Getting the opportunity to participate in the Next Generation in Government Summit this past Tuesday was truly a honor. I am sure I speak for everyone who attended the event in thanking GovLoop and YGL for putting together something so fun and valuable! Working at the Partnership for Public Service and conducting interviews for my column on the Post gives me the pleasure of interacting with excellent and inspiring federal leaders – our government and country are in good hands!

In the Tuesday morning breakout session I talked with a group on the topic of “How to be a boss for the 1st time”. Here are the materials that I provided:

I. Slide Presentation: “I’m a Boss? How to be a boss for the 1st time” http://slidesha.re/b5852Q

II. Leadership Resources

Books

· Becoming a Manager – Linda Hill

· What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – Marshall Goldsmith

· The One Minute Manager – Ken Blanchard

Publications

· Government Executive

· Fast Company

· Washington Post – Fed Page, Federal Eye, Federal Worker Page, On Leadership

· New York Times

· Harvard Business Review

· Fortune

Websites and Blogs

· Agency on-line learning sites and leadership blogs

· NextGov (http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/)

· GovLeaders (http://govleaders.org)

· Harvard Business Review Blogs (http://blogs.hbr.org/)

· The Federal Coach (http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/fedcoach/)

· The Partnership’s Daily Pipeline (http://www.ourpublicservice.org/)

Training Programs

· Partnership for Public Service – Center for Government Leadership (http://www.ourpublicservice.org/OPS/programs/cgl/)

· OPM Leadership Development Training (http://www.leadership.opm.gov/)

· Graduate School (http://www.graduateschool.edu/)

III. Performance and Feedback Coaching – Discussion Tool

Introduction

Even under the best of circumstances, delivering performance feedback and coaching employees is difficult. When an employee is not performing – and defense mechanisms such as tears or anger emerge – it becomes nearly impossible. While the performance management system your office uses may provide a starting point for structuring feedback, it may not be sufficient to prepare you for the complete conversation needed.

This discussion tool provides you with an overview of the major topics that supervisors typically cover with employees, whether high- or low-performing. Each portion of the tool has two separate sets of questions: (1) questions that managers should answer in preparation for the discussion and (2) questions that managers can use to facilitate open discussions with employees.

This discussion tool was derived from a variety of resources, including the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and a Harvard Business School note by Linda Hill and John Gabarro.

Approach

Supervisors must prepare and provide coaching frequently to help employees take corrective actions throughout the year. As a supervisor, you may want to consider scheduling regular informal check-ins, “lessons learned” discussions following the completion of a major project, and formal performance discussions at least once prior to the annual review.

As a general rule, supervisors should spend at least twice the amount of time preparing to deliver feedback as they actually spend delivering the feedback (e.g., two hours preparing for a one-hour discussion). To gain a well-rounded understanding of an employee’s performance and uncover the root causes of performance issues, it is important to collect feedback from a number of people who work with the employee. You should also solicit feedback directly from the employee.

When preparing and delivering feedback, take the time to:

· Diagnose key performance themes
Is the employee still learning a task or are they operating at full performance? Is the employee motivated and committed?

· Identify examples that provide descriptive, results-oriented feedback

Here are some specific instances when I saw your best performance or opportunities to improve..

· Outline specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound (SMART) goals

How will you and the employee work together to improve performance? Does the employee need more direction (e.g.,planning, teaching, evaluating) or support (e.g.,listening, encouraging, facilitating problem-solving )?

Be certain to take notes so that you cover all of the necessary topics during the actual discussion.

Diagnose Performance Themes

Your job as supervisor is to provide honest and unbiased feedback. Therefore, you must not only identify strengths and weaknesses, but you must also identify the cause of any performance issue. To have a productive conversation, you must prepare for the meeting and give employees the opportunity to answer some questions during the discussion.

Provide Descriptive, Results-Oriented Feedback

As a supervisor, you must be prepared with descriptive, results-oriented feedback reinforced with specific illustrations. Concrete examples make positive feedback more meaningful and negative feedback more acceptable.

Agree Upon Actions to Improve Performance

Receiving feedback, especially negative feedback, is not easy. To help employees accept the feedback and focus on improving, you should be prepared to have an open dialogue about how you and the organization can help the employee improve. As a supervisor, you must show a sincere interest in the employee’s immediate performance and career development. You must also be prepared to set out clear performance goals and monitor follow-through.