SBDC Fearless Performance Management
SBDC Fearless Performance Management
The performance management – or employee feedback – process can fill many managers and employees alike with a sense of dread. However, with the right skills and mindset, this process can become collaborative, two-way communication that reduces anxiety and sets everyone up for success.
This class presents a model for managing employee performance and specific tools you can use to set performance goals, document and manage performance, maintain ongoing communication, conduct performance reviews, and develop performance improvement plans. Includes an electronic copy of the book Fearless Performance Reviews by Jeff and Linda Russell.
What you will learn:
The 7 reasons why performance reviews often create fear
The 11 characteristics of fearless coaching conversations
How to increase your success rate in ensuring constructive feedback is heard by reducing fear responses
How the Ladder of Inference takes us quickly away from our goals and toward unproductive judgments
What is a collaborative mindset, and how to use it to create a winning approach
How to use the Great Performance Cycle to create high-performing employees
The reasons why giving constructive feedback can be difficult
15 tips for giving constructive feedback for great results
Date: October 29, 2026
Time: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm CST
Location: Grainger Hall, Wisconsin School of Business, UW-Madison