Plot your progress

A performance plan is a proactive document. It is designed for continuous use throughout the year as a guide to direct the leader and his or her unit’s activities.

Leaders view performance planning as an opportunity to review and analyze actual past performance. It gives them the means to identify ways to improve their personal and organizational unit’s overall performance and productivity.

Managers as leaders actively use their performance plan to drive the unit’s as well as their own performance. They continually reference their plan as a roadmap throughout the year to guide and direct their activities.

Typically, leaders are responsible for specific aspects of operational and tactical plans. Their performance plans are directly linked to their assigned goals and objectives. How they accomplish these goals and objectives is self-defined. In formulating a performance plan, leaders begin with an initial preparation before it’s formally written and executed.

Collecting data
Leaders collect and correlate the information and data they developed during a review of their organizational unit’s prior performance. This provides a complete picture of the unit’s successes and weaknesses. It helps pinpoint how successes can be capitalized on and identifies the problems and issues that must be resolved to maximize the unit’s performance.

Leaders ensure their plans coincide with their vision. This is necessary if their vision is to be attained. They analyze and make sure plans can be incorporated into their overall goals and objectives.

The information collected from these two planning activities provides reliable insight and direction. It shapes how performance plans are to be formulated and becomes the foundation for all future performance plans.

Brainstorming
Leaders obtain input and feedback from all members of their unit. This strategy works to bring individual members “on board.” Leaders use this feedback to creatively approach the development of their performance plan. They need to “think outside of the box” to view their goals and objectives creatively and without bias. Brainstorming accomplishes this by encouraging entrepreneurial thinking. Then leaders can easily define the issues concerning maximizing unit performance from various perspectives.

Formulating plans
Throughout the preparation and brainstorming phases of planning, the performance plan begins to take shape. Senior management has assigned the overall goals and objectives. The feedback and the analysis of the organizational unit details what needs to be accomplished. From this information, assumptions can be made that will form the basis of the plan. Leaders clarify the specific direction the unit will take. The steps needed to achieve this direction are outlined and detailed. Each step is then formulated into specific objectives along with the activities required to attain the chosen course of direction.

From this information, leaders assign specific tasks and responsibilities to each unit member. Assignments become part of the performance plan, assuring that all objectives will be accomplished. Leaders make sure each subordinate assigned to a task or responsibility has the resources needed. Each task and responsibility includes established milestones so subordinates understand what they need to do and when they need to complete them.

Milestones provide leaders with performance standards to ensure assigned tasks and responsibilities are accomplished in a timely fashion, allowing for effectively managing the performance plan.

The final step of performance planning is to formalize a written plan. This becomes the actual management tool that guides and directs the organizational unit in the accomplishment of its goals and objectives.