How good are your Performance Review Meetings?
July 27, 2009 by samirshah
Have you ever wondered……
-
We have all the relevant performance reviews is place but I don’t know how effective they are?
-
We review our downtime regularly but I am not sure that we are focussing in the correct areas?
-
I am sure we can achieve more in the current performance reviews but I don’t know what I should be doing to make them better?
-
I believe that some of the meetings we have are a waste of my time and I am not sure what I am supposed to contribute in them?
Regularly, we come across sites that have these questions and don’t know what to do about it. For this reason we have developed an audit criterion that focuses on meetings objectives and outcomes and identifies areas that are being performed well and highlights improvement opportunities.
The first thing we would advice a client to do is to list all the current performance review meetings they have on site with the relevant outcomes required, purpose for the meeting, attendees with their required contribution, meeting frequency and consequences for non-attendance. This highlights gaps where by the relevant attendees are not correct or it is not clear why the meeting is in place. In some cases we have found that the meetings were put in place historically due to an unknown reason and are not relevant anymore. By clearly defining the items mentioned above makes everyone aware of the reason for attending a certain meeting and what will be required from them. This ensures that an attendance to a meeting is not just a waste of time.
Once all your meetings are clearly defined and everyone who attends knows the reason why they are there, you should set up an audit structure that enables you to understand how well the meetings are achieving the desired outcomes. By forming a habit of having a meeting audit timetable, it will ensure that your meetings are continuously delivering a positive result and any revamp of a meeting can be carried out should the objectives outlined are not being achieved.
Some of the things we look out for in a meeting that has been clearly defined with a purpose and objectives to find out if it is achieving its desired outcomes is listed below:
-
Was the meeting fully attended?
-
If not, were there any consequences for non-attendance?
-
Were actions from previous meeting reviewed for effectiveness?
-
Were there any consequences for not completing actions within allocated time?
-
Did the meeting run to time?
-
Was the meeting focused on objectives at all times?
-
Was accountability assigned to each of the actions?
-
Were targets assigned to each of the actions?
-
Was the meeting outputs documented in the relevant logs?
-
Were the overall objectives of the meeting achieved?
-
If further information was required, was it followed through to the area of the issue?
-
Was there an action in place to resolve the root cause if different to actions assigned above?
-
Did any coaching take place after the meeting? E.g. what went well and could be improved
-
Intent of Review -Did the review contribute towards a positive effect on line performance?
We mark each of the relevant questions above in a meeting and give it a score with a quality and effectiveness rating for the meeting. This enables the meetings to be reviewed and feedback given to the facilitator of the meeting to make it better.
This is all part of the continuous improvement philosophy and helps you keep track of all the relevant reviews you have in place to improve performance. If the performance reviews are not effective, your improvement efforts will be limited to the quality of these reviews.
We have several of these performance tools that can help you identify areas of improvement and enables you to progressively move forward. If you would like to know more about these tools, please get in touch and find out how we can help you achieve your desired outcomes.
Report on how manufacturers compete sponsored by OptimumFX
July 24, 2009 by david.evanson
A new report from Cranfield School of Management reveals that UK owned manufacturers are changing the way they compete.
The report based on a survey of some of the UK’s biggest manufacturing plants
has revealed that manufacturers are moving away from competing on price and towards offering customisation and additional services.
The report uncovers that by offering services alongside their products, manufacturing companies can increase revenue, offer greater value to their customers and differentiate themselves from the competition.
The survey revealed that most of the companies offered some kind of service, for example maintenance, alongside their product offering. For some of the companies this service offering was very profitable; 1 in 5 of the companies were making a greater return on sales for their service offering compared to that on their products.
Author of the report Dr Marek Szwejczewski, Principal Research Fellow from Cranfield School of Management commented: “The figures show that quality is a major strategic priority. There has been a complete move away from competing on price to adopting more sustainable options such as innovation, service and customisation.
“The results are very positive for the future of manufacturing. Although some sectors are experiencing a decline as a result of the economic downturn, there are some areas of manufacturing that are growing; in particular the high technology sectors, such as defence and electronics and other sectors such as food.”
Dr Szwejczewski went onto say: “My advice to those sectors that are experiencing decline is to refocus their business strategy and to focus on one or two areas where they can make significant improvements.
“Manufacturing companies now have a wealth of new technologies and organisational concepts to choose from; at Cranfield we champion continual development in this area.
“I would also advise that these companies don’t loose sight of the importance of continuing to invest in their staff. This will put them in a stronger position for the upturn.”
The research which investigated the strategic role of UK manufacturing operations and the focus of their improvement activities also highlighted a move towards green manufacturing, with companies reducing levels of waste, improving recycling and reducing energy usage.
Ends
Notes to editors
The report, The Policies, Practices and Performance of UK Manufacturing Industry can be found online www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/gmrdownload
The report was supported by OptimumFX and Business Link West Midlands.
Cranfield School of Management is one of Europe’s leading university management schools renowned for its strong links with industry and business. It is committed to providing practical management solutions through a range of activities including postgraduate degree programmes, management development, research and consultancy.
For more information or to arrange an interview with the report author, please contact: Marie McCormack, Press Office, Cranfield School of Management on: T: +44 (0) 1234 754425 or E:marie.mccormack@cranfield.ac.uk
