The Using Numbers To Get To The Heart Of The Matter Approach

This approach may sound counter-intuitive, but I have found it can help people to manage their emotions and shape their futures.

Sometimes people talk around an issue or find it hard to put a name to a feeling. One way to get to the heart of the matter is to invite them to rate their feelings or perception around a topic.

Using numbers may sound an unfeeling approach. But it can actually help people to focus on their feelings and specific behaviour. They can then move on to the actions they can take to shape their futures.

Here are some of the topics a person may wish to explore. It is often useful, however, to invite a person to rate themselves in just one of these areas. This can be a good starting point for exploring their reasons for giving the rating.

Moving Forwards

The scores are just the start. If appropriate, you can invite the person to describe the reasons for the ratings. The next step is to invite them to focus on shaping the future.

The aim of the ratings approach
is to encourage a person:

To clarify where they are at the moment – such as the feelings they have or to focus on a particular area in which they want to improve;

To clarify the specific things they can do to maintain or improve the rating in this area;

To clarify the specific benefits of doing these things – both for themselves and for other people.

When focusing on the future, it is important to encourage the person to build on what they can control. You can also offer them practical tools they can use to achieve positive results.

Here is the exercise that can be used to help a person to focus on shaping the future. If appropriate, you can then help them to work towards achieving their picture of success.

The Numbers Approach
To Performance Development

Let’s move on to an area that is sometimes loaded with emotion. This is the topic of what organisations may call performance appraisal, performance management or performance development.

There are many models for helping a person to focus on and develop their performance. The following pages describe one approach that can be effective.

One key point. It is vital to have separate sessions on the person’s performance, any pay negotiation and the person’s wider career development. Some organisations try to cram all three into one session, but that seldom works. Try to have separate sessions on each topic.

The following pages provide a pack that has proved useful when helping people to focus on their performance development. It invites a person to rate their performance on a scale 0-10. The manager can also give their views on the rating and other areas.

As you can guess, some poor performers may rate themselves highly whilst good performers sometimes rate themselves down. In both cases, the manager may wish to say something like the following.

“Is it okay if I share some ideas? It is, of course, up to you if you want to take the ideas on board. If you do, however, then we can focus on how you can maintain or improve the rating.”

This can help to provide a reality check. It is up to the person to decide if they want to continue to maintain or improve their performance. Each choice does, of course, have consequences.

Here is the pack that can be sent to a team member a couple of weeks before the session. They can then send it to the manager before the actual meeting.