This weekend, the New York Times wrote about an interesting project Google has been working on to improve company performance and management skills.  This research clearly struck a chord with people who understand Rypple; at least ten people emailed me this article yesterday.  So, I thought I’d share a few comments about how Rypple’s entire strategy is aligned with Google’s research.

Google wanted to systematically gather data about the practises that would help identify – and therefore – encourage great bosses. So, since 2009, Google’s been:

…analyzing performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards. They correlated phrases, words, praise and complaints.  Later that year, the “people analytics” teams at the company produced what might be called the Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers.

But, who cares about great bosses?

Isn’t business performance just about the numbers?  Don’t we just need to focus on data-driven execution, superior technology and operational excellence?  And, isn’t amazing “human capital management” all about perfectly tuned competency models, compliance management, advanced compensation and succession planning, and performance reviews that spit out awesome charts and graphs of “talent”?

According to Google, the answer is no.

Great bosses matter because they are the essential ingredient to great team and company performance, engagement and retention.   In fact, Google found that:

…managers also had a much greater impact on employees’ performance and how they felt about their job than any other factor. Specifically, great managers could improve performance and reduce the three reasons people leave.

Why do people leave, according to Google?

1. “…they don’t feel a connection to the mission of the company, or sense that their work matters.”
2. “…they don’t really like or respect their co-workers.”
3. “…they have a terrible boss — and this was the biggest variable.”

We share the same insights as Google

Great managers make a huge difference to business results.  And helping people to become great managers is mostly about focusing on the basic, simple habits that make all the difference.

While Google’s been crunching the numbers, we’ve been busy building simple, web-based software that helps people focus on the basics.  What’s amazing about the results of the Google research is that so many of the ranked “best habits” are exactly what we’ve designed into Rypple.  There are a number of overlaps but I want to focus on what Google found was the most important managerial habit:  “be a good coach.”

According to Google, being a great coach means:

• Giving people frequent, specific, constructive feedback
• Having regular 1:1 meetings, where you have specific discussions about roadblocks and offer solutions.

This is exactly what Rypple helps thousands of managers do, every day, in amazing companies like Mozilla, Hulu, Shaw, Rackspace, and Gilt.   As it says on our site, we’ve built simple social software for coaching, feedback and thanks.  We did this because we thought it helps great team work better together.  Now Google’s got the data to back our hunch up.  Woot!

So, here are two ways you can use Rypple to implement Google’s research:

1. Meet Face-to-Face

When I wrote about 3 basic steps to having an awesome team, I said:

Just meet face-to-face (or for remote teams, try skype) every week (or at least every two weeks) for 15 minutes with everyone who works with you. This simple bit of advice is very powerful and often overlooked because it is so basic.

I’m not even telling you how to meet, or what to talk about.  Others can give great advice on *what* to talk about. My simple observation is that the basic habit of making space for a human conversation leads to all the good engagement, learning and relationships required for meaning at work – and awesome teams.

Really, it’s that easy. As Google found: one of the most important traits of a great boss is being available to your team. Regularly meeting 1-on-1 clearly shows your team that you’re available. Even better is remembering your conversations: Rypple gives you an easy way to track goals, actions, notes and feedback in one place. That way you’re not only available, but attentive. That’s how you make sure the coaching you give is constructive.

Here are 5 ways to rock your first 1-on-1.

2. Create a safe place for people to get Feedback

Rypple started off with the hunch that managers were not helping people to get enough feedback.  So, a core feature allows you to gather it, quickly.

Here are some tips on how to give it, and what to ask.

The big idea in Rypple is ongoing feedback. It makes no sense for you to wait to learn how you’re doing, whether you’re on track and what you can do to improve. Too often, reviews are surprising and stressful because there’s too much build-up.

People always want to know where they stand

We crunched numbers too: people want feedback. Instead of constructive conversations, reviews tend to be stressful and less helpful than they’re meant to be. Plus, they take so much time to prepare. The typical result is a divide between boss and employee. Sharing feedback and recognition when things happen not only makes the feedback more constructive, but it’s a great way to improve how you communicate with your team.

We’re really excited by Google’s findings because they’re so in sync with our product and vision. It’s awesome. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to put Google’s advice into practice, give Rypple a try. It’s free. The only thing I’d ask in return is for your feedback!