Do you have your team members write self-appraisals and use those as a basis for the review you write?

Our reader poll today asks: Do you have your team members write self-appraisals and use those as a basis for the review you write?

• Yes 73.64%
• No 15.46%
• We don’t write performance appraisals 10.90%

Write it yourself. If you have the opportunity to write your own self appraisal (and based on the poll results, it looks like most people do), there are a few tips for getting the appraisal you want and deserve. First, write it in the third person which makes it easier for your manager to cut and paste your well-written words about yourself. It also minimizes the amount of editing they’ll need to do which they’ll appreciate. Second, be fact-based in your assessment. The more you stretch things, the more likely it is that your manager will discard your thoughts and write a more balanced appraisal. Where you have facts to back up performance assertions, use them. Metrics are solid ways to establish performance. And finally, present a balanced picture. Include the things that didn’t go well. It demonstrates self-awareness and makes it easier to have the final appraisal conversation because your manager knows you’re already aware of those shortcomings.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.