Interim Reviews

It is Tuesday evening as I write this, and I am a little worn out. Today was the first day of our yearly performance planning interim review process. My team now numbers 29 direct reports, so what used to be a easy task is now very time consuming. I was able to complete 15 today and will finish most of the rest on Thursday.

For a manager that takes this aspect of the job seriously, the level of effort is fairly large. For each review, I must make sure that I understand what each person's yearly objectives were, and their progress towards meeting those objectives. With that I can formulate a message that includes my assessment of their strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. And that is merely to prepare for the review session.

During the session, I ask each person to describe to me in their own words what were their most significant accomplishments so far, and identify any risks they see in completing all objectives this year. That usually consumes 15 minutes. The rest of the 30 minutes allotted is used to provide feedback on their accomplishments, along with the prepared strengths, weaknesses and development opportunities. We finish with a discussion discussing whatever is on their mind. With all the change in the past few months, there is a lot on their mind.

I have always looked at this time as a great way to connect with my team, and understand what makes them tick. I always find this exercise as time well spent. Because of the preparation and the actual time spent with each person, I fall behind on my normal work and must catch up later. Did I mention that I am worn out?

One of my team sent me an email a few minutes ago and thanked me for spending the time today and providing my feedback. That always makes it all seem more worthwhile. She ended the note with a suggestion that we do this every quarter instead of every 6 months. I am not sure I can take that.