A while back I wrote to about the best ways of preparing for an appraisal. Today I’d like to expand on that by adding a few additional items that will help the appraisal process to run a bit smoother.

Set a Date and Time

Start by letting your employee known exactly when and where his appraisal will take place. Most employees know around what time of year their annual appraisals take place so letting him know the date and time a bit in advance will save him a considerable amount of anxiety. It will also give him plenty of time to gather any information he’d like to present.

Choose a Neutral Venue

Choose a private place within which you can hold your appraisal meetings. Don’t use your office or the office of your employee. Try to find a quiet conference room and make sure that your staff knows not to interrupt your appraisal meetings. Your employees deserve all of your attention during their appraisals.

Positioning

Make sure that no matter what room you are in the layout is friendly and welcoming. Try to choose an informal environment and try to avoid sitting face to face or across from one another. If one person sits at the head of the table the other should sit to his right or left, at a 90 degree angle. It’s a bit more causal and a lot less confrontational.

Be Friendly

Despite your distaste for the appraisal process, you simply must be friendly, positive, and calming. Your employee, regardless of how great he performs, will likely be terrified of his appraisal. Make sure you smile, open with a positive statement, and use open body language at all time. Make sure your employees know that their appraisal meetings are theirs and they are welcome to add their own input at any time.

These are only a few more things you can do to make the appraisal process a more positive experience – for both you and your team members. I’ll have more for you later on! Until then, enjoy planning for your next set of reviews!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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You’ll have read lots of information about how to conduct an appraisal with your team members.

But what about when you, personally, are being appraised by your boss? Do you spend time preparing well and laying the foundation for your own success?

Firstly, ask these questions:

Am I satisfied with my own performance in this appraisal period?
Have I achieved all the objectives set out for me?
What went well and what went not so well at my last appraisal?
What objectives do I need to set for this next appraisal?
What did I learn from the last time I appraised one of my staff members?

Answers to these questions will assist you in the preparation of your own appraisal.

Let’s look at a checklist of ideas that will help you become more confident in what you have to do to succeed in your own appraisal:

1) Understand what the main objectives are and how your performance is monitored: If you’re going to discuss your pay and remuneration, find out what the terms of reference are first.

2) Lay the groundwork: Your manager should give you adequate notice and guidance on the structure of the meeting. Review your past performance and plan your objectives for the next few months.

3) Focus on key areas: Discussions should revolve around the key tasks or projects you thought went well and not so well, your overall performance, areas of improvement, plans for future projects and your short and long-term development plans.

4) Ask for specific feedback: If your boss gives you fairly woolly or generic feedback, ask them to be specific; you want to know exactly what their expectations are. If they say ‘you need to show more assertive behaviour’, ask them for examples and specific things you can do and say.

4) Dictate how you can be helped to improve: Propose your own solutions to problems that may be interfering with your performance. This is a great opportunity to show your boss that things could improve if you could get help.

5) Discuss your current and future priorities: Your boss might be trying to align company goals and objectives, while you are dealing with day-to-day minutia that takes a lot of your time. Agree what your key priorities need to be to assist your boss achieve their goals as well.

6) Agree goals and objectives: You can reassess the factors contributing to changes in your business environment. Make sure you are both aiming for the same target.

7) Agree further training and development for yourself: You should agree a general programme of skills and talent acquisition for yourself that will continue to make you a valuable team member and asset to your boss. The more you learn and develop, the better chances you have for future promotion prospects yourself.

8 ) Agree the evaluation and set yourself up for progress: Make sure your final evaluation is agreed and ensure you are clear on the measurables for the next time period. Write up the agreed action plans and determine how they are going to be monitored. Keep a record for yourself and plan regular reviews with your boss so there are no surprises at your next appraisal.

Remember that preparation is key. As Warren Buffett said “Noah didn’t start building the ark when it was raining”. If you apply all the ideas and ground rules for your own appraisal, you give yourself a great chance to progress and prove your worth to your boss and your company.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

While no one really enjoys the appraisal process, I’m going to take a chance here and suggest something a bit different – why not have monthly or semi-regular appraisal meetings with each of your employees?

Before you start throwing your hands up and calling me crazy, let me explain. There are quite a few benefits that, as a manager, you can achieve by having more frequent appraisals and, in the end, your major annual appraisal will go much smoother. Here are a few reasons to consider.

• The more frequently you sit down with each member of your team the more you’ll understand exactly where is is in the grand scheme of things. You’ll have a better understanding of his goals, strengths, weaknesses, and limitations and will be able to adjust his tasks to focus on this strengths.
• Having frequent meetings will give you the opportunity to identify potential problem areas, giving you the ability to make changes before those problems have a negative impact on the team’s overall work and progress.
• Your team members will be more likely to ask for needed help if you open the door and give them an opportunity during which they feel comfortable.
• You will have the opportunity to work together to set realistic training and development goals.
• Your employees won’t be as nervous or scared about their appraisal meetings because they won’t be as formal and the frequency will make them more comfortable with the entire process.
• Frequent reviews will give your team members a better opportunity to prepare for their large annual appraisal, saving time in preparation.
• The more frequently you work with your team members the more accurate your notes about individual performance will be.

Why not consider a more frequent appraisal process? I think that by implementing regular meetings you’ll find that your employees are not only happier and more receptive to the process but will feel as though you care a bit more about their successes and development paths.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

We’ve spoken in the past about the wide variet of appraisal processes available for managers to choose from. One that I’ve always found interesting is the 360 Degree Appraisal process.

The 360 degree appraisal process is a process in which individuals who work closely with an employee are allowed to participate by providing feedback about the employee in question. They are often given questionnaires that they can either complete by naming themselves or anonymously. These employees are expected to honestly rate their experiences with their team members in terms of behaviour, attitude, job skills, and overall ability to complete tasks.

In some instances, only those working within the same team are asked to complete a 360 degree appraisal. In a company where one team may report to another, however, it is important to get feedback on an employee’s experiences with different types of people. Therefore it is important to include not only an employee’s peers but his up-line managers, subordinates, staff from other departments, and sometimes even outside customers or vendors.

You should include a wide variety in the 360 degree appraisal. Failure to do so will really limit the results you get and short changes the potential this type of process can really have on your ability to judge an individual’s overall performance.

Before implementing a 360 degree appraisal within your organisation you must train your employees as to the importance of fair and nondiscriminatory appraisals. If you receive surveys that make derogatory comments about a person’s age, gender, or ethnicity you find you are not learning much about the employee himself but instead about the dynamic of the workplace within which you all work. It’s valuable information to have but would be unfair to include these types of derogatory critiques in a person’s annual review.

Putting together a good 360 degree appraisal system will take quite a bit of time and effort but you’ll find it worth the effort in the end. Remember, you’re the manager and the ultimate decision regarding a person’s appraisal is up to you. In the end, though, it’s always nice to have additional feedback to consider.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

As a manager you’ll find that conducting performance evaluations is one of the most difficult parts of your job. What you mightnot always realise, though, is that someone-somewhere- is preparing to evaluate your performance as a manager as well.

So what criteria are used to evaluage the performance of a manager? Consider the following:

• Are you skilled in all three of the management roles we’ve been discussing – interpersonal, informational, and decision making?
• Are you able to set and achieve goals on your own?
• Are you an inspiring and effective leader?
• Do you and your team make your customers happy?
• Do you make efficient use of the resources and talents that have been made available to you?
• Are you capable of taking advantage of the diversity found within your work group?
• Are you ethical in your decision making process?

If you can answer YES to all of the questions above than you’re doing a pretty good job. If not, you’ll need to take a step back and determine why the answer was NO. Are there things you need to change about the way you interact with your employees? Should you be more controlling or give your team more free reign? Your ability to answer these questions and then respond to them will determine your success as a manager. Good luck!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Courses

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”