Effort vs. Results

Managing people requires distinguishing between a person's effort and their results.

You may assess someone's performance as good/average. That assessment might include an A for effort and a D for results. The person may be expecting an A because they conflate effort with results.

Effort = Energy expended, time put in, emotional and physical investment.

Results = Qualitative and quantitative impact, facts over feelings, moving the subjective to the objective.

Sometimes, people put in tremendous effort, but there is little to no impact. That's tough, not just on the individual but also on a manager who wants to encourage the person they are managing.

The old saying is that clarity is king, so clarify that the effort is appreciated and valued. However, without results, we need to see the effort redirected to a new strategy or approach that yields the desired results.

This is a hard person to manage, by the way, high effort with low results. You're rooting for this person primarily because every manager loves a great effort.

If you find yourself in this situation as a manager, I'd suggest a few things:

• Affirm the person's effort in specific ways. For example: I've noticed you've been the last out of the office over the last few months. Thank you for going the extra mile.

• Try to reduce many goals to one or a few. Ensure you're on the same page about measuring, tracking, and reporting on the goals.

• Let the person know as clearly as possible that you're measuring success by the achievement of the goal or goals.

• Roll up your sleeves and have some working sessions with the person to help craft a plan to reach the goal or goals.

• Set up quick progress meetings to encourage, help adjust, or challenge the person. Increasing the frequency of communication about progress toward the goal or goals can help push someone into the end zone.

Happy managing.