"The trouble with most performance management systems is that they have forgotten the people."  This or something very close to that statement was uttered by McDonalds Chief People Officer in an interview Autumn 2011.  What we want to see evolve in organisations is an environment in which people want to talk about performance in a mutually supportive and candid manner.  These conversations are not limited to "How many widgets" have been made but are much more holistic about what has been done, how its been done, the impact made to the organisation's purpose and reason for existing.  These conversations about performance are looked forward to rather than time spent finding an excuse not to conduct them.  The conversations have a structure, have a focus yet are amicable.  They consider performance from both sides - how many people under-perform because their bosses stiffle them?  The conversations help avoid this asphyxiation. A initial crucial dependency is that everyone in the organisation knows what it's trying to achieve and why (the old floor-sweep at NASA story).  Without such clarity, there can be no open, candid conversations.  Without involving people in setting the future course of the organisation, you gain compliant passengers rather than active co-drivers and navigators. 

Anywhere in any organisation, a team leader can change how they talk about performance with their team members.  They can go through the motions or they can simply try to change the tempo or choreography of the interaction so it becomes more open and convivial yet still serious about the issue of performance.  They can change the venue.  They can change the "paperwork".  They can really think about how they explain why their team exists - the new buzzword of "on-boarding" is another step in the commoditisation and processisation of a human interaction that should captivate and turn-on people.  Why can't our refuse collection truck be the very best?  Why can't our bio-tech research make a massive difference to human well-being?  The biggest resource organisations need provide is time; talking about performance requires time, attention, concentration, enjoyment. The old adage of "coaching is for experts" needs to be remembered - it lies at the heart of being a manager.  Coaching, talking about performance should not be conducted in such a way as folk regard it as the first step on the discipline ladder.  Rather, each conversation, from both sides is regarded positively, even if tough messages need to be given.  I write this in the UK in the warm afterglow of the London Olympics.  How many conversations about performance took place there? Our legacy from our investment as Olympic and Paralympic hosts, could be and should be a different attitude and approach to talking about performance.  As sentient humans, we have the ability to reason, which is what a decent conversation achieves.