Some guidelines to conduct effective performance reviews.

1. Performance Review Dos and
Don’ts
It's time for your annual performance review. Why, it seems like it
was just yesterday that you wrote out those goals for 2007—you
know, the ones you promptly forgot and can’t find right now. But
much as you may dread this annual ritual, you shouldn’t. Here are
some tips for getting the most out of it.

2. Take It Seriously
For many of you, this is the one
chance you get every year to
communicate with your manager
about your importance to the
team. Take advantage of that.
And if you have the kind of
manager who allows for give and
take throughout the year, this is
still a critical meeting. The way
you handle the annual
performance review process is
itself evidence for or against your
professionalism and maturity.
TALENT

3. Do Be Prepared
A month before your performance
review, ask your manager or a person
in HR for the proper forms, and ask
whether there is a written process
that you can follow. If an employee
self-evaluation is included, review it
carefully. If a self-evaluation isn’t
included, do it anyway, highlighting
your accomplishments during the
year, areas where you struggled,
your goals for next year, and your
thoughts about your professional
development needs. In case you’re
asked to provide feedback to your
manager as well, have some points in
mind before you enter the meeting.
TALENT

4. Focus On The Big Picture
Since managers and their
employees often have so
little time to problem-solve,
it’s easy for an annual
performance review to get
derailed and turn into a
business update or a talk
about processes or
products. Don’t go there!
Today, it’s about you—your
past and your future. If
other subjects come up,
take notes for another
discussion, but keep this
one about you!
TALENT

5. Do Seek Clarity
If your manager has feedback for
you that doesn’t seem to make
sense or outlines major goals that
aren’t clear, speak up. It’s critical
that you don’t leave confused,
because your manager will expect
you to begin thinking about (if not
acting on) his suggestions right
away. Most performance review
meetings are scheduled for just
an hour, and if there’s more
critical conversation that has to
take place, make sure to let your
manager know.
TALENT

6. Do Learn The Lesson
When you get through this year’s
performance review, you should have
some new knowledge about your
company, your job description, your
team’s goals, and your manager’s
likes and dislikes. Take a half-hour
after your meeting and put that
learning in the vault via an e-mail to
yourself—and talk it over with a
friend, whether from work or not—to
get deeper understanding of the
issues. Your review should be more
significant than an exchange of forms
and a few more bucks in your
paycheck. It’s a development
exercise, and the beneficiary is you.
Take the opportunity to get that
benefit by processing the information
before you dive into your next e-mail
or phone call.
TALENT

7. Don’t Be Unrealistic
Some employees think they’ll get
the upper hand by saying that
they’re perfect. This is ridiculous.
Trust is key, and it’s frustrating
for a manager to see an
employee self-evaluation with
only “Excellent” or “Very Good”
after every bullet point. You
demonstrate maturity and build
your credibility by honestly airing
your areas for improvement and
asking for help where
appropriate. Everyone, including
you, can improve in one area or
another.
TALENT

8. Don’t Place Blame
It’s tempting to say “I didn’t get
my work done because
Accounting was slow,” or “We
didn’t have the equipment,” or
“The sun was in my eyes.” A good
manager will hear an excuse like
that and immediately respond
with, “And what did you do when
that obstacle arose?” As
businesspeople, we are
responsible for attacking barriers
and surmounting them. If you
didn’t do that, make a note of it
as something to work on for next
year.
TALENT

9. Don’t Grovel
The opposite of proclaiming
your perfection in a
performance review is
groveling and apologizing
for everything. A manager
doesn’t gain confidence in
an employee whose
principal message is, “Yes,
I’m bad, it’s my fault.” You
have strengths and
weaknesses. Talk
forthrightly with your
manager about both.
TALENT

10. Don’t Get Out The Brass Knuckles
You may have views about your
work that are counter to your
manager’s. That’s fine, but there’s
no benefit to debating her about
whether a problem was actually
your fault. Listen to your
manager’s feedback, and
remember: This is the way your
boss feels, and your No. 1
opportunity to change her
impressions will be through your
work in the weeks ahead, not
today. Strengthening the link
between the two of you is more
important than debating your
manager into the ground.
TALENT

11. Have a great PDP 2007!
Stephen Remedios