How the system works was the topic of a recent article at the Harvard Business Review website. The Adobe check-in conversation contains three elements: expectations, feedback, then growth and development. Each of these areas is described in more detail below.
1. Expectations
Expectations are agreed upon by the team manager and employee at the start of the year. Regular check-ins allow progress to be monitored and necessary adjustments made according to circumstances. Then by the end of the year, or any other specified time frame, there are clearly stated criteria by which the success of the given period may be measured.
2. Feedback
Feedback consists in coaching as a two-way process. As well as providing feedback to their employees, managers must be willing to accept feedback themselves. Conversations focus on people’s strengths and anything they might modify or supplement in order to become even stronger.
3. Growth and Development
This is the final stage of the check-in, focusing on the longer-term development of staff, beyond the immediate goals within the fixed time frame.
Unlike most performance reviews, which are retrospective in nature, the check-in approach looks also to the future. Thus check-ins provide a more meaningful basis for manager-employee communication, which in turn should lead to greater motivation and more effective development of team members.
More information about the system that replaced traditional performance reviews at Adobe is available at http://www.adobe.com/check-in.html.
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