It was talking with a client a few weeks ago who was telling me he needed a Performance Management process at their organization. As he talked about the problems they were having with some employees it became clear he wanted a Performance Management process so that he and his other managers could have an opportunity to talk about performance and provide some feedback. I realised he was like so many of the managers I meet; he wanted 'a system' so he could have a conversation with each of his employees about their goals and to talk about performance concerns he had observed over the year.

I then spent the next hour asking him a few questions. I started with, "Tell me what it would be like if you had a really great high-performing team, what would they be doing?"

He quickly told me that a high-performing team would plan together, they'd pitch in and help out when needed. He told me they'd let each other know what they were working on and the help they'd need to be successful. He said he'd expect to see them learning and passing along the things they had learned and how they'd give each other feedback as they worked together. It was interesting to note that at no time did he tell me they'd have an annual planning and feedback process.

What he described is often called the daily management of performance - self-managed teams- quite different from the formal annual Performance Management process he has originally asked about.

I spent the next few weeks coaching him and his management team on the fine art of coaching and giving feedback. I showed them how to facilitate meetings that encourage dialogue; ways that allowed the team to do their own planning. The results have been amazing; the improvement in the departments are being noticed and people are clearly enjoying using their new communication and coaching skills.

He has come to understand that the the day-to-day connections and feedback is far more important than any formal annual Performance Management process.