From time to time you’re going to want to evaluate the performance of your team – first the individuals themselves and then how well they are working together as a group.
I’ve read all sorts of rubbish over the years about how to evaluate people and teams, including expensive and bizarre team building programs, and so I’ve devised something myself that is quick and very effective. However, it is not frivolous, and can be very helpful in establishing the right training and development plans for the team and for the individuals in a team. It helps me develop the people who are contributing and weed out the ones who aren’t, and it takes the form of a matrix. I look at each of my team for competence (how well they’re doing their job) and enthusiasm (the energy they bring to the job) and plot them on a 2 by 2 matrix (I’ve invented 6 people from A to F in the chart by way of illustration).
As you can see you have 4 different types of employee, based on Competence + or -, and Enthusiasm + and -.
Enthusiastic competent - STAR – you need people like this. They know what they’re doing and they stimulate others to perform. They are stars and should be nurtured. They can also be ambitious, so you can end up losing them as they climb their own career ladder, unless you have a career development plan agreed with them. E & F are the stars in my matrix.
Unenthusiastic competent - DEVELOP – you definitely need a few of these. They don’t want to be in the spotlight; they want to come to work, do a good job and go home again - probably on time. They may have interests outside of work that provide them with the balance they need. Don’t mistake their quiet demeanour as incompetence. Make sure they have the tools to do the job, encourage them regularly and then let them get on with it. They are potential future stars, they just don’t show it. In my matrix, B is very competent but not enthusiastic. C displays more enthusiasm and could be a future star.
Enthusiastic incompetent – DANGER – potentially dangerous and difficult to spot in interviews. These people can be infectious and highly disruptive because whilst they are very keen, they are also useless. They can run around the office with all sorts of fantastical ideas, wasting everyone’s time and your money. Be careful that the work they are doing is yielding the results you want. They are not going to stay long in the danger box; they’re going to transfer to FIRE or STAR pretty soon. I'm watching D closely.
Unenthusiastic incompetent – FIRE – you need to ask yourself how you let this happen, give yourself a ticking off and don’t do it again. A is the candidate and you need to let him go.
Team dynamics plays a part here. You obviously want to employ competent people, but a room full of egotistical stars can also be disruptive. Often the quiet ones, who just want to do the job to the best of their ability without making a song and dance of it are the life-blood of the company, and you only realise that after they’ve gone.
Enjoy your own matrix.