Page 115 - stephen covey The seven habits of highly effective people

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Creating Win-Win Performance Agreements requires vital Paradigm Shifts. The focus is on results;
not methods. Most of us tend to supervise methods. We use the gofer delegation discussed in Habit
3, the methods management I used with Sandra when I asked her to take pictures of our son as he was
waterskiing. But Win-Win Agreements focus on results, releasing tremendous individual human
potential and creating greater synergy, building PC in the process instead of focusing exclusively on P
With win-win accountability, people evaluate themselves. The traditional evaluation games people
play are awkward and emotionally exhausting. In win-win, people evaluate themselves, using the
criteria that they themselves helped to create up front. And if you set it up correctly, people can do
that. With a Win-Win Delegation Agreement, even a seven-year-old boy can tell for himself how well
he's keeping the yard "green and clean."
My best experiences in teaching university classes have come when I have created a win-win shared
understanding of the goal up front. "This is what we're trying to accomplish. Here are the basic
requirements for an A, B, or C grade. My goal is to help every one of you get an A. Now you take
what we've talked about and analyze it and come up with your own understanding of what you want
to accomplish that is unique to you. Then let's get together and agree on the grade you want and what
you plan to do to get it."
Management philosopher and consultant Peter Drucker recommends the use of a "manager's letter"
to capture the essence of performance agreements between managers and their employees. Following
a deep and thorough discussion of expectations, guidelines, and resources to make sure they are in
harmony with organizational goals, the employee writes a letter to the manager that summarizes the
discussion and indicates when the next performance plan or review discussion will take place.
Developing such a Win-Win Agreement is the central activity of management. With an agreement
in place, employees can manage themselves within the framework of that agreement. The manager
then can serve like a pace car in a race. He can get things going and then get out of the way. His job
from then on is to remove the oil spills.
When a boss becomes the first assistant to each of his subordinates, he can greatly increase his span
of control. Entire levels of administrations and overhead are eliminated. Instead of supervising six or
eight, such a manager can supervise twenty, thirty, fifty, or more.
In Win-Win Agreements, consequences become the natural or logical results of performance rather
than a reward or punishment arbitrarily handed out by the person in charge.
There are basically four kinds of consequences (rewards and penalties) that management or parents
can control -- financial, psychic, opportunity, and responsibility. Financial consequences include such
things as income, stock options, allowances, or penalties. Psychic or psychological consequences
include recognition, approval, respect, credibility, or the loss of them. Unless people are in a survival
mode, psychic compensation is often more motivating than financial compensation. Opportunity
includes training, development, perks, and other benefits. Responsibility has to do with scope and
authority, either of which can be enlarged or diminished. Win-Win Agreements specify consequences
in one or more of those areas and the people involved know it up front. So you don't play games.
Everything is clear from the beginning.
In addition to these logical, personal consequences, it is also important to clearly identify what the
natural organizational consequences are. For example, what will happen if I'm late to work, if I refuse
to cooperate with others, if I don't develop good Win-Win Agreements with my subordinates, if I don't
hold them accountable for desired results, or if I don't promote their professional growth and career
development.
When my daughter turned 16, we set up a Win-Win Agreement regarding use of the family car.
We agreed that she would obey the laws of the land and that she would keep the car clean and properly
maintained. We agreed that she would use the car only for responsible purposes and would serve as a
cab driver for her mother and me within reason. And we also agreed that she would do all her other