Corporate Theatre
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| a brief moment of vanity |
On the way to work this morning I worried greatly about the Employee Integration Program and other training programs that the company expects from HR. After having finished the Training Needs Analysis Report yesterday I realized that there is really a big problem on managing performance.
A lot of the people rating employees did not know how to rate performance let alone manage it. No wonder efforts seem unsustainable. No wonder people feel so tired. No wonder everyday feels like such a home stretch.
Great performance cannot be articulated because nobody wanted to breakdown what comprised it. Most of them probably just wanted to rate people and give them high marks because they were afraid of being disliked if they didn't. Some of them had the guts to call out improvement needs mostly on attitude.
Still the problem is glaring at my face. Ano ang gagawin ko about sub-standard performance? The message has to be brought across in such a way that people will immediately engage so that the learning is instant and the commitment can grow.
I realized that if I keep doing trainings the normal way, I will never get anywhere. The people here are easily bored to death. Have low attention spans. And have a lot of angst inside them. How can I package this environment in such a way that will not scare new recruits, revive the commitment of old ones and help them transform the climate?
My only creative answer is art.
Recently I realized that training is organized just like a theatre production. You get a facilitator and give him a training outline like you would a narrator and give him a script. You put on all these props on the walls like you would a set design and stand in the middle of the room like an actor delivering a soliloquy.
So I'm putting my playwright hat on and hopefully cram a quick stint to help new hires survive this place.
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| the drawing board |
Have you ever read the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey? It might not help the people you're managing just yet, but it might give you an insight to what type of person you want to become. Also, the book Courageous Messenger, is about giving feedback, finding the real message - giving and receiving. It's a good tool for those who are afraid of being disliked or afraid of speaking up and also for those who have trouble receiving constructive feedback.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've read the 7 Habits. :) I try to use Seek to Understand then be Understood everyday. Haha. I have not heard about Courageous Messenger. I'm not sure it's available here in the PI so I'm gonna look it up in Amazon if they have it on Kindle for download. :) Thanks Reni!
ReplyDeleteThe guy who wrote the Courageous Messenger, did a training for our school last year. He does follow-ups as well, because communication is a skill that takes ongoing work.
ReplyDeleteI love your attitude :-) Also, the link to the script and what seems like an interactive mode for it :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been playing with a mind-mapping tool lately--its free version is powerful--and you might like how it works :-) http://www.thebrain.com/
@Reni - really? That's so awesome. I'll look him up. :) So what have you learned from the training?
ReplyDeleteone of the things that i've learned (and i feel that it is very important) is taking the time to discover what is the true message i want to convey to others. then, take out all the emotions involved and focus on solutions. when emotions are involved, egos are hurt - we've closed all possibilities for change.
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