Quarterly Business Reviews, Board Meetings & Performance Management

Institutionalized processes that organizations embed into regular business practices. Despite good intentions, they often do not create the results we’d hoped they would, when we instituted them in the first place. Far from it. 

Organizational processes take on lives of their own. Employees whose roles involve managing these processes often do not have the insight or leverage to make necessary adaptations. If leaders do not frequently check in, set the context, right-size the format and tone…we become slaves to a mostly detrimental practice:

• We deify leaders and board members and try to impress

• Tens and tens of hours go into preparation with no apparent payoff

• Leaders of these meetings are not fully aware of the power they possess (or worse, are well aware)

• Defensive routines and justification trump real dialogue

• Employees leave relieved, deflated, annoyed, disempowered or worse

• Form wins, substance loses

Outsourcing your leadership to institutionalized processes will end up working against you. It is seductive, as it looks good on the surface and saves time…but it can be the kiss of death to entrepreneurial behaviour, intelligent risk taking and cultivating a culture of candour, accountability and innovation. 

It is such a paradox!