Performance Management Solutions

One of the things to come out of our research into the Performance Life-cycle (From Comfort Zone to Performance Management) concerns the importance of communications. As an organisation passes into the ‘reforming’ phase, management recognises that … they are entering a new ‘transforming’ phase and begins to revert to a ‘new’ management style of command & control – as was exercised at the beginning of the ‘transformation’ phase of which this is a subsequent iteration – but with this major difference: the organisation has matured and it is a pre-requisite for success that the delivery of the ‘command and control’ management is modified to take into account the new level of maturity and failure to recognise this often results in a break down in communication.

In the ‘performing’ phase, the top-down communication process will have been consultative and cooperative and this now moves towards a more directive communication model – members are no longer ‘consulted’ but are ‘told’ – as in the ‘transforming’ phase, but there is a need for a high level of consultative/cooperative communication as well, i.e. it must be directive but consultative. The need to retain a consultative and cooperative communication approach is often difficult for management to understand and develop, as they themselves may be uncomfortable with the different styles. This vicious spiral of communication failure is reinforced by the fact that the members feel they want and need – indeed, they expect – much better levels of consultation, cooperation and communication and that the old methodology of top-down decision making and communication is no longer acceptable.

The mismatch between the needs of the members of the organisations and the operational management model used by the ‘leaders’, especially in terms of communications, can become the most formidable barrier to the continued success and development of the organisation – and the change has to come from the top. Current research shows that this is one of the biggest challenges faced at this point in the cycle.

To compound the issue, in today’s technologically advanced society, the communication technology available – email, MSN/Chat, bulletin boards/forums, blogs, VoIP (such as Skype), and GSM mobile telephony – means that there is no possible reason for not communicating ‘right now’ and members of the organisation have a much higher expectancy of communication and involvement than perhaps management actually realises or is prepared to address. Constant communication is not necessarily a desirable thing and, indeed, can become a distraction, but a new communication paradigm has to be found.