Performance Conversations: How to Use Questions to Coach Employees, Improve Productivity, and Boost Confidence (Without Appraisals!)

Leading people for the past decade and a half, I feel like I have seen the same tired approaches to performance reviews being used as I did when I received my first review right out of college, twenty five years ago. The book, Performance Conversations, eloquently encapuslates much of the forward thought in management and brings it to bear on the performance process. Having read, Crucial Conversations, The Checklist Manifesto, The One Minute Manager, and countless HBR articles noted, I never considered how they all tied together. The author does a tremendous job of explaining the feed foward technique and how we need to turn performance reviews on its head. The author shares great ideas on how to make use of the techniques, shares countless invaluable lists(which are now copied and at my desk!), and explains a new way of doing things. I agree that performance in the 21st century needs to be done differently, whether it is for millenials, with the need for more constant feedback, or simply for the changing times. From a pschological standpoint, what Dr Lee shares in his book makes perfect sense. Do not use one day to criticize past performance, instead use more continuous meetings to impact performance forward. This one will stay on my shelf to be used often, and if given the chance to help impact my companies methodology in the future.

I have been working in the HR world for several years and have taken my own journey of designing a more impactful Performance Management process. If you are at a point of needing to design a new program, I highly recommend Dr. Lee's work. The tools and question sets he includes along with this approach are pretty valuable. I wish I had it as a companion piece as I went through my journey of what performance management looks like. His framework still allows one to take their own approach, but having access to all the study that he has done on the topic over the last 15 years is a huge help to business owners, managers and HR professionals.

For those who dread having the annual performance reviews, this book is the tool you need. Guided conversations are beneficial for both the manager and the employee and seek to find areas to enhance professional development and skill enhancement. Great Business Resource!