John, an information technology manager, is stopped in the hallway by Linda, an operations manager, and Linda's boss, Jim. They want John's unit to make some improvements to employee performance reports they get months from the IT department. In this short exchange, John learns that Linda and Jim are meeting with each of their direct reports each month, one-on-one, to do informal performance reviews.
Curiosity gets the best of John, and he takes Jim and Linda out to lunch so they can give him a how-to crash course on one-on-one informal employee performance reviews.
John definitely keeps things interesting; he is obviously a sharp manager with a will to do his job better, but his dry humor and sarcasm will make you wonder how he was promoted into management in the first place.
Through a series of vignettes where John is practicing the lessons Linda and Jim have given him, we get to see that John is a very talented coach; in the setting of a one-on-one, his gift for coaching and listening shines. As a plus, we also get to see John confronted about his "misuse" of humor by an unlikely messenger.
As another plus, this DVD features a scene called the "The Meets Problem" that suggests a solution to the problem of employees feeling like they've received a poor score when they've been rated as "Meeting Standards."
Training Points
~ Planning for recurring one-on-ones.
~ Managing performance reports through a suggested binder-system.
~ The importance of SHOWING UP!
~ What to cover during one-on-ones.
~ Informally reviewing performance.
~ A "Meets" rating is a good thing, not something that is simply unimpressive.
~ How to extract company / process improvements with a simple question.
~ The importance of 180-degree feedback; How are YOU (the manager) doing?
~ The importance of documenting key points, and actions plans discussed during the one on one.
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