Include the co-worker in preparing for the interview
The annual evaluation is a co-construction: the co-worker draws
up and formulates his own appraisal of the year gone by, suggests
avenues for progress, objectives, expresses his wishes for
the year to come, etc. This is why his preparation is as
essential as that of his manager.
It is sometimes important to remind him, or even to verify a few
days beforehand that he has worked on the key points of the interview.
Gather useful information
Certain information is indispensable for preparing the interview:
- Materials / conclusions from the past year, to refresh your view of the principal objectives and comments
- Notes taken over the course of the year during follow-up
meetings (otherwise, we tend to bring up remarks and examples only from
the past few weeks!)
- If applicable, reasons for not completing requested training,
for movement or for lack of movement within the company. Information to
collect from Human Resources.
Base your reflections on a check-list of key and/or unusual questions
From one year to another, to break out of the usual strict
framework, it may be helpful to ask yourself new questions or to push
further on those proposed by the enterprise's materials for
the interview.
For example: "What is the quality that I appreciate most in my
co-worker, that I haven't spoken to him about before? How can we
highlight the work that he's done? How can we make our
collaboration even more productive? ..."
A checklist of questions is provided in the Coach's Corner below.