Do an effective review for your colleagues

It’s important that you set clear performance standards that outline what an employee in a specific role is expected to accomplish and how the work should be done.

You should also set goals that are specific to your colleague, unlike performance standards, which can apply to multiple workers.

Track the performance of your colleague throughout the year. Create a performance file for your colleague. Keep records of notable accomplishments or incidents, whether they’re positive or negative.

When it comes time to actually give an evaluation, it’s best to prepare for the meeting ahead of time. Review your documentation for the colleague before the meeting and make notes of what you want to discuss.

When you do need to give criticism in an evaluation, be honest and straightforward about your feedback.

The purpose of an evaluation is to review the performance against a set of standard performance metrics. It’s not helpful to compare the performance of one employee to another and doing so can lead to unhealthy competition and resentment.

Your evaluation should focus on how well your colleague performs his job, rather than his personality traits.

A colleague's evaluation shouldn’t be a one-way street where the manager gives feedback and the colleague listens to that feedback. Instead, a productive colleague evaluation should be a conversation between the two of you.

To foster productive conversations with your colleague during the evaluation, it can help to enter the room with specific questions you’d like to discuss with him.

Ideally, a colleague evaluation should be an ongoing process throughout the year, not a one-time task. Giving feedback throughout the year and touching base with your colleague to see how he is working toward yearly goals can help improve his morale.