Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

by Laszlo Bock

Make developmental conversations safe and productive by having them all the time, just like my manager used to do when we’d leave every meeting. Always start with an attitude of “How can I help you be more successful?” Otherwise, defenses go up and learning shuts down. Development conversations can more safely happen along the way to achieving a goal. Separate in space and time conversations about whether a goal has been achieved. Once a performance period has ended, then have a direct discussion about the goals that were set and what was achieved, and how rewards are tied to performance. But that conversation should be entirely about outcomes, not about process. Goals were either missed, met, or exceeded, and each of those states carries different rewards or encouragements. If you’re doing this well, the performance discussions will never be a surprise because you’ll have had conversations all along the way, and the employee will have felt your support at each step. In all cases, don’t rely solely on the manager to come up with an accurate picture of how people are doing. For development, solicit input from peers, even if it’s as simple as asking or sending out a short questionnaire. For performance evaluation, require managers to sit together and calibrate their assessments as a group to guarantee fairness.