Synergize Studio
A place where teams can reach their best potential
Over the holiday break, I started an ambitious project merging many ideas I’ve had in the last 3 years.
Dictionary
Synergize: combine or coordinate the activity of (two or more agents) to produce a joint effect greater than the sum of their separate effects
Studio: a room where an artist, photographer, sculptor, etc. works.
a gym, to train, to improve Personal Coach, simple, natural, fluid
Website
https://synergize.realsense.ca/index.html
As I started with the end in mind, I flip the way I usually do personal projects. I started with the website and doing happy paths POCs just to add more content to the site.
As I work on the site, 3 main audiences came to mind
For individuals
private, you control who can see your data, Skill tracker, personal development, short term and long term goals, Career development, current role and next steps, organization agnostic, your info moves with you if you change companies, Career path
For teams
Share and get to know your team members, Conflict resolution tools, Trust building, Goals, Norms and processes, Discover the landscape
For leadership
Inspire, Anonymous Aggregated information, feedback, reward, incentivize and influence.
What is the power of technology?
Micro information, Simplicity, convenient, personal, private, data-driven (feedback) and you take control of your destiny
What limitation does it diminish?
Outdated information, siloed information, time-consuming, disempowering,
What rules helped us accommodate the limitation?
Title based roles, everybody is measure in a generic way
Individual performance
upskill mandates
Local optima metrics
Values Predictability and Replicability
What rules should we use now?
The team over individual metrics and rewards
Team Complementary skill assessment
Clear vision and alignment with business objectives metrics
Accepts the fact that everything is uncertain
Product Market Fit
Reading Inspired, It suggests to do feedback early, so I re-iterated through the problem statement
One of the tools to overcome limitations with teams, motivation and career developers is Performance Review, there I define what its intent is and how we could tackle the problem from different perspectives
Performance Review
Since I joined the workforce 10 years ago, performance reviews have gone from none existing to how much did you miss on those one-year-old commitments.
There are a couple of exceptions that cough my eye
They were laser-focused on one thing, me
Let's dive into what performance reviews are intended for and see if there is another option.
The beginning
According to the University of Leicester in the UK,
The Performance appraisal starts with an evaluation, followed by reward and encouragement.
With an important emphasis on the organization's interest:
Skills required for the job
Training for the jobholder
Updated human resources portfolio
Agreed future agenda
Another aspect to consider It’s the Organization's values, as the organization will underpin individuals that align with people that share the same values
Moreover, the minimum value of the performance review is to discuss if the organization's objectives were met, which creates immense pressure on the employee.
The Year-end review
A few years ago, my yearly overview was due.
The process started with a self-assessment.
You read 5 different paragraphs per competency and you move a slider to the one that resonates the most.
You have the option to add comments to support that competency.
That's followed by my manager's assessment.
It was closed by a 1-on-1 so I could have an opportunity to object.
In retrospect, I did not feel at all prepared for that meeting
What my manager considered average, was not the same as what I considered average
I'm confused if my manager’s role is to remind me of the value I brought or his role is to lower my expectations
I ended up with low self-worth
Beyond Performance Reviews
We can start by defining each problem,
problems for who?
So far we have mentioned 3 actors,
individual contributor
manager
the organization
Each one having different motivators, It's not realistic to expect a single solution to be successful by focusing on one entity.
Let's try to define each actor's perspective and concerns
Individial Contributors
Some situations that come to mind are
Feedback and Recognition
I want to hear from you how good or not I'm doing
A year-end review for a salary increase or a promotion
What was my impact on the overall company objectives?
For vision
What do I want to accomplish in the near or far future and how the current company aligns (or not) with it?
Updating your CV
what I have learned and accomplished in last year that is valuable in the marketplace
Let’s talk about solutions
From those scenarios, we can start gathering some requirements
Before I expect Recognition, there needs to be an intention. So I need a simple way to provide intention.
As we capture intention we also need an expected outcome.
I don't think it is fair to be reviewed in something that I didn't agree with, so there needs to be an agreement.
Before I can commit to a mission, I first need to know what the mission is and how progress is going to be measured
There needs to be a way to provide company or team objectives
Now I need to define my own principles, what is it that I want to become in the next 2 to 5 years
What is important for me? maybe Family, money, status, customer or business impact
How the company aligns with that personal vision
Next, there is the whole skill and competencies
Could this be like a social network for skills?
I need a quick way to capture what I practice week by week or day by day, I want a report summarizing where I'm putting my efforts month by month
Finally, unsolicited feedback. I want people to be able to share good or bad feedback
What about the users
Time, I don't plan on spending more than 5 minutes a week
Company Agnostic, it doesn't matter if I change companies, it's still about me
Private, My plan may include information that I'm not comfortable sharing with my current employer
Before you go
The next time, I'll continue with the manager’s and the organization’s perspectives
Before you go, I need your help.
I want to ask you a few questions and see how far off I am from reality 🎯
Stay tuned
The next time, I'll continue with the manager’s and the organization’s perspectives