Progress Meetings Defined

The progress meeting is not an after the fact appraisal meeting. No one is being judged or appraised. It is a proactive coaching meeting designed to produce feedback, conversation, next steps and alignment. It is designed to give power and support not to give judgment and assessment.

As a precursor to progress meetings, employees and managers work together to build a performance agreement based on the employees accountabilities and goals of the employee. Progress meetings are 30 minute meeting every two months to discuss the progress being made towards demonstrating the company values, fulfilling job accountabilities, achievement of goals.

For progress meetings, typically I wear my Sundays finest – kidding – usually I am in just shorts and sandals – kidding again. Dress how you typically dress. Certainly face to face meetings are the best. I like meeting at a coffee shop or restaurant; however, the phone and screen sharing/web conferencing work.

The rest of the progress meeting is a gap analysis between the manager’s and employee’s perceptions of the employee’s job accountabilities, demonstration of the corporate values, and the status of his/her goals. During the meeting, the employee and manager trade views. The meeting is about listening and reflecting. I have participated in this process as both employee and manager and in my opinion listening to the view and scores of the other is the best part. The meeting also lays out a great process from which to hold conversations about performance.

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Types of Meetings

Many different meetings occur in business between managers and employees. The most typical meetings can be categorized firefighting meetings. Firefighting meetings occur on an ad hoc basis to solve specific problems such as: 1. Customer X did not get the right product; 2. Machine number 6 is not functioning properly; etc. The purpose of these meetings is simply to resolve issues. Issues discussed are hot topics that need to be resolved immediately. A progress meeting is not this kind of firefighting meeting.

Another type of meeting is a departmental meeting. In this type of meeting participants shuffle into a conference room and sit around. Someone speaks and updates on various issues. Frequently, people’s attention wanders off and they do not pay attention. They might look like they do but they actually are not and may well be texting and the like. At the end of the meeting everyone shuffles out of the conference room and scurry off to their next meeting. This process repeats. A progress meeting is not that kind of meeting.

Then there is the yearly appraisal process with associated meetings. This is least celebrated and underappreciated type of meeting that goes on in organizations. In fact in most organizations it is downright hated. Typically this meeting occurs at the end of the year. It entails the manager evaluating the employee’s accomplishments and skill development. This process turns into a bureaucratic chore pushed by HR so that they can update their records. Most of the time the employees’ goals were not tracked or discussed during the year thus the appraisal is often incomplete and inaccurate. The yearly appraisal becomes an exercise which corporate citizens participate in without a lot of enthusiasm or energy.

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Enigma #3

Everyone hates the annual review process (except you, Mr. or Mrs. Perfect Executive). No one likes feeling judged, to start. Employees find the whole thing meaningless. Managers, at best, find it flawed and, most often, not well executed. So the third enigma is this: how do you make the annual performance appraisal more than something that is disliked and disrespected?

One organization I know of did not set its yearly goals until more than halfway through the year. (I’m sure this is shocking behavior to you.) Then the leadership team started the appraisal process based on the goals they’d just created—after which, they argued about goal consistency (or lack thereof) between departments. Talk about a process that was UN–motivating. It was the perfect storm for organizational resignation.

This appraisal morass is a big deal. I have listened to lots of whining and complaining about how appraisals are done and how they are utilized. The biggest issue I see is with the appraisal review system is that it takes place after the fact, the appraisal occurs after the work season ends and the year is over. It is not a coaching and development system that can allow for improvement and performance enhancement. It is all about rating past performance and, as such, is missing the point.
As for the answer to how to make the process understood and valued, read on—but first, Aare you ready for the fourth enigma? This one has especially plagued and vexed me throughout my long bloodsucking consulting years.

For an alternative to the appraisal review system, click here.