Performance conversations are a critical and necessary part of performance management. Feedback is most effective when it is constructive and when it involves a dialogue rather than a monologue, but people often struggle with this skill. This activity includes an experiential exercise that applies a five-part process for performance feedback,…

This paper considers the case for reform of management structures in UK universities and offers proposals for change. The model of top-down, performance-led management that characterises many institutions is both outmoded and ill-suited to the challenges of an increasingly turbulent higher education sector. Drawing on the experiences of a…

There is no shared understanding of what school leaders are expected to do. Schools have many external as well as internal stakeholders and each of them has different expectations as to leadership practice. Thus school leadership is a "fluid signifier". This article first outlines external expectations that school leaders are faced with…

The author presents a training program for supervisors designed to improve an organization's performance appraisal system. Legal issues surrounding performance appraisal are discussed. Course topics include (1) definition and purpose of performance appraisal, (2) how appraisals can improve performance, (3) negative reactions and how to overcome…

This text presents a model that systemically relates professional development and evaluation in an appraisal of educational leadership personnel. Developmentally, appraisal is seen as a diagnostic, relatively non-judgmental system by which educational administrators gather data about their professional performance and growth. Evaluatively,…

A leadership development program for managers used appreciative learning, based upon appreciative inquiry, an organizational development method focused on what organizations do well. Participants identified prior successful learning experiences for use in future work performance, creating a multiplier effect of positive experiences. (SK)

The author examines a team development approach to management that creates shared commitments to performance improvement by focusing the attention of managers on individual workers and their task accomplishments. It uses the "high-performance equation" to help managers confront shared beliefs and concerns about performance and develop realistic…

The Peer-Assisted Leadership (PAL) Program created at Far West Laboratory (San Francisco, California) gives principals and vice-principals a year-long professional development program to reduce their isolation and improve their instructional leadership performance through nonevaluative peer observation and reflection. A key element is challenge…

Describes the ideas and principles involved in the Management Charter Initiative work on management competence in the United Kingdom. Occupational standards and the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are discussed; units of performance and performance criteria are described; and personal competence and developing competence are considered.…

Presents a way to diagnose and solve motivation problems at work. Describes a model based on recent cognitive performance motivation research. Explains the CANE (Commitment And Necessary Effort) model and illustrates with a case study. Discusses the CANE model's applicability in any performance setting. (AEF)

Discusses behavior and learning theories and describes a supervisor training program based on behavior-modeling techniques. Reviews research evaluating the effectiveness of this technique in improving supervisors' performance. (SK)

This document defines the standards and characteristics of an assessment center. An assessment center consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Multiple trained observers and techniques are used. Judgments about behavior are made, in part, from specially developed assessment simulations. These judgments are pooled…

Describes a staff college designed to help Israeli managers deal with managerial and organizational problems and to increase their potential to learn on the job, improve current performance, and meet future challenges. Discusses characteristics of this approach, curriculum modules, role of the preceptor, and a comparison of this approach with the…

This paper summarizes research regarding the changing role of the principal and methods for assessing school-communication skills within a competency-based educational administration program. It examines the leadership-competency areas of the principalship and describes how expanding school-communication skills may enhance the principal's…

This publication introduces an assessment instrument to help programs implement management competencies. It discusses development of management competencies and describes the Management Competencies Assessment Instrument (MCAI) designed to help managers verify and validate their competencies and use the information for planning professional…