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Awareness-creating
The First Function of Performance-building
Author: John Correll       Publisher: Correll Consulting, LLC       www.correllconcepts.com

In order for employees, or team members, to achieve desired performance, they first must have awareness of what action and outcomes constitute desired performance. Awareness refers to “full understanding.”

In a nutshell, the process for creating awareness is:

This is the first function of performance-building. Describing the Whole Picture may take an extra minute, but it always pays off. (For an overview of the performance-building process, click here.)

THE WHOLE PICTURE consists of two parts:

TO ILLUSTRATE, take the basic performance of floor-mopping.

The MACRO VIEW would include an overall objective pertaining to floor-mopping. An example might be: To be rated the cleanest store in the company (or city) in the quarterly cleanliness review.

The MICRO VIEW would contain a list of one or more specific actions and outcomes which, if done, would contribute to achieving the objective. An example of a specific action might be: Once each shift, mop the floor using clear, hot water with one squirt of All-purpose Floor Detergent mixed in.

An example of a specific outcome might be: A floor that is free of visible dirt, grease, and debris after mopping. Another example could be: A floor that would receive a cleanliness rating of 95 or higher on the Store Inspection Review after mopping.

THE PURPOSE OF IMPARTING THE MACRO VIEW is to answer the question: Where are we going with this?

Answering this question enables three benefits:

1. BETTER DECISIONS: Even the simplest job involves special situations that require decision-making by the performer. Knowing the overall objective provides a guide for making the best call on those occasions.

2. INNOVATION: Many procedures can be improved upon. Knowing the overall objective often gets employees thinking of better ways for doing the job and achieving the objective.

3. FULFILLMENT: Knowing the overall objective can infuse a task with greater meaning for the performer. This makes the job more fulfilling and, thereby, easier to stick with.

THE PURPOSE OF IMPARTING THE MICRO VIEW is to answer the question: What exactly should I be doing?

A common cause of undesired performance is misunderstanding by employees of what specific action and outcomes they should be pursuing. (Human action, as you recall, refers to an activity or activities, while an outcome is an object, condition, or situation resulting from human action.) Misunderstanding comes from ambiguous communication by leaders. To eliminate misunderstanding, make performance descriptions COMPLETE and UNAMBIGUOUS.

A complete performance description is one that describes all the activities and outcomes involved in doing the performance.

An unambiguous description is one that describes desired performance in a way that's open to one possible interpretation only. The easiest way to judge whether a performance description is unambiguous is by applying this question: If two or more persons were to read (or hear) the description and then individually do what each thinks it says to do, is it likely that all the persons would perform similar actions or produce similar outcomes?

If the answer is “no,” the description is ambiguous and needs to be made more specific. The first step to accomplishing that is to describe action in terms of countable events and describe outcomes in terms of measurable quantities. After that, add greater detail to increase specificity.

Referring back to the floor-mopping example, here's how an activity can be made increasingly more specific by adding details:

In addition to describing what should be done, there are cases where it's helpful to also point out what should not be done — called avoidance actions. The purpose of an Avoidance Action is to make sure that something potentially harmful doesn't accidentally occur. Returning to the floor-mopping example, a statement of an avoidance action might be: AVOID mixing bleach and ammonia with the detergent water.

IN CONLUSION, any activity can be described more specifically. When in doubt, err on the side of being over-specific as opposed to under-specific. When a description is over-specific the worst that can happen is an experienced employee might get slightly annoyed from having to listen to what s/he already knows. When it's under-specific, undesired performance invariably occurs … often with disastrous consequences.

For best results: Be OVER-SPECIFIC when in doubt about how specific to be.

What to do When Full Awareness is Critical
When full awareness by employees is critical, use this formal procedure.

1.  WRITE OUT a complete performance description including overall objective, specific actions and outcomes, and, if applicable, avoidance actions.

2.  HOLD A MEETING AND READ THE PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION ALOUD. Enlisting the aid of employees to read various parts works well.

3.  SHOW AN EXAMPLE of what desired performance looks like. This can be done by (a) a personal demonstration by you or someone else, or (b) a reference to a past event that everyone recalls, or (c) pointing to a model (someone who's currently doing the performance), or (d) a role-play that illustrates the performance, or (e) a visual aid such as a photo or video depicting the performance.

4.  CONFIRM UNDERSTANDING by asking employees to explain “the basic procedure” they will be using to achieve the overall objective. If big blanks appear in the explanation, fill them in by repeating steps 3 and 4. Asking “Do you understand?” serves little purpose, as people usually answer “yes” regardless of whether they understand or not.

5.  GIVE TEAM MEMBERS A COPY of the explanation for future reference. Also, if possible, give them a copy of the visual aid, if used.

This procedure is best used during a Job Orientation and when introducing a new, important job responsibility.

What to do When Communicating on the Floor
When communicating “on-the-floor,” such as when managing a shift in a pizza store, use this procedure for optimal results:

This procedure is best used when communicating short, informal messages on-the-fly. It helps maximize understanding and retention