How to Conduct Fair Performance Reviews with an Evidence Based Approach — Picture the scene. You sit down to prepare your team member’s performance appraisal and have no idea where to start. How can you deliver fair performance reviews to your team when you don’t know what you are doing yourself? “When it comes time for an annual performance review, the employee…

Be fair to your team, adjust performance review weightings to accommodate any changes — One of the trickier aspects of doing a performance review for your team members is that nothing stays the same. It’s doubtful that the goals you agreed on in January are still valid at the end of the year. Also, some goals increase or decrease in importance throughout the year. …

Ensuring fair performance appraisals when it’s hard to do so — Holding performance reviews with your team is an essential part of being a leader. You have to set SMART goals for your team, and at the end of the year, you have to rate your team on their goals. I’ve already written about how to prepare for performance reviews, conduct…

Your team will love you for it! — It’s performance review time, and you’ve prepared, followed an evidence- based approach, adjusted all the weightings reflecting any goal changes, and dealt with any problematic issues that have come up. Now, it’s time to have the review meeting. How can you ensure the performance review is productive? Running performance reviews…

How to effectively plan for the holiday break — The holiday season is fast looming, and it’s time to get organized at home and work. At home, planning is all about buying presents, getting that pine tree up, and agreeing on who will host Christmas Day. You have to plan for the holidays at work, too, and it’s more…

Never Have a Boring Team Meeting Again — Many meetings are a waste of time. People turn up unprepared, there is no agenda, and half the attendees are looking at their phones. But effective meetings with a purpose are useful, especially when you use them for team building. Productive meetings can do wonders for team engagement, building trust…

How to get organized and increase your productivity — Everyone procrastinates. Maybe a little, or maybe a lot, but we all procrastinate. How to stop procrastinating is a common theme. I’ve had times of crippling procrastination and times when I’ve methodically hammered through my jobs. Once in my early twenties, I did a massive sort out of my room…

Learn the three steps to becoming to be a leader — Are leaders born or made? Can anyone become a leader? If they want to, anyone can learn leadership skills. So that’s a resounding ‘YES’ from me. Not everyone wants to manage people or deal with leadership challenges, and that’s OK. …

Engage your audience with these presentation tips — Let me tell you a story about a disastrous presentation I organized early in my Learning & Development career. I can’t remember the topic. It was boring, something like contract law, and I had arranged for a local lawyer to present the content. He assured me that the day would…