Archive for March 2009
Powerful Performance Review Questions
Let me reveal to You 3 Powerful Questions to ask in your Mid-Term Performance Appraisal…
Really, they’re all you need!
What questions will you be asked in your mid-term Performance Appraisal? And what questions will YOU ask? There are 3 questions that must be asked… It’s time to find out what they are!
There are 3 questions that just have to be asked during your performance appraisal. If your manager is experienced in conducting reviews, then he or she will ask them for sure. If not, then you must ask them. For the answers are the most important things you will learn during your review. What are they?
They are 3 simple questions. You should prepare to answer them in advance. They are:
- What should you start to do?
- What should you continue to do?
- What should you stop doing?
(And if you are the person who has to ask)
- What should I start to do?
- What should I continue to do?
- What should I stop doing?
They seem a bit too over-simple, right? But don’t be fooled by their brevity. Their power is in their candor; answers to these simple questions will reveal everything you need to know in order to make adjustments in time for your final end of year appraisal - whether it’s in the context of a specific objective, or general to your behavior.
Try practicing on yourself, right now. How would you answer? The more deeply you think about these questions, the more detailed and elaborate the answers become as you delve deeper into assessing and reflecting on your behaviors. Or better still, ask a friend. A good friend – one whose honest feedback you can cope with and appreciate!
Prepare well thought through answers to these questions and I can guarantee you that your performance appraisal will be stimulated to produce a much more valuable result for you!
Find out how to prepare for your Performance Appraisal quickly and effectively, and discover what 1,000s of other people are doing to ACE their Performance Review…
…with the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE
Trial it for just $1!
Trial the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE for just $1!
Trial the First Day of the course, and upgrade for only $26.95
> Order Now<
> Learn More <
If You Have Objectives, Then Get an Implementation Plan
Got objectives you will be reviewed against? Then get an implementation plan!
This couldn’t be more important if you have agreed objectives with your manager that your performance will be measured against, and your bonus depends upon.
Leaving the delivery of your objectives to ad-hoc opportunities or done in stolen time is a slippery-slope to failure. Believe me, I have been there.
When I first started out in my career, I didn’t really understand this. I thought objectives were something above and beyond my ‘day job’, so I did my day job without looking for opportunities to deliver my objectives. So it’s no surprise that my objectives were delivered in a rush and to poor quality towards the end of my review period – in some cases just a day or two before my appraisal.
Of course, I received low marks, as a review period isn’t just the hour or so I spent with my manager during my appraisal – it’s the whole period (12 months).
This is why having a plan is very important. Achieving objectives during your performance review period is a mater of achievement through the WHOLE period. And a plan is what guides your work, and sets deadlines in which you will achieve the activities.
You and your manager will track your plan and measure the results against target. If you have been set an objective to reduce error rates on your website by 50% throughout the year, for example, then you could build an implementation plan to deliver technical changes and measure their results over the year – e.g. reduced by 10% first by Q1, 25% by Q2, 40% by Q3 and 50% by Q4.
The best way to construct your implementation plan is to break up your objectives into sub-objectives, and set these as goals for the current period (e.g. current quarter). Setting smaller, more manageable goals not only delivers value through your review period, it also allows you to make course corrections if progress isn’t at the desired rate, and it also increases your confidence.
Increased confidence is always a good thing.
Do you want to know how to build an implementation plan for your objectives?
Then I suggest you take the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE, where you’re shown how. You can trial the first day of the five day course for just $1, and then upgrade your course to complete it for only $26.95.
Go to the Order page to join the course today.
Trial the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE for just $1!
Trial the First Day of the course, and upgrade for only $26.95
> Order Now<
> Learn More <
Remember, It’s Your Performance Review
A Performance Review/Appraisal is an important element of your career and personal development. The thing is, many employees don’t really know why they have them, and see them as an opportunity to be scolded or criticized. This isn’t their purpose!
Your Performance Review is a golden opportunity to learn more about your performance and develop new skills. It isn’t always about the ‘tasks’ you perform – they should also discuss behavioral competencies that are essential for working in an organization and as a corporate citizen.
The mindset must be right to get the most from your Performance Review. Don’t look at it as something ‘done’ to you. Consider it as an investment in your future, and to get the most from your investment, you will be required to play ball. And remember, your Performance Review is YOUR opportunity to give feedback to your boss about their performance too – for example you could discuss examples where their support has helped you, or lack of support has hindered you.
Are you clear on the point of your Performance Review yet?
I’ve gathered ‘10 affirmations’ below to help remind you what its all about, and burn these into your head before your scheduled review begins.
1. Your Performance Review gives you Feedback, not Criticism
2. Your Performance Review is for Your Personal Development
3. Your Performance Review is a Learning Experience
4. Your Performance Review is an Investment In You
5. Your Performance Review is Your Opportunity to Give Feedback to Your Boss
6. Your Performance Review sets S.M.A.R.T. Objectives for the Future (look it up!)
7. Your Performance Review References Examples of Your Behavior
8. Your Performance Review is a Two-Way Street
9. Your Performance Review Gives You Confidence to Progress
10. Your Performance Review is as Important to Your Boss as it is to You
Similarly, there is a great post on the HRMorning blog which are ‘10 commandments’ of reviews for employees. This is a great list to set the scene on what to do, and not do, in your Performance Review.
The only one I don’t agree with in this list is ‘Focus on the small picture’, which advises you to focus only on yourself. I think this is a good thing when reviewing only on past performance, but reviews should also discuss the future and how you will be measured next time. Then, you must talk business and your contribution to it.
Lastly, make sure your Performance Review is about FACT. Anything other than the truth, in a review, makes a mockery of the process. It’s so easy, I’ll be honest, to get emotional in your review, especially when faced with feedback that hits hard (which it can often do). Becoming over-emotional leads both you and your manager to move onto a very different kind of conversation which is probably best described as dysfunctional!
Maureen Collins writes a great piece on making sure your review is about fact, by suggesting you avoid 4 common mistakes.
Trial the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE for just $1!
Trial the First Day of the course, and upgrade for only $26.95
> Order Now<
> Learn More <
ACE Your Performance Review Tip #1: Make Sure Your Objectives are Deliverable
Making Sure Your Objectives are Deliverable
If you have been set objectives for your review period, or if you’re in the process of setting and agreeing them with your manager, then it is vital to make sure you can actually deliver your objectives.
There is a subtlety to this which might not be immediately obvious.
Take a look at your objectives… do you understand what, where, how and when they need to be achieved? Yes, good. Does your manager understand these too? Yes? Great. But do you understand them in the same way?
This is what trips a lot of people up, and they only realize there is a difference in understanding during their performance appraisal.
It is vital that you and your manager understand the objectives in the same way – otherwise you are most likely to miss your managers expectations.
Only when you’re delivering objectives to the same standard and specification that your manager expects will you get top marks and hopefully a maximum bonus.
It is worth every second you spend ensuring that you and your manager have the same understanding of your objectives, so take a few minutes and check your manager’s understanding.
Trial the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE for just $1!
Trial the First Day of the course, and upgrade for only $26.95
> Order Now<
> Learn More <
Trial the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE for just $1
JUST ANNOUNCED: March 26 2009 – From the Desk of Simon Stapleton
Today I have just launched the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE – a five day online course that shows you everything you need to know to ACE your Performance Review.
Maximize Your Bonus, Impress Your Boss and Boost Your Career with this course!
Over only 5 days (with about an hours reading each day), the course is simple to use and what you learn can be implemented immediately. I share some advance tips to increase your scores to full marks – some secrets your HR department won’t want you to know!
Download the Free Course Overview
Find out what’s in the lessons in this course for free by downloading the Course Overview booklet (PDF) right now using this link:
Download the Free Course Overview
Take the $1 Trial today!
If you’re not convinced already, then I understand. You want to see what I am offering. So I am making available, for a limited time only, a $1 Trial of the course – get the first day’s course book and then it’s up to you if you want to upgrade to complete the course.
You won’t get a lesson from any book or tutor like this anywhere else for just $1!
Take the $1 Trial today - click the link below to begin the ACE Your Performance Review CRASH COURSE:
