Referral Management

Managers often ask how much time should they spend appraising compared to planning for the future. I have a strong view that there should be no surprises during performance reviews. With that viewpoint I recommend managers spend more time planning for the future rather than focusing on the past at performance review time. If you spend all your time wading back over already covered ground you won't have the chance to build a great foundation for the future.

One-on-one time with an employee is precious - use it to set boundaries, clear up delegations for upcoming projects, work out what needs to be delivered and how the employee can best achieve those goals.

If you haven't had the ongoing communication with your employee throughout the year and you have decided to give feedback all in one hit - then split your meeting into two separate meetings. The first meeting should be the appraisal and the second meeting a few days later should be focused on the future. That way you won't contaminate the planning meeting with the appraisal process.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony

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