How do you respond when your team doesn’t follow through on commitments?
Story
“We have a supportive coaching culture here, so I first asked what happened and got the whole story,” a senior leader told our coach. “And I coached him through how to solve the issues that made him miss his deadline.”
“So how did his performance improve after that?” our coach asked.
“Well, there wasn’t a big change. The next week he failed to meet his deadline again. And once again, he had a lot of reasons. I just wouldn’t say they were good reasons.”
“So, what was the next ‘level’ of feedback you gave him?” our coach asked.
“I sort of said, ‘This can’t keep happening,’ and he understands that now.”
“But he didn’t before?”
“No, I think he did.”
“So, what have you changed about the way you respond that will give your team member the best chance of changing how he performs?”
The manager thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know what else to try. We can’t just fire him.”
Skipping Up “The Hill”
There are so many things to point out from this story, we’ll just jump right into it. Did you notice how the manager, when all the ideas were used up went straight to the option of last resort: firing.
Firing, while sometimes necessary, is expensive for all the reasons you know (time, energy, money spent resolving the person transitioning out and then getting the new person in). But many managers don’t know how to “raise the heat” on their corrective feedback gradually from level 1 to level 10. We call this the “Hill of Adaptive Feedback.”
When a team member is underperforming AND the first 3 letters of EMMA have been addressed appropriately (Expectations are clear, Motivations are activated, Measurements are set), then it’s time for corrective feedback.
Here’s an excerpt from our book Performance Leadership talking about how to gradually work up the left side of the hill when someone is either totally stuck or maybe just not making progress the way they need to:
These are the increasingly intense “gears” you can switch to depending on the resistance you’re getting from the other person as you try to climb the corrective side of the Hill of Adaptive Feedback:
- I’m concerned about…
- I’m very concerned about…
- You and I are not aligned…
- I need you to…
- Are you willing to improve this?
- This is not optional…
- I’m not willing to listen to any more excuses.
- Is this the right job for you?
- I’m getting ready to give up on working with you.
- I don’t think we can work together anymore.
You can probably feel the “heat” going up as the list goes on. The key is having the verbal tools to move from gear 1 to gear 10 without repeating or skipping too many steps.
Stuck on Repeat
Accountability, is the final piece of the puzzle in our Performance Leadership framework (EMMA):
- Expectations
- Motivation
- Measurements
- Accountability
It must come last, because you can only hold people accountable to things they’ve agreed to. If you haven’t laid the foundation of EMM then you don’t need to work on Accountability yet.
However, managers often have EMM in place and still don’t give enough or the right kind of correct feedback… for some reason. We’ll get to those reasons in a moment.
We’ve noticed managers are very good at giving feedback that they’re comfortable giving. In other words, if you look at that list of 10 steps or “gears” above, you can probably recognize which ones you’re frequently using. Maybe you’re really good at 1-5, but when you get to 6 that feels somehow different to you.
Or maybe you’re good at 1, 3, 5, 7, but then don’t go above that. Instead you tend to repeat 7 over and over hoping the person will change this time.
Ironically, managers easily see team members stuck in a pattern of underperformance, but often fail to see how the manager is also stuck. They’re stuck in a pattern of ineffective corrective feedback.
That’s when you need the 3Cs.
What would it take for you to hold your team Accountable at a new level? You’ll most likely need Curiosity, Courage, and Care at a new level as well.
In our Adaptive Leader Journey™ we do a deep dive into Accountability from a 3C perspective.
But for now, you might think about these questions as you activate the 3Cs around Accountability.
Curiosity
- What may be missing from EMM before I turn my attention to Accountability?
- What is my normal tendency when giving corrective feedback? Where on The Hill am I stuck?
- Who do I need to get input from before I take concrete steps to improve me team’s Accountability?
- What would an open discussion of corrective feedback and The Hill look like for my team?
Courage
- What is scary for me about moving to a new level of Accountability?
- What worries me when I think about using all 10 levels of corrective feedback?
- Where do I need to take responsibility for my team’s current culture of Accountability?
- What additional support do I need to be ready to offer my team to ensure they can truly follow through on their commitments?
Care
- How is increasing Accountability going to benefit individuals on my team? What about the whole team?
- How is being more explicit about my corrective feedback and the different levels a way of showing Care to my team members?
- Who do I need to show appreciation to that I have not yet?
A Word about Appreciation
There is another whole half of The Hill we haven’t talked about: appreciation. There is a positive side of Accountability which is recognizing and affirming follow through on commitments and excellent performance when you see it. That can also serve to improve performance or at least maintain high performance.
Although it’s very tied to culture, personalities, and a range of other factors, we generally see corrective feedback as the area that most managers need to grow in. However, if you need to improve your appreciative feedback, we encourage you to do that!
Next Steps?
Forward this article to team members (or a supervisor if you discern that’s a good idea).
Also, feel free to take any images from this article and print, share, save, etc.
Finally, if you’d like to talk about an Adaptive Leader Journey for your team where we do a deep dive into EMMA and the 3Cs to integrate them into daily practice, feel free to book a free 20-minute call with one of our coaches to discuss how we can support you at making your next big breakthrough.
Looking forward to talking to you soon!
