Your performance evaluation sessions are important opportunities to demonstrate to your supervisor that you are committed to your own development and the organization's success. This is a situation where you want to be the best listener you can be.

Most performance evaluations include positive feedback and suggestions for development or improvement. For some, it may sound like criticism; they may get defensive, then the interaction won't be as productive as they had wished.

Here are a few tips to having a productive performance evaluation meeting:

		Before the meeting with your supervisor, develop a few open-ended questions you can ask to show that you are interested in feedback, both positive and developmental: "Can you tell me more about that?" "What could I do better?"
		During the meeting, concentrate on understanding your supervisor's viewpoint instead of thinking about what your response will be. Your attentiveness and curiosity will serve you well. Simple signals, simple questions and paraphrasing are great skills to use: Maintaining good eye contact, nodding "So you would like to see me develop..."
		At the conclusion, take the opportunity to summarize the main points the two of you covered. Your paraphrasing skills will come in handy here too... "So we talked about three main issues..." "You are pleased with my performance in these areas... and suggest that I focus on developing in this area..."

		Contact Us:
		Janie Trainor: jtrainor@novaworks.org
		Marsha Austin: maustin@novaworks.org
		www.pepskills.org