Scale With Agile Performance Management - Stratford Group Ltd.

The May-June edition of Harvard Business Review has a terrific article about being agile at scale. Can you be “agile” if you’re a large and established organization? Spoiler alert…yes!

However, the article does outline agile teams should not launch until the team is:

• Focused on the business issue at stake
• Responsible for specific outcomes
• Trusted to work autonomously
• Empowered to collaborate closely
• Enabled with fast feedback loops

Sounds like the similar components of an exceptional performance management process!

In our recent post about making your performance management process nimbler, we aligned three key aspects of the evolved PMP: agile goal setting, continuous feedback and ongoing coaching conversations.

You can clearly see the alignment of the agile performance management process to the requirements of an agile team in an organization that is scaling:

1. The outcomes required by the team are clearly defined, aimed at improving a measurable business challenge that will be meaningful to your customers. Check.
2. The team sets off with the required outcomes in place, fully empowered to work alone and together in the way that best gets them there. Leaders and teams communicate regularly with a focus on removing any barriers to being productive. Check again.
3. Finally, having leaders coach team members to assess incoming information, and make choices and adjustments based on those changing realities. Yes, check again.

If you are wanting to scale your business, agile – supported by an agile performance process – shifts the mix of work so there is more innovation and less routine. More innovation and less routine seems just like what your most talented employees are demanding too.

You May Also Be Interested In:

• Getting Nimble With Your Performance Management Process;
• 4 Tips To Experience Long-Term Employee Engagement;
• Stratford Acquires Award-Winning Curriculum; and
• Stratford Leadership Development Services

About Dean:

Dean Fulford is a senior human resources leader with experience in all aspects of HR vision, strategy and implementation, applying his background to many facets of the businesses he’s worked with. He has done consulting in organization development and effectiveness, performance consulting and process improvement in both small and large organizations, and bringing solutions that provide immediate impact while enabling sustained organizational impact. 

Dean has led the implementation of operations review practices in HR departments, bringing a unique skill set and approach to human resources leadership driving pragmatic, metrics-driven solutions. He is also a certified human resource leader (CHRL) and licensed professional engineer. He specializes in HR strategy, employee engagement to drive effective operational processes and talent management. For more information, get in touch with Dean.

This article was published more than 1 year ago. Some information may no longer be current.