In the second of my tips on giving great appraisals, I want to recommend that you get feedback on the person you are giving an appraisal to. It’s important to get feedback from as many people as you can across the organisation who has dealt with the individual concerned. This is good practice for a couple of reasons; first the individual may have different interactions with those other people than they do with you, second peers and direct team members will nearly always only give you positive feedback, those from outside your immediate team or wider department will be less emotionally tied to the individual. There is also a selfish element too; those more senior than you will be able to seethe time you are investing in your team and therefore it might help with your own development.
I like to frame my request for feedback by asking some questions:
– How has x performed in the last six months
– What has she/he done well?
– What has she/he struggled with?
– What areas should X look to improve over the next six months?
– Any other comments?
By asking questions rather than asking for general feedback you give the responder a shortcut to providing an answer so you’re more likely to get a response.
I would also look to include a deadline and set a reminder to chase up the initial email request. Always offer the opportunity to provide feedback in person, some people feel awkward providing feedback in written form.
You can then use this feedback, without directly revealing who the feedback came from, within the appraisal meeting.
Other tips in this series:
Timing
Feedback
Location
Preparation (part 1)
Preparation (part 2)
Timing part 2
Never cancel
The sound of silence
no surprises please
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