Teams contain varying types of employees. There are the Super Performers, the Good Performers, The Average Performers and the Under Performers. I’m sure as you are reading those four types, people on your team are coming to mind in each of the areas.
We all would like Super Performers…and it’s possible. A good place to start is to assess and put into categories each one of your employees. Then make it a goal to move every person one level up over the next year.
In order to get Super Performers, you’ll need to be a Super Coach…after all, the best performers in every sport all have a great coach supporting and encouraging them.
The Super Coach
The two main goals of a great coach are to support and encourage their players.
A Super Coach knows each player on his/her team, knows their strengths and weaknesses and knows how to bring out the best in their players – by having them focus more on the things they do well and coach them up on the things they need help with. A great coach knows how provide the right amount of support in order to help their player achieve Super Performance.
Encouragement is the Key
Studies* show that employee’s performance goes up exponentially when they are encouraged rather than disciplined or micro-managed. Encouragement means you are emphasizing the positive contributions and achievements of your players and showing them how, given their strengths, they can achieve even more. It’s providing them accolades when they do things right, instead of harsh words when they do things wrong.
Here are some tips to being encouraging –
- Be excited to see the person for the first time each day – tell them you’re glad to see them or glad they are there.
- Greet them with a smile
- When introducing anyone on your team to someone, say something positive about the person on your team – something they contributed recently that made a difference
- Each week, pick out one or two people in a staff meeting and say something positive about them (be sure to read the document on Great Staff Meetings). Do this with everyone on the team at some point, not just the Super Performers.
- Periodically, point out the top one or two things every person on your team excels at – the reason you have them in the role they are in.
- From time to time, perform the 85/15 test with your entire team (you list the 85% or more that’s positive about each person and the 15% or less they don’t do so well. The emphasis should follow the percentage – you should spend 85% of the time with each person talking about what they do great and 15% or less on what they need to either stop doing or get some further coaching.
- Take an interest in what’s going on in the lives of everyone on your team. What are they excited about outside the office and what do they enjoy doing.
Next Steps
If you would like additional information on how to become a Super Coach with Super Performers, we recommend attending one of our Business Goals Advanced Leadership classes. Classes start every month, are limited to about 12 people for maximum participation and interaction. For more information, follow this link
*Study on encouraging vs. discipline vs micromanagement