The Skill/Will model was developed by Max Landsberg in his book the Tao of coaching. Its foundations came from the situational leadership model, which is fabulous, but a little complicated. Skill/Will is simpler and just as effective.
One of the key tools for assessing when people are the right people, in the right role, is the skill/will model. The skill will model assesses your skills level and willingness as a team member when performing tasks. It helps you as a leader to identify growth opportunities for each member of the team, and to spot gaps in your future people strategy. You can create an action plan to help you, your teams and business to achieve your goals. Ultimately, you can then lead your team using the skill will model to ensure success.
My preference is to use it as a conversational aid. Whether it is an annual performance conversation, delegating a new task or project to someone or even a quick progress chat, this tool gets the conversation flowing. Ideally you draw the model and ask a team member to plot where they think they are right now with regards to job, task, or project. Then you do the same. If you have plotted them in the same place then great, you can have a conversation around that and about how you can help them move more towards top right. If you plotted in different places, it is a great tool to discuss the gap, ask questions and both learn about each others perspectives.
It might also help you unlock talents and capabilities that you didn't know existed. I remember working with a recruitment business who were about to increase their social media presence. They looked around at their current people and decided to the best plan was to hire an outside agency. Before they went ahead, I asked them to have conversations with the people in their marketing department to identify both skill and will for this new work. To their surprise, they had a member who had worked with them for just one year, who on the side, was running a successful Instagram arts and crafts page. That member was using social media design software, programming posts, editing videos and absolutely loved it. They identified someone who both had the skill, and the will to begin running their own social media. It saved them thousands in contract fees and helped to reignite motivation with an existing member of the business.
Another use of the tool is in workforce planning. By plotting everyone in the team - including you, you can see what you need to do to increase performance, capability and motivation within the team. Perhaps everyone is new so you need to guide them more. Perhaps you have a mix of people and those that need motivating can find excitement by supporting new starters. Perhaps you might identify that some people need to be moved on, and so recruitment and succession planning needs to be your focus.
I recommend looking at your teams now, having conversations about their skills, not just in the current role, but in previous roles or through hobbies and other experiences. It helps build relationships, identify skills and interests and build career development pathways for your future needs.
The method
Step One: To create your own skill will model you need to draw a four-box model like the image above. Skill is plotted along the bottom and will along the side.
Step Two: You then need to plot where each member of your team is. Ask them to do the same with regards to their current role or a new task or opportunity. What can you learn from each other?
Step Three: Identify what your team member needs from you and adapt your style accordingly.
It's like learning to drive a car or ride a bike. At first you don't know what you don't know - until you are put in the drivers seat. Initially you need instruction, eventually moving to guidance and feedback. Eventually you move to being able to do it all by yourself. You don't need a back seat driver telling you how to drive your car.
Low skill/will – They don't know what they don't know. They also don't know why they need to do the task or how they fit in to the wider team or organisation. These people either need instructing and teaching or directing. Now most people build confidence and motivation as they improve their skills. Your job is to help them grow and learn. For now, instruct, guide and teach them until you see their skill and will gradually increase. Keep assessing where they are with particular tasks and know when to either delegate, add another skill or move to more of a coaching role. The people will no skill and no willingness to learn, will very quickly suck your time, attention and harm your performance and quality. Unless they are willing to learn, you must remove them from your team as soon as possible.
Low skill/High Will – The people don't yet know how to do the task or activity but are really motivated to learn. We have all met people who are really enthused and put their hands up to any opportunity, yet they are clearly lacking the skill. They might even blag their skill level, giving you a false sense of confidence in their abilities. That is why with these people you don't leave them alone, instead stand side by side (not over their shoulder). These people need some hand holding and instructing, but with a little more trust and support. This is the time to set clear goals or outcomes, include them in developing the "how" so you can check understanding, and then let them have a go at the doing. Perhaps check in daily initially, asking questions, reviewing work and giving feedback and praise where needed. Soon your confidence in them and their skill level will increase. If you have someone super willing but over time, shows no improvement in skill level, perhaps it is time to move them to another role, team or are of responsibility.
Highly skill/Low will – Catch these people before they move to far down the demotivated scale. If you capture them early, you can quickly re-energise. Capture them too late and all of your efforts might be wasted. Admit it, you have probably slipped into this box at some point in your working lives. These people were probably motivated once, but got bored, demotivated, under-appreciated or not stretched enough. They became stuck. You need to identify what will reignite their motivation again? How can you create work or the environment to utilise their skills in a positive way? By talking to your team members, naming their lack of mojo or energy, calling out their negative comments, and being genuinely concerned, you will discover what is really going on with them. You have to build the trust and allow them to feel seen and heard. If you don't, you will allow them to slip further down. Once the trust is gone, it is very difficult to regain. These people can create a toxic environment. The once "star team players" now become the weakest link.
Highly skilled and motivated people – Your goal is to get everyone somewhere in this box. They do the work without the need for supervision, they know what needs to be done and are very experienced. You will tend to see this is the form of enthusiasm and energy. They will go the extra mile and are committed and onboard with your team goals and vision. Delegate, give responsibility and keep stretching them if you want them to stay there. Remember with each new task, you might have to slip back into teach mode for a short while, but soon they will be rising strong again. But be mindful that when they reach the very top of the box they will want more. They might be ready for more responsibility, a promotion or something else. If you can't give it, they might slip down the will scale or leave. And sometimes leaving is the only option, so say farewell graciously and know that you have played some part in their success.
Step four: Reflect on the following questions:
- Am I delegating enough or too much?
- Am I supporting enough or micro-managing?
- Are they ready for additional responsibility?
- Am I contributing to engagement and if not, what do they need?
- How can I adapt my style to increase their skill/will?
A Common Problem:
What I generally see happening is that leaders spend so much time dealing with those who are underperforming (low skill/low will) or spend too much time on people that are already so far gone down the motivation scale, that they forget to pay attention to their star performers and end up overly relying on them.
They delegate to the same people again and again. They begin to feel put upon, overworked and underappreciated. They feel like they are doing all the work, while others coast. Over time, the very people you want to thrive begin to drop their motivation.
The Solution:
Pay attention to everyone, equally, but adapt your style depending on where they are on the model. Those who you depend on, check in with them regularly, provide them with praise and feedback. Continue to stretch the high performers without straining them. You need to make them role models and your trusted advisors. Ask them to help your bring the other team member along by being guides, coaches and supporters. They have the skill, use it. This also helps as an example to show the rest of team what good looks like.
This simple model really opens up conversations and dialogue. It helps you unlock potential and helps your team members to identify both gaps in knowledge, perception and opportunities.
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