Awesome or OMG! Do This Quick Performance Appraisal & Find Out

When I was in corporate I used to strongly dislike performance appraisals, which is a little amusing considering I used to design them 🙂

Even though they were not supposed to be annual event, they were always done at the end of the year. You found everything you were doing wrong, also commonly referred to as your “development needs” so you could change it for the next year. If you had a great boss, this was not new news or a surprise. If not, well, you strongly disliked the whole process.

It was like 50 weeks of effort, sweat and maybe even tears were boiled down to a number or word. Even though it was a rating, it always felt like a grade, and I always wanted the “A”. It almost didn’t matter the monetary reward, as long as I got the ‘A”.

The one good thing about performance appraisals is you knew what you had accomplished and what you didn’t and what you needed to focus on the next year, basically you knew where you stood. You may have wished you were standing somewhere else, but you knew where you stood.

As we move into the ending months of 2013, I suggest taking some time out to evaluate your business so that you can measure your progress, identify the gaps, and make adjustments as necessary to stay on purpose and on plan for the remainder of 2014.

There is no fancy form to complete, just some questions to guide your self-reflection. TIP: create 5 columns (I love matrixes!) and work through these questions for each of your primary goals. Include non-revenue goals as well as revenue ones.

What were your primary goals for 2013?
What did you accomplish?
What’s helped you stay on course? What did you/your business do well?
What didn’t work or got in the way?
How can you leverage your strengths, what worked well and learning’s from what didn’t work (or got in the way) to frame the remainder of the year?

To make sure you stay on track (or get back on), now is a good time to also evaluate your skills and resources.

What do I already have to complete my goal?
What do I still need to complete my goal?
How will I get what I need to complete my goal?

If you don’t feel you have the time or inclination to do this now, bookmark this page and come back to it in a couple of weeks. At the risk of sounding like the stern human resources director, this really is a “must do” before the year ends. The earlier you do it, the greater your chances of achieving or exceeding your goals.

Remember, “you cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight” (Jim Rohn), but only if you know that the direction needs changing.

Let me know how your business check-in is going and what I can do to support you in achieving your goal.