I have been tasked with developing an eval tool for use on all org-wide projects that will evaluate team member performance on all levels and also "count" towards the employee's annual eval.
Project Management concepts are new to a lot of the organization and we are also hoping to use this tool to identify some "diamonds in the rough" to lead new inititaves.
Does anyone use such a tool and are you willing to share?
We just switched our organization over to a PM approach during which we conduct team member evaluations. These will replace our annual "peer evaluations" as an information source on performance. It's real usefulness is similar to your identifying "diamond in the rough" but more so to provide insight on patterns in performance (good or not so good) as they are happening so that they can be addressed "mid stream."
Therefore, our Team member evaluation focuses on adherence to team-oriented contributions. Team members rate each other (unanimously--the form goes to HRM for distribution) on the level of consistency in their team interaction such as: Took responsibility for getting his/her work done;
Sought new & better ways of doing assigned tasks;Performed quality work (no re-done work); Met schedule commitments; Actively participated as part of the team; Sought to understand work requirements so that work was done correctly, etc.
We are also doing training on how to give and receive *constructive* feedback so that *one* poor team member evaluation doesn't make it or break it for the staff person. The idea is to learn from them, get feedback on things that can be done better, help staff spot patterns in their performance, etc. Hope this helps. Let me know if you want more info. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
The best method that I've seen for this is to utilze the project post-mortem review process to drive project based bonuses for team members.
Here's how it worked.
Based on the projects revenue (in a consulting environment) or value/budget (for an internal project), a certain set of funds are set aside for a team bonus pool.
Everyone at the outset knows how the project is going to be evaluated. This is based upon standard project criteria (budget, schedule, quality/scope/satisfaction).
At the end of the project, the project manager reviews the project with the sponsors/exec team whatever (ala Donald Trump's Apprentice) and is evaluated across each of those 3 dimensions. As such, a formula is applied to the bonus fund allowing anywhere from 0% - 125% to be allocated for team bonuses.
Rating the project as a team, before individuals, and in line with project objectives incents the proper team behaviors.
Then the project manager has the discretion, with input from other team members, to allocate the project bonus funds to individual team members based upon their time commitment to the project and performance. (It isn't fair to give someone who worked for a month on a 12 month project as much or more than someone who performed similarly for all 12 months!)
Bonus payments are then distributed with a formal review of the person's performance on the project, both positive and constructive-specific feedback.
This process also helps to balance some of the issues that are presented in matrix organizations where the project manager's influence over shared resources is sometimes diluted. Knowing that the PM on any given project is responsible for some portion of their income (with their skill group manager's input) gives that PM project authority.
I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but thought it might also help. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Dana, excellent post and very nice replies from Mia and Anonymous. I would only add that as part of the post project closing process and annual evaluation process, be sure to include contribution and participation in Continuous Improvement as a key expectation and measurement of the team members. In addition to evaluating and rewarding for project results as very nicely presented by Anonymous, many organizations evaluate, recognize, and reward for Continuous Improvement proposals. The idea is that every project experience provides opportunties for improvement; some in the form of project difficulties that need to be overcome so that others do not experience the same "defect" over and over, others in the form of project excellence that needs to be shared and replicated by others so that the project organization performs at the highest level of collective skill and capability rather than a wide variety of skill levels. Often, long before management is aware of the details, the front line contributors are in a position to provide actionable recommendations. The end result is a culture of continuous improvement in which the organization performs better and better though small, incremental, worker-led improvements. The Japanese call it Kaizen. By any name, it is a great way to empower, recognize, and reward the team. Regarding evaluation tools, typically most project management processes recommendation the use of performance assessments for 1) the project manager, 2) the team members, and 3) the team as a whole. I would be happy to send you example of these evaluation tools. Feel free to let me know your email or look me up. Very best regard. -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Dear Mark, I was encountered the same problem as Dana. And I'm very interesting in the the evaluation tool you had mentioned. Could you do me a favor to send these evaluation examples to me? Thank you very much! My email:[email protected] Saving Changes...
