Apr 21, 2018 12:33 AM
Replying to Rita Ferguson
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The day you start preparing for the Performance Review is the day you put him/her on your project team. That's when the expectations are established and put in writing. Everyone should know why they're on the team and what's expected of them. The document can be changed, but there needs to be a starting point.
Here are a few examples:
1. Expectations of their knowledge and hard skills: These are the skills that the project requires. If they don't have strong skills, how will we get those skills developed? Lay out the plan.
2. Expectations of their soft skills: If a team member has a reputation of being "rough around the edges", lay out a plan for improvement. It may include how I'll work with them or mentor them to improve their approach, demeanor, meeting participation, etc.
3. Expectations of their direct communication with me, especially regarding issues encountered, time delays, quality of work, etc. Advise me immediately -- I don't want to hear about it from someone else and I don't want to hear about it a week later.
As a PM, you should have reviewed that document with your team member periodically throughout the project. If this was done and you are now doing the final performance review as the project comes to an end, it will be fairly easy.
A performance review is a 2-way street. Our ability as a PM to develop our project team is directly related to their performance on the project and the success of the project.
