The Joyful Performance Model: Observe
- Aug 25
- 4 min read
Improvement starts with understanding
In my last post, I told you about the first step to joyful performance management: aligned expectations. Now it's time to do what was agreed upon and observe.
Observing means viewing the expectations you've aligned on in action.
When training leaders, I often found that they felt like they had to observe everything. If you lead a sales team, for example, there's so much you can observe: from initial prospecting interactions through needs analysis and navigating objections to closing the sale. You could spend entire days and weeks simply observing. That's not practical in today's fast-paced business environment, nor is it enjoyable for anyone involved.
That's where an excellent Align step can set you up for success.
If you've clearly aligned on expectations, you've been specific. You've identified an area where improvement or learning is required, and together, you and your employee have outlined what that should look like. So, instead of observing the entire workload, you're observing specifically for the expectation that you set.
Let's try it in an example:
Sam, the leader in this example, aligned new expectations with her direct report, Joe. Recently, Joe was not turning in his weekly TPS reports on time, which impacted Sam's ability to have pertinent information during her managers' meetings. Joe felt like he wasn't able to get all his work done and was stressed about letting Sam down. Together, they aligned that Joe would spend the first two hours of his day building and editing reports, since Joe felt that was when he could best focus his energy. Joe is a morning person. They also agreed that Joe would check his email around 10 am, so he could prioritize his reports first while staying confident he wasn't missing anything urgent for the day. Lastly, they agreed that Joe would always ensure that Sam had the reports one day before they were required, just in case she had any questions.
Breaking that down, we have three specific expectations to enable Joe to get reports to Sam on time and with the right info.
The first two hours of each day are "report time."
Email checked around 10 am.
Report in Sam's inbox 24 hours before the meeting.
What should Sam observe to know that the expectations are being met?
Sam could spend the first two hours of her own day observing Joe to see if he's working on reporting. Joe probably wouldn't appreciate the micromanagement, though, and Sam probably has more important work to do during those hours. However, she could easily pop by at 9:15 once or twice and ask Joe how the new focus on reporting from 8 to 10 is going. That's bullet 1 complete. He is or isn't using that time as aligned, and he has the opportunity to share how it's working and what he might need to adjust.
Next on the list was checking email around 10 am. The micromanaging Sam could go watch Joe check his email, or she could add read receipts to her emails to him and check the timestamps. Neither of those positively impacts the duo's working relationship, and it's a waste of Sam's time. Instead, she could simply plan to ask him how that's working during their weekly 1:1 or in passing some afternoon. Bullet 2 taken care of.
Last is that Joe will have reports in her inbox 24 hours before her meeting. That's a simple one; it either is or isn't in her email by the defined time. Sam doesn't have to be sitting there at the exact time either, because emails show what time they arrived. Bullet 3 done.
Let's see how much time Sam spends on observations for Joe if she follows the simplest path outlined above.
Quick check-in conversation twice in the week. Let's be generous and give time for Joe to share more: 10 minutes per chat, so 20 minutes total.
Asking Joe how email at 10 is working: 5 minutes.
Viewing whether the report is in her inbox: 30 seconds.
In 25 minutes and 30 seconds over an entire work week, Sam observed Joe's work and created opportunities for him to engage with her on continuous improvements. Joe feels like Sam genuinely cares because she made the effort to follow up without being overbearing and to ask for his opinion on how things are going. Sam feels confident in Joe's work because she knows how things are going and how Joe is feeling about it.
There's one last piece to Observe that is critical to joyful performance: documentation. Sam needs to record, in writing, what she sees. If Joe says that 8 to 10 is working well and he appreciates the dedicated time to work on reporting, Sam needs to document that as a success and celebrate with Joe when his work is flowing on time. Conversely, as we'll discuss in the next installment, having documented, judgment-free specifics is immensely helpful when giving constructive feedback.
Building joy into work doesn't have to be complicated, take lots of time, or be filled with pizza parties and an office gym. It's these small interactions that show employees their managers truly care about their performance and about helping them be their best at work.
How would you feel if you were Joe?
How would do you prefer to be observed?
Silently stand behind me...
Don't. Just don't
Tell me you're doing it in advance and how it will go
Do it with the intention to help me not catch me doing wrong
You can vote for more than one answer.
If you're interested in learning more about Observe and the rest of the Joyful Performance Model, check it out here. All you have to do is join the site as a member, which is totally free.
If you'd like to learn more about implementing the Joyful Performance Model in your organization, schedule time with Emily below.
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