Tech — Work — Ramblings

by Mike Kalvas

202110181205 Invest discretionary time in top performers

A 1% increase in their performance amounts to more output than a 1% increase in your bottom performers' outputs.123 By this logic, you should only invest your time in increasing the performance of your top performers.

This does not mean that you shouldn't coach the others and give them feedback. It's a statement of what to do with any discretionary time you have as well as one about maximizing returns on investment in overall team performance. When 202110181158 Coaching underperformers, it's important to understand that there's a level where good enough is fine, but they will need to personally invest more into being a top performer before it makes sense for you to invest more time and effort with them.

Another way of saying this is if 202104291524 Execution is the priority of team management, then the best way to increase execution is to focus on increasing the execution of top performers.

  1. Kislik, L. (2020, December 2). Managing an Underperformer Who Thinks They’re Doing Great. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/12/managing-an-underperformer-who-thinks-theyre-doing-great ↩

  2. Auzenne, M., & Horstman, M. (2011, October 18). The Coaching Dilemma—Part 1. Manager Tools. https://www.manager-tools.com/2011/09/coaching-dilemma-part-1-hall-fame-guidance ↩

  3. Auzenne, M., & Horstman, M. (2011, October 25). The Coaching Dilemma—Part 2. Manager Tools. https://www.manager-tools.com/2011/09/coaching-dilemma-part-2-hall-fame-guidance ↩