NEWSLFASH: Role Ambiguity responsible for KPI crash; Expert says “Role Clarity the Answer”

A familiar tale

Ok, take a breath. Its ok. Yes, we’re 80% through our performance cycle and only at 25% of our performance expectations, yet, geez, I know we can still make it, can’t we?
I’ll just work a little harder this week, squeeze in a few more hours, pull out my A-Grade motivational speech and really get the team buzzing. We’ll make it, yep, for sure…. I hope!

Sounds familiar right?

Reality

Its a really common story inside the world of Management. Of course we need to accept that today (and probably for the duration of our professional careers) we will operate within a world of performance metrics and matrices. We also understand that these measurements give quantifiable evidence of our ability to do what we are supposed to do as Managers: achieve results through the efforts of other people.

So then, if these measurements are so important, if they genuinely measure our level of skill (a question for another day) and we can stand, hand on heart and profess our devotion to achieving the benchmarks, why are we all so bloody overwhelmed?

Essentially we study the data related to performance after-the-fact and then obtain feedback, put in place performance improvement measures and move on to the next cycle, only to be in a similar predicament down the road. Something seems wrong, wouldn’t you agree?

A simple question:

Do you know WHY your KPI’s are what they are?
Do you really know?
Really?

A way forward

My experience working with Middle Managers is that they do not understand the real story or reason for their (and their team’s) existence. Yes, you may be here to make a product, provide a service, sell, buy or otherwise, but why? Why do you do what you do? What’s the big picture? And what is the unique contribution that you and your team are responsible for?

By identifying and understanding our unique contribution to the bigger picture, we start to develop role clarity and reduce role ambiguity. This is one of the most debilitating causes of team (and individual) under-performance. Like a dog chasing its tail, you will chase KPI’s month after month while role ambiguity exists. Furthermore, your team members’ sense of confusion, frustration and finally disengagement will continue to fester under these conditions.

Better Communities Consulting can work with your organisation to help you understand your unique contribution, build role clarity and evaporate role ambiguity. It’s a small but vital step towards truly committed, high performance teams (and a much less stressful workplace).