I like to write. I’ve never been one who suffered with writer’s block. But that’s usually when I am writing about Design, methodology, or strategy. But now I have to write appraisals for people I hardly know. I met most of them in October. It’s a little scary because I want to be fair to them all.
To their credit, they all submitted self-appraisals, and I have a write-up on each one from the former manager. I”m also glad that I asked them each to give me at least 2 names of other people who could provide input. They did, and almost every person who was asked to provide input has done so- and often with many details. Not just “She’s a good sport” kind of input. Input from these other people has really helped me gain perspective on my team, and I know that it will help me write more well-informed reviews.
I’ll admit, at first I wans’t going to ask for this additoinal input from other people because, well, because it’s just a lot of work. It’s been worth every second of the effort because I have not only simple review input, but insight into what makes some of of my team members tick – where their passions are, when they went the extra mile, from the perspective of engineering, product management and documentation.
I hope I can do my team justice in their reviews.
#1 by Ian Randall on January 16, 2013 - 02:50
When staff filling out self-appraisals and they have to score themselves between 0-10 they start at 10 & then select a number further down the list (in most cases).
However when many Directors rates them on the same scale, they start at the bottom of the list & consider whether they deserve a higher score or not.
Good luck
#2 by migratenotes on January 16, 2013 - 09:10
I like your approach. I’ve worked in too many companies where the individual’s appraisal is all about how much the manager is willing to go to bat for their people. It ends up being very unfair. Getting more input above and beyond the self-appraisal and manager’s statements sounds wonderful to me.