"Create reviews that improve performance; Plan for an effective session; Learn the importance of insightful reviews."-- Cover.

"A briefcase book"-- Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

A. Other titles in the briefcase books series include: -- B. Preface -- Making performance reviews work -- Special features -- C. Acknowledgments -- D. About the author -- 1. A tale of two performance reviews -- One fails, one succeeds -- The key questions -- Should you care? -- What distinguishes effective reviews from ineffective reviews? -- Jessica, mike, and you -- Manager's checklist for chapter 1 -- 2. Performance reviews in the scheme of things -- Reviews as just one part of a larger system -- Summing up -- Other linkages -- Manager's checklist for chapter 2 -- 3. Understanding performance—good and bad -- What do we mean by "performance"? -- The stuff of performance—good and poor -- Implications for your performance reviews -- Manager's checklist for chapter 3 -- 4. Documenting performance and rating and ranking systems -- So what's the point of documentation? -- Rating systems -- Ranking systems -- Manager's checklist for chapter 4 -- 5. Documenting performance—narrative, critical incident, mbo, 360-degree feedback, and other methods -- Narrative -- Critical incident -- Standards-based or management by objectives -- 360-degree feedback -- Use of technological tools -- Manager's checklist for chapter 5 -- 6. Performance planning—the answer to almost any review problem -- What is performance planning? -- By the end of performance planning … -- Step-by-step planning process—getting it done -- Planning meeting steps -- Manager's checklist for chapter 6 -- 7. Review meetings, step by step -- Warm up and clarify expectations and roles -- Describe and review the main job tasks and responsibilities -- Elicit input from the employee -- Discuss and negotiate (evaluative component) -- Engage in performance improvement problem-solving -- Decide on what to record -- Finish and plan for follow-up -- Manager's checklist for chapter 7 -- 8. Diagnosing, problem solving, and ongoing communication -- What is diagnosing performance issues? -- How do you do it? -- Problem solving to remove barriers -- Ongoing communication -- Manager's checklist for chapter 8 -- 9. Essential communication skills -- Communication facts and principles -- Generative skills -- Responding and eliciting skills -- Manager's checklist for chapter 9 -- 10. The rewards and punishment dilemma -- Imagine a perfect world -- Back to our world -- The rewards and punishments dilemma -- The issue of punishment -- Addressing the dilemma -- Summing up -- Manager's checklist for chapter 10 -- 11. Reviews with employees of different stripes -- The underperforming employee -- The performing employee -- The excellent employee -- Manager's checklist for chapter 11 -- 12. Facing real-world problems -- Managing disagreements -- Principles of disagreement management -- Addressing biases and increasing evaluation accuracy -- The soft stuff dilemma -- Getting from bad to better systems -- A really poor review system -- Manager's checklist for chapter 12 -- A. Resources for performance reviews -- Books -- Tools -- Free internet resources.

Offering a quick read on the basics of performance reviews, this guide features short, informally written chapters, bulleted lists, self-examinations, seven types of sidebars, and chapter-ending checklists of important points.

Also issued in online version.

Description based on cover image and table of contents, viewed on Dec. 19, 2014.