Our performance so far…
Apparently some people are interested in what other people do. In January we blogged about how we’re applying some key high performance principles to our own team and business. We shared our individual high performance goals or intentions (http://www.theperformanceroom.co.uk/blog/a-happy-new-high-performance-year/). Three months on here’s an update from some of the PlanetK2 team…
Simon
I’ve been working on my technical skills for coaching. I’ve been reading through material from The Performance Room on having great coaching conversations and putting this into practice with my one to one coaching sessions. I’ve been practicing being totally present in the coaching sessions and sticking to a simple framework. I’ve been reviewing my coaching effectiveness with my customers.
Brilliant basics Simon! Rule#4 Be boring.
Matt
In the new part of my role this year leading a team of people who are far more expert than me. I’ve been working hard on listening, seeking to understand, simplify, create clarity, remove barriers to progress and generate urgency of action. All this so we accelerate team performance, leading to better results. We’re making significant progress and I’m pleased with how I’m doing with the time available to focus on this element of my work.
Good work Matt. Role clarity in teams, especially the leaders role, is a team performance fundamental. Remembering Rule#13 – teams in search of a purpose are strictly forbidden.
Sam
As part of my role in leading on sales I’ve been working on generating more urgency around sales and the actions we can all take to move stuff along with prospects and customers. I’ve been in touch with coaches more, having better conversations and getting a bigger picture with what’s going on. I know better how I can best support, and sometimes that support is simply keeping important stuff on peoples agenda.
A sense of urgency around important things Sam. A winning recipe!
Keith
I’ve been working on continually distilling the essence of us and making sure that as we grow it gets stronger, not diluted. I’ve been working to bring that to life in my delivery and speeches and it seems to be working for both me and the people we are really talking to. I’m focusing on the fact that we are probably only talking to a small percentage who are serious about their performance. We know that in a group, team, organisation or audience, we don’t know (at least at the start) who the people are that will form that small percentage. So I’m working hard to speak to them even though I don’t know who they are yet.
Makes sense to us Keith. Finding your voice as a business keeps you True. One of our PlanetK2 values
Katy
I started 2017 with two high performance intentions for the year that I wanted to make habits:
- Keep it simple.
- Finish, before moving onto the next thing.
Juggling multiple projects from creative to technical isn’t an easy brain shift on a day to day basis. I’ve found making simple plans that I can check in on, at a glance, has helped me move between projects and teams. I can manage increasingly complex life demands much more easily, to keep myself on track.
I’ve found being disciplined about finishing a task before moving onto another, and having clear start/stop times to focus throughout my day, has made me more productive. This fuels my confidence to take on more challenges that I can be passionate about and deliver to the high standards I set myself. I’m determined to get better at 1) and 2), so that by the end of 2017 they will be habits!
High performance habits Katy. And living another Planet K2 value – Simple!
Chris
With regard to my PIP… I’ve been making sure I’ve kept up the focus on delivery and us using high performance habits, with me looking to lead on this behaviour as much as possible. I’ve done this consistently and have kept focus and energy on the commitment, which feels important. Need to keep focused on quality and impact of this, rather than simply doing it. I’ve been doing an o.k. job of staying close to the actual delivery and seeking to add high performance value where I can, but this hasn’t been done consistently. I’ve been o.k. with calling out how I’m going to be and why, although I need to do more of this. I’ve done o.k. with these aims, but need to sort out my time over the next couple of weeks so I can get back to brand and customer stuff.
Progress not perfection. And we love you living Rule#15 – everyone has a performance improvement plan.
Jim
I’ve been having monthly calls with Sam and putting in weekly calls with Julia to help me keep on track. I’ve upped my communication with the team on Slack specifically around the elements of my performance that I’m working on and it’s really helped my put into priority order the three elements of my role. I need to keep the calls going with Julia. They’ve slipped, literally once or twice, and I’ve noticed the impact when this has happened.
Excellence is rarely a solo pursuit, Jim! Keeping Rule#6 alive here – you’re on a talent development programme.
The K2 Rules are here http://www.planetk2.com/the-rules/ and our values here http://www.planetk2.com/values/.
We’ll post another update in a few months time. Oh the excitement. We know. But you’ll just have to wait…