Analyzing Performance Problems: Or You Really Oughta Wanna

There are two books written my Robert Mager that I highly recommend for people in the field of training. This is one of them. Having been a training specialist for more than fifteen years, I have, on occasion, tried to convince managers and chiefs why training was not a panacea, a be-all, end-all to their performance problems. If they had read a book like this, many of our discussions would never have taken place. Mager and Pike have created an advanced performance flowchart from previous editions which enable the trainer or manager to first identify if a problem exists, it's importance, and then what to continue to do from that point. The result will be selecting the appropriate strategy to solve the problem. You end up with a detective story filled with clues to help you find out the true culprit hindering expected performance. I offer this book to any new training manager who lacks a background in training. This book is easy to read, and takes an afternoon to get it done. The Performance Flowchart is one you want to hang in your office. Like "Preparing Instructional Objectives," also by Mager, this is a keeper.

I have heard supervisors and managers say over and over how much this book helped them resolve work performance problems without creating hostility. I know it has helped me work through some difficult supervisory challenges. But I also want to note that employees--not just supervisors--have reason to be thankful for it as well. Mager's approach speaks directly to the issue of not making the assumption that a performance discrepancy is the fault of the employee. Neither is it always the fault of a supervisor or the result of lack of training. Mager and Pipe's book reminds you that there are many reasons for work performance issues, and it is crucial to know the reasons before we order "Improvement, or else!" Let me also comment on the reviews that refer one instead to Covey and others. Those are fine books and certainly have their value. But they do not tell you how to actually deal with an employee's performance issue when the problem has gone on forever and no one seems to have handled it successfully. Those books inspire you to want to do something and to want to use good methods while doing it. Mager's book, however, tells you, step by step, how to analyze a performance issue and how to work with others to correct it. While you are doing that, you could certainly use Covey's thoughts, One Minute Manager concepts, Who Moved My Cheese principles and anything else that you think will add to your effectiveness. Robert Mager has a droll style that I find appealing and Peter Pipe adds his well-organized thought processes too. This isn't a feel good book, although it is certainly not a stick and carrot book, as implied by others. It is rather, a toolkit to help supervisors and managers intervene when work is not being done as it should be done, find out why there is a discrepancy, and work with the employee to develop methods for improvement. Yes, there is a bottom line: At some point work has to improve, or else. But that is one of the things I like about the book: It is realistic and addresses the fact that once barriers to performance have been removed, there is only so long that an employee can be allowed to do substandard work. If you use the flowchart and the material in the book, it isn't likely to come to that point--and that is another reason employees as well as supervisors and managers should appreciate this inexpensive guide.

This book will change how you deal with performance problems of all sorts. Mager's step-by-step approach can be used in a broad range of situations, including team environments, manager/employee relationships, production situations, and even with your children! He makes it easy to see the logical solution that may currently be evading you. Ann Pavkovic / Consulting Technical Writer

Before you begin your discussion of performance problems by talking about training, you need to read this common sense book by Robert F. Mager and Peter Pipe. Following a systematic algorithm, you will learn to identify your performance problem, decide how critical the problem is, and identify the underlying reasons for the existence of your problem. Problems can be a result of invisible expectations (you didn't tell me how) or what the book calls "upside-down consequences" (doing it right is not as rewarding as doing it wrong). Using many common sense examples, this book demonstrates that solutions other than training can solve your performance problems. In fact, you will discover that training may be a useless solution that will not solve your problem. Until you take apart the expected performance, look at the component parts, and identify why the performer chooses the wrong action, you cannot correct the performance deficiency. Training as a possible solution does not appear until the middle of the book. Training is needed because a person has never performed as required and does not know how to perform as required. Training can also help when skills have decayed over time and training is needed to refresh them. When you look at human performance, you need to remember that people will usually follow the path of least resistance. They do not choose wrong performance because they want to be wrong. They choose the wrong performance because it is the best solution for them. Mager and Pipe uncover why people make these choices and offer you a way to achieve the correct performance you seek.

Bob Mager's lucid and practical book is a joy to read and use. I've required it for some time in my university courses on human performance in the workplace. My students even like the pricetag. No better value on the market!