Performance Evaluation
This may be the area with the most drastic difference between the two.
Sports World
Athletes’ performances are constantly scrutinized. Imagine if you were reviewed daily by talk shows, radio shows, Sportscenter, blogs, and message boards.
Coaches are also continuously reviewing their players’ performances and, most importantly, helping them improve. They applaud the good and critique the bad. They show them better techniques to eliminate mistakes. The best coaches will even find a way to inspire the poorest performers to improve themselves.
Business World
Contrast now with the business world. How often do managers evaluate their employees? Do they consistently applaud the positives and critique the negatives?
Most companies try to do this on an annual basis (assuming it’s being done at all). And even then it’s not a true annual evaluation. This is because the person performing the evaluation usually doesn’t document things that transpired during the entire year. Rather, they try to remember a few positive and negative events from the month prior the evaluation and base everything on that.
Can you imagine if a sports team only evaluated their players on an annual basis? “That was a rough game you had in the 2nd week of the season and I saw some things for you to improve on. Too bad the season’s already over, I guess we’ll just work on it next year.”
Message
Have weekly reviews with employees even if they’re only 5 minutes. This way you can address things have just happened. You can immediately correct poor performance and applaud positive performance.
Conclusion
Look, I know many companies are operating on skeleton crews and paper-thin margins, but if you can just implement a few things sports teams already do on a consistent basis, then I promise you that employee and company performance will improve. By sharing your vision, preparing your employees, and evaluating their performance, you will be well on your way to success.