The 8 Minimum Requirements for Performance Management

Robert D. Behn is a lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a passionate advocate for public sector performance. His regular Performance Leadership Report is always succinct and salient. His definition of performance management, versus performance measurement, clearly puts the responsibility on leadership’s shoulders. In his report What Performance Management Is and Is Not, Bob describes eight specific requirements of performance management in organizations.

These eight requirements lend themselves as a framework for assessing the degree to which your organization truly does manage performance. And with a bit more flesh on the bones of that framework, they become a recipe for the behaviors to nurture, practice and master to pursue performance excellence.

In this article, Stacey Barr, specialist in organizational performance measurement repeat each of Bob’s performance management requirements, and add her own fleshing-out of the behaviors that, to her, are in need of most practice.