For each person, you have any reasonable option about, answer just a few questions, like:
* I would _always_ want them to be my leader.
* On a project when effectiveness and efficiency are crucial, I would _always_ want them to be a part of the team.
* When a team requires multiple technical and organizational skills, I would _always_ want them to be a part of the team.
etc.
The scale of answers: from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
The actual questions would vary depending on what a specific organization cares about, but they wouldn't vary as much.
Then, we optimize for the quantity of answers.
Suddenly, these unsung heroes bubble up in the leaderboards. Because people notice these small contributions. And even if these are things that escape formalized criteria, we tend to want to have such people around.
In fact, these questions allow—encourage even—taking into account traits, skills, and behaviors that are beyond the classic skill set. Someone's sense of humor may be a game-changer for the whole team. Someone else's resilience might have rescued the whole effort. Neither might have been an explicit expectation for the role. But the teammates see and appreciate these.
Thank you for the great post. It really resonated as I have been tinkering with this idea for a while. May I ask a question? What advices could you give to the person who left?
thanks for putting this across 💙
This is a great read, really resonates. Food for thought re: performance management.
Best assessment system I saw so far:
For each person, you have any reasonable option about, answer just a few questions, like:
* I would _always_ want them to be my leader.
* On a project when effectiveness and efficiency are crucial, I would _always_ want them to be a part of the team.
* When a team requires multiple technical and organizational skills, I would _always_ want them to be a part of the team.
etc.
The scale of answers: from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
The actual questions would vary depending on what a specific organization cares about, but they wouldn't vary as much.
Then, we optimize for the quantity of answers.
Suddenly, these unsung heroes bubble up in the leaderboards. Because people notice these small contributions. And even if these are things that escape formalized criteria, we tend to want to have such people around.
In fact, these questions allow—encourage even—taking into account traits, skills, and behaviors that are beyond the classic skill set. Someone's sense of humor may be a game-changer for the whole team. Someone else's resilience might have rescued the whole effort. Neither might have been an explicit expectation for the role. But the teammates see and appreciate these.
Thank you for the great post. It really resonated as I have been tinkering with this idea for a while. May I ask a question? What advices could you give to the person who left?