5 Powerful Performance Review Questions
by Stacey Barr, the Performance Measure Specialist
Personal performance review conversations are not everyone's favourite time of year. In fact, for some,
it can be the worst experience of being a manager. And we all know how staff usually feel about it!

But much of the feeling that surrounds personal performance reviews has to do with the kind of
conversation that you have in those meetings. It's the words, and intentions behind the words, that
evoke the feelings.

So if, in place of embarrassment and frustration and feelings of failure and inadequacy, you instead
want to evoke more curiosity and motivation and confidence, then try a few variations of these 5
powerful questions when you next review a staff member's performance:

Question 1: Are we meaningfully measuring the goals in your performance plan?
Do we have the right evidence or feedback to truly guage where you are performing well and where you
have potential and opportunity to perform even better?

Question 2: What are your personal performance measures telling you about your performance?
How do you interpret the feedback these measures offer? What conclusions can you draw about your
performance strengths and further potential?

Question 3: In what ways, and how often, are you checking your progress toward your
performance goals?
Are you monitoring these measures weekly or monthly so you have regular feedback you can act on?
Do you have your own measures of performance, that keep you focused on the results most important
for you to achieve?

Question 4: What opportunities are within your circle of influence (as opposed to your circle of
control) that can help you move closer to your performance goals?
Forget about your constraints and think freely for a minute - what are some possible ways that you can
develop your own potential and perform even better in your role, that you haven't considered before?

Question 5: What can I do to help you reach your current performance goals?
Think of yourself as a coach or mentor to your staff, and ask them for a range of ideas about how you
can support them in striving for better personal performance.

about the author
Stacey Barr is the Performance Measure Specialist, helping people to measure their business strategy,
goals and objectives so they actually achieve them.

Sign up for Stacey's free ezine at www.staceybarr.com to receive your complimentary copy of her e-
book "202 Tips for Performance Measurement", and make your business goals more achievable.

reprinting this article
Please feel welcomed to reprint this article in your publication but make sure it stays complete and
unchanged (especially including the "about the author" information at the end), and please send a copy
of your reprint to info@staceybarr.com.