Regular Check-Ups on Team F.I.T.ness

Adventures in Businessing: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, and a Healthy Dose of Humor

Show Notes

• [0:00:42] Episode Summary | Intro

• Music to Get You Going
• Brief F.I.T.ness Recap

• [0:04:00] Measuring F.I.T.ness

• Organizations Change, Businesses Change, People Change
• • You Have to Evaluate That
• Recommendation: Quarterly F.I.T.ness Check-ins
• Catch Issues or Tensions Before They Fester
• Check-ins Directly Combat Ambiguity
• • “With my team, one thing I always say is: if anything in this meeting is surprising to you, then I (the manager) haven’t done a good job.” - Jeremy
• Your Check-ups are a Confirmation of Alignment or Misalignment
• • They should not be where you identify proper or improper alignment for the first time.
• Everyone Either Has or Knows of a Review Horror Story
• • Be the cure, not the symptom.
  • Don’t be nearsighted in your reviews.
  • • Let team members know they aren’t being evaluated solely by this one quarterly check-up.
• Frequency is a Delicate Balance for F.I.T.ness
• • Regular check-ups not being about money/salary help enforce empathy, and strengthen your goal as a manager to make your team members better at their jobs.

• [0:14:23] The Evaluation

• Keep it Short, Keep it Simple
• • On Scoring 1-5
  • • The phrasing is more important than the number.
• You Want Challenge
• • Boredom is the enemy of challenge.
  • Caution: too much challenge can cause burnout or defeatism.
• You Want Success Over Failure
• • But when failure occurs, you want individuals to have the liberty to fail forward.
• Identify Trends
• • Recurring instances of over or under achieving are worth acting on.
  • • Has there been a dip in motivation or progress?
    • Why is this person excelling so far beyond that of their expectation?
    • Is this person in the right role?
• It Begins and Ends with Clarity

• [0:24:02] Words to the Wise

• Tricky Instances to Be Aware of
• Elaborating on ‘The Middle is the Best’
• • You want to be in the middle in the evaluation scoring.

• [0:28:25] Parting Words

• Identify Tensions & Note Your Wins
• • Encourage others to canonize and share their wins!
  • • Especially during the F.I.T.ness check-ups.
• Next Time on AIB
• • “What Do You Do Between the Check-ups?“
  • • Spoiler: 1on1s (Stay Tuned)