2X People Plan

I received some questions via email after the webcast regarding the 2X People Plan tool.  Here are some questions and my thoughts on it.  Please let me know how you are doing with the tool.  Feel free to comment here for the learning of all.    

Q: Can  I really get 2x more productivity?     

It is defintely within expectations.  Whether you get 2x depends on your ability to be a multiplier with an action-oriented or execution oriented mindset.  Please do read Liz Wiseman's book Multipliers.  Her research shows that multipliers are able to get at least 2x or 3x more productivity from their team members.  She outlines how.  So yes, it is possible to double productivity with no additional hard costs or hiring more humans!  What it takes is a realization that we as senior executives have a strong influence over the productivity of our teams.  We can either multiply them or we can diminish them, and therefore their performance and productivity.  There are only 2 ways to get more done.  Either pay for more hands to do the work, or do a better job coaching and maximizing the hands that we already have doing the work. I choose the latter!

Q: How much coaching before I should expect to see a productivity increase?

Immediately!  In your coaching session, I suggest allowing your team member to share when he or she is stuck or having difficulty getting momentum.  Pick one thing and have a solution discussion around it.  Pick one and do not get distracted by working on all the issues or opportunities at the same time.  Provide good talk time and discussion around the chosen topic.  Then finish with your team member committing to an action plan based on the ideas that came from this coaching session.  Finally, inspect what you expect.  Share with him or her in a non threatening way that you will follow up and see how they are doing.  Hold them accountable to the actions agreed upon, and provide additional coaching if they continue to be stuck.  If you focus on solving one thing with an agreed upon action plan and accountability, you should see productivity increases immediately.

Q: How is this coaching different from an HR plan of improvement for a "C" player?

Very different.  Though both may be coaching plans, this one needs to be done with an air and aura of success.  You are taking someone who is already successful and taking him or her up a couple of notches.  The emotions and the scenarios are completely different, therefore driving very different conversations during the coaching session.  Here are a couple of tips to try:

• If the person is on target to achieve their goals.  Ask them what SuperGreen or the stretch goal is and ask them what it takes to achieve that supergreen goal.  Focus them on the SuperGreen Goal.
• Ask of the priorities they are working on, which ones have the most impact on the company.  If they have 5 to 7 or even more priorities, ask them what would be different if they focused only on the top 3?  How will that impact their performance and the performance of the company?  Help them to really power on the top 3 most impactful priorities and consider stopping the rest.