Horizontal Performance Management

Introduction

At Cadence OneFive, we strive to invest in each team members’ ability to have the trust, confidence, and safety to fully be a manager of one.

If we agree that work is a component of personal self-actualization, then the framework for management shouldn’t seek to extract “performance,” but rather to establish the conditions for self-knowledge and mutual support.

How we build an organization that does this a puzzle to work out together. We’ll try some stuff that works for us, some stuff that doesn’t, and we’ll iterate!

Our non-traditional performance management

What does performance management look like if everyone on our team is responsible for their own happiness and responsible to each other for team outcomes?

Work Plans: Instead of annual performance reviews, we make thoughtful personal work plans that we actively manage for the year. Work plans articulate for ourselves and our colleagues what success will look like (and that may change as the year goes on).
Commitment to ask for help: If all is not going as well as hoped for, we find someone to ask for help as soon as possible. And we all accept that it is our job to help each other take a pause to work out next steps, find how to reboot or reorient, etc.
360s: The 360 is an advice process focused on your work plan. You should do a 360 at least once a year, but can be as often as you find helpful. A “performance” 360 has the same process as the onboarding 360s that you did during your 30-60-90 process: pre-meeting survey and holding a 360 meeting with your stakeholders. You can request a 360 yourself, or a colleague may request one.

The Work Plan

At Cadence OneFive, work plans are a key part of our horizontal performance management approach. Rather than traditional top-down annual reviews, we empower each team member to create thoughtful personal work plans that articulate what success looks like for them.

What Makes a Good Work Plan

A good work plan at Cadence OneFive:

Aligns with our mission and values Your plan should connect to our overarching mission of providing the OS for climate retrofits. Goals should embody our values of transparency, inclusion, authenticity, efficacy, and respect.
Leverages the SMART framework As much as possible, objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. This ensures they are clear, actionable and aligned with broader goals.
Emphasizes growth and development In addition to performance objectives, your plan should include 1-2 skills or competencies you want to actively develop. Identify resources and support needed to achieve this growth.
Encourages “manager of one” mindset Take ownership of setting and achieving your goals. Be proactive in seeking advice, while taking responsibility for outcomes. Work plans put you in the driver’s seat of your performance and development.
Enables transparency and collaboration Share your work plan with colleagues who are stakeholders in your success. Use the advice process to solicit input. Clearly outline where you need support and collaboration from others.
Builds in reflection and iteration Include a retrospective at the end of each cycle to glean lessons learned. Celebrate wins and extract insights from challenges. Adjust and improve your plan continuously; it’s meant to be a living document.
Clearly communicate your priorities. How do you plan to measure your success? What will you be prioritizing when faced with competing demands for time?
Specify areas where support is needed. Laying out top priorities implicitly lets everyone know that you will want their help on achieving those goals; however, there may be issues or tasks that you need help from others on (whether these are related to your top priorities or not).
Close feedback loop for everyone. All consent stakeholders should walk away with a clear idea of how your day-to-day work will ladder up to strategic goals across the team. The review process is a way to prompt getting responses back, both for alignment with work of others as well as to make sure your message is being heard by everyone who needs to know.

Remember, work plans are not just a formality, but a tool for charting a fulfilling and impactful path forward in your work. Embrace the process of crafting a plan that sets you up for growth and success, in service of our broader mission.

Work Plan Format and Content

You may use any format that you wish for your work plan document, including the format suggested in the Work Plan Template.

Consent Stakeholders are teammates whose work is so intertwined with your own that they get a “veto” on your work plan. The work plan must be revised to satisfy all consent stakeholders that it is “safe to try.”

Advice Stakeholders are people whose input would benefit your work plan management. They may include external stakeholders, mentors, etc.

The SMART Framework

SMART framework won’t fit every single thing we do at Cadence, but it’s a good way of asking whether your goals _can_ be made more SMART. SMART stands for:

Specific: The objective should be clear, well-defined, and unambiguous. It should answer questions like: What exactly needs to be achieved? Why is it important? Who is involved?

Measurable: The objective should have specific criteria for measuring progress and success. This makes it easy to track progress and know when the goal is achieved. Questions to consider: How much? How many? How will I know when it’s accomplished?

Achievable: The objective should be realistic and attainable given the available resources, time, and constraints. While it should stretch capabilities, it shouldn’t be impossible. Ask: How can the goal be accomplished? What are the limitations?

Relevant: The objective should matter to you and align with other relevant goals. It should be worthwhile and contribute to your overall mission or vision. Questions to ask: Is this the right time? Does this match our other needs and priorities?

Time-bound: The objective should have a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target completion date. This helps create a sense of urgency and priority. Ask: When? What can I do six months from now? What can I do six weeks from now?

360 Process for Post-Probation Staff

New hires go through an onboarding and probationary period. After this period, team members are expected to solicit performance feedback regularly via our 360 process. The intent of this process is to empower each employee to own their performance and development.

We do this for everyone so that we:

Are always in the habit of providing feedback to each other
Know how to give constructive feedback and engage in tough (even uncomfortable) conversations positively
Each stay aligned with the work of others on our team
Embrace accountability in a non-hierarchical way

Every few months, each employee conducts a 360 review meeting. Time between reviews shouldn’t be longer than 6 months.

Prior to the meeting, the employee updates their work plan and puts together a summary of wins and challenges for the review period that may cover topics like:

Achievements and contributions during the period
Manager-of-one mastery of their work / horizontal practices
Supporting stakeholders
Where the employee needs support going forward

Prior to the meeting, a questionnaire is sent out to the employee’s consent and advice stakeholders to collect feedback.

Consent stakeholders are required to respond
Advice stakeholders may choose to respond (because feedback is a gift!)

In a 30-90 minute meeting, the employee presents an assessment of their performance and updated work plan, and gets input from stakeholders

Consent stakeholders should generally be present in real time for the meeting
Advice stakeholders may participate synchronously or asynch

Employee incorporates feedback to finalize their updated work plan and sends it around via Almanac for final consent