What is management intervention? How can you tell if your management intervention worked?
Managers should use science-backed behavioral management principles to affect the change they want to see. Then, they should measure the impact of their interventions and fine-tune their methods over time.
Find out how to determine if your management intervention worked, and what you can do if it didn’t.
Review Your Progress
To be a better leader, you’ll evaluate whether your management intervention has helped you achieve your objective. To do this, gather new employee performance data and compare your results. Then, determine whether the behavior changed and whether you’re closer to achieving your objective than you were before.
(Shortform note: As you gather your post-intervention data, make sure you’re using the same methods you used to collect baseline data. For example, if you used a standardized rubric to evaluate abstract behaviors, don’t make any changes to the rubric for Step 5. This ensures that you’re getting what Naked Statistics author Charles Wheelan calls “quality data.” Quality data is accurate and consistent, allowing you to make valid comparisons and draw reliable conclusions about the impact of your intervention.)
You can also ask your employees for feedback about the reinforcements you’ve been using. Daniels warns against asking people what reinforcements they want before your intervention because they may not know or answer honestly, but you can gather feedback afterward to gauge the intervention’s effectiveness.
(Shortform note: If you struggle with receiving or making good use of your employees’ feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen offer helpful tips in Thanks for the Feedback. For example,they suggest that when it comes to critical feedback, it’s best to temper your knee-jerk, defensive reactions and adopt a curious, open mindset instead.)
What to Do If Your Intervention Failed
If you determine that your intervention isn’t working, Daniels says there are two possible reasons: First, your reinforcement may not have been effective. This could happen for a variety of reasons—for example, you may not have chosen a reinforcement method that resonated with your employees, or you may have applied it too inconsistently. Second, you may have targeted the wrong behavior for change. This is likely the case when it seems that your employees’ behavior has changed radically but you’re still not getting the results you want. Use this information to guide your next intervention—change either the reinforcements you use or the behavior you target, and see whether your results improve.
(Shortform note: If you’re not sure why your intervention failed, try Toyota’s “five whys” method for getting to the root of organizational problems. Begin by asking why the intervention wasn’t successful. For example, if employees aren’t responding to the reinforcement, ask why that might be. If the answer is that employees aren’t motivated by the rewards, the next “why” could be to explore why the rewards aren’t motivating. Maybe the rewards aren’t aligned with what employees value. Continue this process—asking “why” for each answer—until you identify the core issue. The Toyota technique recommends that you ask “why” five times, but it might take more or fewer questions to arrive at your final answer.)
What to Do If Your Intervention Was Successful
On the other hand, if you’re happy with the results of your intervention, then you’ve likely identified effective strategies for behavior management. However, you shouldn’t stop there. Daniels recommends that you continue to refine and build on these successful elements to further enhance performance and achieve additional objectives.
(Shortform note: Daniels’s advice to build on successful interventions mirrors the Japanese business philosophy known as kaizen, which means “continuous improvement.” To practice kaizen, you must constantly make small, incremental changes to improve processes and outcomes. This allows you to keep refining your strategies, adapt to new challenges and opportunities, and boost your company’s overall performance.)
