Conducting the Meeting

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You’ve prepared your written evaluation. Now it’s time to conduct the meeting. These honest discussions can feel awkward, but if you approach them in the right way, you and your direct report can come out of the session confident and ready to move forward. This chapter will walk you through each step, from preparing for the meeting and setting the right tone once you’re in the room to discussing the employee’s performance itself.

Prepare for the meeting

Proper handling of logistics can put your employee at ease and smooth the path to an effective review. As you set up the meeting:

Keep in mind that some employees may require special arrangements regarding schedule, meeting location, and content if the discussion has the possibility of escalating to an uncomfortable level. (See the section “Addressing unacceptable performance” in the final chapter of this book.)

To support your conversation, gather all of the relevant materials you’ve referenced throughout the appraisal process thus far. Make sure your direct report feels equally prepared: Give her a copy of your assessment to read an hour or two before the meeting, and ask that she jot down any reactions or questions she wants to discuss. This allows her the privacy to react emotionally and begin digesting the information, so she’ll be more composed and ready for a productive discussion.

Set the right tone

Most people, even the highest of achievers, approach performance review meetings with some sense of dread. Anticipating a manager’s criticism, no matter how constructive or well meaning, can make an employee understandably anxious. And many managers feel awkward delivering such feedback, wondering if the employee will become defensive or upset.

To mitigate anxiety on your or your employee’s part, set a tone of partnership right from the start. Establish a rapport by welcoming your employee. Limit distractions: Silence your cell phone, and if you’re near your computer, turn off any audible notifications.

Remind your direct report that the purpose of the review is to determine how the individual can best meet her goals and to help you understand what she needs to excel in her job. Tell her explicitly that her input is necessary and valuable, and that you hope the conversation will be an open dialogue, so you can work together as partners on any issues that arise. You should also let your employee know that you’d like to take notes so that you can both remember what you’ve discussed (see the sidebar “Taking notes”).

After stating the purpose and objectives of the meeting, ask the employee to talk about her selfappraisal. This will help you understand her perspective on her performance and prevent you from controlling too much of the conversation early on. If she’s hesitant to speak up, ask probing questions to get her started: “How do you feel things are going on the job? What’s going well, and what problems are you having?” This is the time to focus on her point of view, not to agree or disagree on specific points.

During the conversation, practice active listening. Don’t interrupt. Show that you’re paying close attention by periodically paraphrasing what you’ve heard after your employee has finished talking. For example, “If I understand you correctly, you feel that you are meeting all goals with respect to the weekly sales reports, but that you are struggling to contact all the key customers you’ve been assigned. Do I have that right?” This gives your employee the opportunity to correct any misunderstandings.

Discuss employee performance

During your performance review session, you might feel nervous—or even reluctant—to offer constructive feedback. But even your most stellar employees can benefit from ideas for improvement—and if you don’t take this opportunity to deliver them, your time consuming evaluation won’t have much use.

Frame your feedback as a way to reach a goal-related outcome, such as boosting sales or improving service. It then becomes an opportunity to solve a business problem rather than a time to criticize a person. Or focus on the employee’s development—the feedback then becomes an investment in her career. Throughout your discussion, make your employee’s performance the subject of the conversation, rather than the employee herself. As in your written evaluation, don’t say anything negative that could be perceived as a statement about her character, values, or intentions (such as, “You don’t seem dedicated to this project”). A character attack offers no ideas for change and puts your employee on the defensive, which makes learning nearly impossible. Instead, use straightforward, neutral language, such as, “I’ve noticed that you haven’t offered any suggestions at our service improvement meetings. Why is that?” Even with employees who need to improve their performance significantly, take care not to express any anger, judgment, or contempt.

Don’t rely on your written assessment to dictate the agenda of your meeting. Doing so can lock you and the employee into an item-by-item negotiation rather than a productive discussion. Instead, use your evaluation as a reference so you don’t forget important points in the conversation.

Base the appraisal discussion on how previously agreed-upon performance goals relate to specific business outcomes. For example, you might say, “We agreed that you would bring in 10 new clients this quarter, and you exceeded that goal,” or “We agreed that you’d reduce the number of production line errors by 10%, but you’ve only reduced them by 5.” Home in on issues that the employee can improve in the future. Be selective; you don’t need to recite every shortcoming or failing you’ve noticed.

Recognizing strong performance

For those employees whose results and behaviors fully meet or exceed expectations, concentrate on their strengths by identifying and celebrating their successes. Thank your employee for her contributions. She may not know how much you appreciate her good work. This will grab her attention and also reduce the defensiveness that she might have felt going into the performance review.

Move on to discuss specific examples you’ve listed in your evaluation where her successes and strengths were most apparent: “You’ve increased sales by 8%, you did a terrific job organizing the quarterly sales meetings, and your contributions at staff meetings are exemplary.” By starting with her most important contributions and most noteworthy strengths, focusing on achievements, and pinpointing the behaviors that led to success, you’ll encourage your employee to feel motivated and energized.

For these star performers, introduce improvements within the context of their strengths and contributions. Your conscientious employee will likely herself acknowledge missed targets or unmet goals and may initiate a discussion of opportunities for improvement. If so, she can take the lead in discussing improvement—which may make her more invested in the conversation and more motivated to improve.

If your direct report doesn’t volunteer any areas for improvement, prompt her to do so. You might ask questions such as: How do you see the situation? What do you think worked, and what could have gone better? How might you do things differently in the future? By asking questions, rather than making statements, you can establish a supportive atmosphere without devaluing any of her accomplishments. By answering your questions, the employee can raise issues and explore alternative approaches. This will afford her more control of the conversation and a sense of ownership of the improvements she suggests.

Addressing performance gaps

For those direct reports who require corrective feedback, you’ll need to clearly define where performance gaps exist. Which of their goals went unmet? You’ll still want to lead with the positive, however. To start, note any areas in which your employee did meet or exceed her goals. Acknowledging achievements first will establish trust and goodwill by showing that your evaluation is fair and based on previously agreed-upon criteria. This will also make your employee more receptive to your recommendations for improvement. That being said, don’t sugarcoat bad news by sandwiching it between positive points, as that can confuse your message (see the sidebar “Beware the sandwich approach”).

Once you’ve highlighted your direct report’s accomplishments, describe the gap between the goal in question and the actual performance: “We were aiming for ten new accounts by the end of the quarter, and we closed seven.” Don’t compound the trouble of performance gaps by assigning blame; instead, work with your employee to uncover the root causes. Ask for the individual’s input: “Why do you think your sales this year have fallen short of your goal?” Give your employee the first opportunity to identify the cause, and listen carefully.

The reasons for poor performance may not always be obvious and may have nothing to do with skill or motivation. It may be the result of flawed work processes, personal problems, conflicts with coworkers, or even exhaustion or burnout. Talking together to uncover the reasons for performance gaps will, in most cases, create an atmosphere of objectivity in which both you and your direct report can contribute in positive ways.

If your employee doesn’t independently identify her stumbling blocks, ask more questions: Does she need more product information or training? Are there too many distractions in the office? Does she have sufficient resources at hand to get the job done? Is the scope of her responsibilities clear? Your questions and statements will come across as attempts to problem solve, rather than to attack, so your employee will be less likely to react defensively. And you might discover that the gap between desired performance and actual results was really caused by a different sort of problem, such as unrealistic deadlines or unclear expectations.

Once you’ve teased out the causes behind any performance shortfalls, you’re armed with the material you need to create an action plan with your employee, which should happen at a separate meeting. Before your review session ends, take a moment to summarize what you’ve discussed and suggest a way to move forward: “Let’s think about the things we’ve discussed today and meet next week to develop our course of action.” We’ll explain how to do that in the next chapter.