Want to create greater accountability for individual performance? Annual Reviews may not be the answer. Daily check-ins are much more effective.
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How often do you check in with your employees to make sure they are on track? If your answer isn’t “at least once a day or more frequently” then you need to make some changes at your workplace.
Contrary to popular belief, checking in with employees isn’t a long-drawn or tedious process. It’s something that can easily become a part of your daily routine and will save you a lot of time and energy in the future. It also comes with the added benefit of making your employees more accountable for their daily deliverables.
Here’s how you can improve your employees’ performance:
Make feedback a part of your daily routine.
Let part of your daily conversations be reserved for checking in and giving feedback. This will allow you to monitor ongoing progress closely. You will also be able to understand your team’s work style and motivations much better with frequent check-ins. Project / Task Management tools like Asana can also be leveraged here. To learn more about feedback, you can read our previous articles here.
Make your communication two-way.
Allow your employees enough opportunities to share their perspectives and opinions. Take time to understand their motivations. Present them with opportunities to share what they are enjoying or struggling with on a particular project. Do not do all the talking. You should also listen well and ask good questions to get the root of the problem. This is also an opportune moment for you to receive some feedback on your managerial abilities.
Do not do away with face-to-face meetings.
While tools like Asana are great for keeping track of progress, do not do away with face-to-face meetings entirely. If daily stand up meetings are not your organization’s cup of tea, ensure you slot in some time once a week to catch up with everybody working on the project. Meet with your employees as a team as well as individually. This allows for greater trust and relationship building than virtual communication alone.
Help your team set SMART Goals.
As studies show, SMART Goals can help boost productivity, and motivation levels. It also allows the team to identify the milestones and red flags as they work towards achieving those goals. Set goals in consultation with the team in order to get their buy-in and also make the target more realistic / achievable.
