and clarifying questions from someone or an audience may enable better specificity.  For example some years ago I had a goal to write a book and during a presentation an audience member simply asked when I wanted to be published.  I hadn’t yet committed myself to a timeline and the question made me think and answer with a reasonable and attainable target date which I did ultimately reach.

3. Enables Supporters. When you share what you wish to accomplish, you might find people to help.  Someone may directly engage, or connect you with somebody with similar ambitions.  When I spoke about writing a book an audience member mentioned that she knew of someone who edits as a part time job, and that connection has been very valuable to me.  

An ideal way to tell people about your goals is to speak about the goals as a member at a Toastmasters club, preferably in the form of a speech.  A simple speech structure of what goals, why these goals, and next steps and/or progress should provide five to six minutes of solid material.  Such a speech could be from a personal perspective or an organizational perspective. A Toastmasters club is filled with attentive, supportive listeners who become eager to receive and offer suggestions and feedback as part of the experiential learning environment.

 

It’s the time of year when many people set goals.  Whether you’re driven by the change of calendar,  a desire to acquire new skills, or complete some tasks I wish you success in achieving your goals.

 

A Recent Podcast Appearance

A recent podcast appearance speaking about communication skills and approaches, as well as Toastmasters  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaHngJE6ak&t=1138s

10 Ways Toastmasters Can Boost Your Career

 

An excellent article on the benefits of joining a Toastmasters club 

https://www.livecareer.com/resources/jobs/search/boost-career

Get To The Point - Establishing The Point of Your Presentation

The link below provides access to an excellent article I discovered.  Often when I coach speakers, they struggle defining their purpose or their point. There is no need to overthink this, but a speaker needs to have a point and be clear about it. 

Here’s a quick exercise to define your purpose;

1. Why were you selected to speak to this audience on this subject? 

2. Decide what you want this audience to understand or do as a result of hearing your presentation.

3. Once you've decided this, make sure you communicate your purpose at the beginning and end of your presentation.   Everything you say in between best support this purpose. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/19/stop-rambling-use-this-easy-trick-to-get-to-the-point-faster-says-public-speaking-expert.html

Comfort Zone - Talk About What You’re Working On

This week I had a lesson about taking my own advice. I’ll often advise people on how to speak publicly and/or privately about things they’re working on because listeners might connect you with a helper, or may directly lend a hand.

At the end of September one of my excellent tenants vacated a small apartment building I’ve owned for over twenty-five years.    One of the tasks that I don’t enjoy as a landlord is finding new tenants as the vacancy rate is low, demand is high, and landlords like me get lots of phone calls and email from ‘tire kickers’ and people who don’t bother to read the ads, they just phone or email. So conversations like this are not uncommon;

“Where is your apartment?’

“West. Like it says in the listing.’

“Oh I’m looking for something east.  How many bedrooms?’

“One. Like it says in the listing.”

“Oh I’m looking for a two bedroom. Is heat included?”

“No. Heat isn’t included as it says in the listing.”

“Oh.  Well thanks anyway.”

Then it happened that I was outside getting some exercise cycling and I saw a friend walking down the street. I stopped and we chatted. I mentioned I had an empty apartment. He said he had two acquaintances who were looking for an apartment.  Right then and there I had two quality leads with a reference I trusted. And now I have a great new tenant.

While you do need to choose your time and place, make a point to be open about goals you’re considering or working on. Be prepared when someone asks ‘what’s new?’