Statistics and Meetings: How boring!

At training events, I often make jokes based on humankind’s dislike of statistics and meetings and I always get a laugh.   Why?  Because the hatred of statistics and meetings is multi-cultural and almost universal. 

Although we claim it’s because they’re boring, I suspect the real reason is because they reveal the true facts about our performance and effectiveness.  If we fear that we’re not up to speed, we prefer to keep it hidden!

But statistics and meetings are two of the leader’s most important tools for keeping his team accountable.  They’re tools to get the job done. 

Not all meetings are equal

Having said that, not all meetings are effective as accountability tools.  Indeed, some never have the intention of being so.  Others try to be but fail. So what are the elements of a good accountability meeting? 

What a good accountability meeting looks like

Effective accountability meetings will have most of the following elements. 

ü  It will take place on a regular basis (Most of mine are fortnightly),

ü  Each meeting will be followed up with a list of action points, with deadlines and the person responsible,

ü  Everyone will get a copy of the action points within a day or so of the meeting,

ü  The list of action points forms the basis of the discussion for the next meeting, with new items added to the list as they arise,

I have found that, with these simple elements in place, nearly all of the action points will be completed by the deadline. 

How it works psychologically: Social sanctions and social rewards

Most people want to appear professional and effective in the workplace.  However, if they turn up to a meeting and their allocated task has not been done, they experience some embarrassment (a social sanction).  The desire to be regarded as effective on one hand and to avoid the social sanction (often unspoken) associated with not “pulling your weight” on the other, are often enough to keep performance on track. 

On the positive, when they are able to sit in a meeting declaring that they have met their responsibility, the achievement is acknowledged, at least implicitly, (social reward) and they feel a degree of satisfaction.

(Having said all that, some people are naturally less responsive to the feelings and opinions of others - known as poor self-monitors - and these may need extra nudging by the team leader.)

Dealing with delays and poor performance

Delays in completion of tasks sometimes occur due to genuine reasons outside the control of the team member.  Then it is the responsibility of the leader to:

1.    Discern the real reasons from the excuses, and then

2.    Give direction on how to proceed under the changed (behind schedule) circumstances. 

Keep it safe

Whatever the case, it is important that the leader maintains an emotionally safe environment in the meetings, even when he has to tell off members of the team.  This means allowing only objectivity and solution-focused behaviours from everyone in the team, and not allowing blame-shifting and name-calling.  It is about rewarding behaviours that enhance team cohesion and good performance and censuring behaviours that are harmful to cohesion and performance. 

We’re about people not numbers!

Despite humankind’s aversion to statistics (with the possible exception of social work professors) they really do help us to get the job done. 

In the human services field (and especially the spiritual nurture field) we hate to reduce our work to numbers because it seems to be debasing our clients or pastoral flock.  But a simple and easily-collected set of statistics, while not telling the whole story, can provide indicators of growth or decline, effectiveness or ineffectiveness, success or failure.  These indicators can provide the beginning of the conversation for rectifying a problem or recognising good performance. 

The numbers that we collect should be simple, as few as possible, and easily understood.  Further, they should be set next to the benchmark expectation for each number.

Here are some examples that have value in the real world of human services: 

For	Example of Numbers	Benchmark
Case Workers	percentage of time spent in contact with clients	60%
	Reduced drug use in clients	30%1
	Improved social functioning	70%1
	Improved familial connection	50%1
Social Workers	Clients in Caseload	20 – 25 clients2
	Outgoing referrals	71
	Incoming referrals	31
Corps officers	Number of persons attending Sunday meeting	10% growth pa
	New soldiers and adherents	10% growth pa

¹These are not real figures, but are for illustrative purposes only.  They vary according to the nature of the client group, aims of the service, etc.

²This is based on the worker seeing each client once a week.

How it works psychologically

Recognition and achievement are the two greatest workplace motivators.  By making a clear statement about what performance is sought the team member understands how she may achieve both recognition and achievement.  She will put less time, creativity and energy into activities that do not support the goals and more time, creativity and energy into activities that will.  The old adage, “You get what you measure” really is true.

But wait, there’s more!

If you still hate statistics and meetings, then let me throw in the complimentary steak knives . . .

The synergy of using both regular meetings and numbers to keep people accountable is very powerful.  When your team member is looking toward the next meeting and she knows that she has met the benchmarks she feels confident, strong and effective (which she is)! 

Even the negative is positive with good simple accountability tools

Of course it’s not always sweetness and light.  There are times when the leader is going to have to address poor performance.  It’s so much easier when he can point to the numbers and the lists of action points and say clearly and concisely, “This is what we expected, this is how we explained it, and this is where you let us down.”

Even performance management becomes easier with good statistics and meetings.