Management Observation Program Best Practice 12 – Documented Management Observation Program
Effective performance improvement programs promote alignment of business operations with the organization’s vision, mission, values, and goals. Such programs consistently identify opportunities to improve high value-adding operations and to eliminate low value-adding activities. These programs themselves are highly efficient and capable of producing repeatable results. Documenting the business performance assessment process provides the framework necessary to achieve this level of focused execution consistency.[wcm_restrict plans=”41963, 25542, 25653″]
Components of a Well-Documented Management Observation Process
Well-documented processes are clear, concise, and comprehensive; easily understood and executed by those participating in its performance. Consequently, the management observation process should contain the following documents:
- Process Procedure containing:
- Introduction and Overview describing the management observation process, its role in the organization’s overall performance improvement program, and desired outcomes to be achieved
- Roles and Responsibilities listing the obligations, by role, of those individuals participating in the management observation process
- Precautions and Limitations listing the risks that may arise during the performance of an observation and the associated mitigating actions to be taken
- Procedure providing step-by-step instructions on how to perform a management observation
- References listing supporting documentation, commitments, etcetera
- Glossary listing acronyms and terms with associated definitions
- Exhibits providing forms and checklists to be used when performing observations
- Management Observation Topical Areas Schedules and/or Quotas typically updated on an annual basis
- Management Observation Program Metrics monitoring overall process execution performance and follow-up improvement activities
- Management Observation Program Basis Document providing detailed program implementation information including:
- Program Overview describing the overarching management observation program, its role in the organization’s overall performance improvement program, and desired outcomes to be achieved
- Program Maturity Model revealing the performance characteristics of a management observation program across five sequential maturity dimensions
- Roles & Responsibilities listing the obligations, by role, of those individuals participating in the management observation program
- Global Principles, Best Practices, and Warning Flags applying across the program as a whole
- Program Performance Measures including definitions
- Process Flowchart showing activity-by-activity flow of the management observation process including its interrelationship with other programs
- Process Flowchart Functional Description providing the underlying performance details associated with each program activity
- Activity Principles, Best Practices, and Warning Flags applying to an individual program activity or group of activities
- Forms and Checklists including use instructions
- Glossary listing acronyms and terms with associated definitions
- Management Observation Training Program for those assigned and potentially performing management observations
Final Thought…
In our experience, it is the function of the Management Observation Program Manager to oversee the development, training, implementation, and maintenance of these documents. Centralizing responsibility for the program in this way further contributes to the consistent performance of individual management observations.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”41963, 25542, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
Admit it; you perform differently when your supervisor is watching you. Suddenly, all of the performance rules become clear and important. You feel a sudden urgency and compulsion to recall them.[wcm_restrict plans=”25541, 25542, 25653″]
The name, Management Observation Program, suggests that authorship of these documented performance assessments are or should be limited to those who supervise work. Yet, in a healthy organization, workers are encouraged to provide upward feedback and report conditions adverse to quality. All organizations should embrace a safety culture within which individuals are responsible for both their safety and the safety of their coworkers. (See StrategyDriven whitepaper, 
While management observation programs serve many purposes, they primarily exist to drive achievement of the organization’s goals in a manner consistent with its values. These formal, documented observations accomplish this by shaping and reinforcing personnel behaviors critical to supporting excellent operational performance. To provide adequate coverage, these observations should be performed on a recurring, situational, event, and random basis.[wcm_restrict plans=”41950, 25542, 25653″]
Most companies employ a periodic employee review program, typically comprised of a major annual review and sometimes complimented by a formal mid-year feedback session. Examination of these programs reveals most performance ratings are based on those individual behaviors, events, and accomplishments occurring within a few weeks of a review’s development. Consequently, employees achieving great success throughout the year, particularly those with significant achievements earlier in the period, feel cheated by a process that frequently overlooks these accomplishments.[wcm_restrict plans=”41942, 25542, 25653″]