How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals

Chapter 9

Conducting the Appraisal Discussion

Knock, knock. It’s three o’clock. Here’s George, standing in your doorway.

“Ready?” he asks.

At this point the performance appraisal has been written and approved. You’re ready to sit down with George, spending an hour or so with him and each of your other subordinates in their annual reviews.

Performance appraisal is the time when the manager can exercise maximum leverage at redirecting or reinforcing performance. But without a well-thought-through game plan for the appraisal meeting, a supervisor is more likely to leave bruised feelings and misunderstandings than improved performance.

Unfortunately, the performance appraisal form does not suggest a natural order for the discussion. Too often managers ...