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If you work from home, chances are you already know that you’re really pulling “double duty”. You probably work on your business while doing the laundry, corralling the kids, or fixing dinner… and let’s not forget all the phone calls from family and friends expecting you to run errands or just “go out” for an afternoon of fun.

One of the hardest parts of running a home business is separating your work from your family and social life. Here are six proven ways to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping your business on track.

1. First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may be tempting to answer personal calls during the day or take business calls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you’re expendable - not dependable - and people will take for granted that you’ll “always be there” for any little things that come up. Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hours and resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceries during working hours.

2. Your friends may consider “working from home” an invitation to chat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for an afternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just that - for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you’ll find that your friends will gradually accept your schedule without feeling slighted.

3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule, doesn’t mean that you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One of the benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours to fit your most productive times. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you’ll find that you’ll get much more done when you’re attuned to your body’s own natural rhythms. Some people work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kids are home from school, and work again in the evening. Schedule your work time when you feel the most productive and you’ll find that things get done easier, faster and better than when you were dragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyone else has.

4. If getting after-hours business calls or work day personal calls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phone line, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take the incoming calls. This also gives your business a more professional appearance to clients than if you and your family make and receive calls from the same phone line.

5. If at all possible, try to separate your “home office” from the rest of your home. If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful. This also serves as a visual cue to family that you’re working and shouldn’t be bothered.

6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people find it helpful to dress in casual business attire during their working hours. This reinforces that just because you’re working from home doesn’t make you any less of a professional. Answer the phone with your name, or business name, and keep your children off the phone during business hours. Also, spend money investing in the tools you need to do your job right. A cell phone, fax machine or even a budget computer can help turn your home office into a true workspace.

If you follow all of these tips and stick with them, chances are you’ll find a routine that not only makes you feel productive and active in your business, but also projects the message that you mean business - literally!

Article written by Edward Charkow. Ed recommends that you take a look at http://www.biz-help.info for more business advice.

1. Let people know what you expect. If people know what’s expected of them, that’s what they’ll do–if they don’t know what’s expected, they’ll do something else. Communicate clear and unambiguous performance expectations and hold people accountable for their achievement.

2. Be a systems thinker. Remind people of their interconnectedness and that something happening in one area affects all other areas. If people know how what they do impacts on others, they’ll try harder to do it well.

3. Keep people informed. Don’t assume that others can read your mind. If there’s something going on, let them in on it. Without information people invent it and the human tendency is to think the worst. A well-timed word can prevent a lot of worry.

4. Let people “own” their jobs. Remember your first car and how you felt about owning it and how hard you worked to keep it clean and in good running order? Well the same hold true for people’s jobs. If people feel ownership of their job, the harder they will try to take care of it and do it well.

5. Establish a feedback culture. Things go wrong probably no more than five or ten percent of the time yet we spend ninety percent of our time belabouring those few things. We probably only spend ten percent of our energy talking about the ninety percent of things that are done well. Spending more time providing feedback about the positive outcomes makes it easier to talk to people about those that are negative. Passing on a good word about someone or providing deserved praise or recognition doesn’t diminish you in any way. It doesn’t take any light from your candle to light someone else’s. Feedback truly is the breakfast of champions and people who feel like champions act like champions.

6. Share your power. Invariably when I ask people in my training sessions who has power in the room they point to me. To an extent that’s true. I do have power but only if the group gives it to me. When we’re given power, there is an expectation that we will use it responsibly. People who use power responsibly shun manipulation and intimidation and focus on what they can give to others rather than on what they can get. They share their power, giving others the opportunity to influence events and situations. And, like the biblical direction about “casting your bread upon the waters,” the return is a thousand fold. Those with whom the power is shared give it back in greater measure and the mutual ability to influence is enhanced. Simply put, power shared is power gained.

7. The coach, not the players get fired. When a sports team performs poorly, the coach is fired, not the players. And the players, not the general manager, fire the coach. How does all of this work? Quite simply, the coach fails to provide the conditions that motivate players to maximize their performance and, as a result, they play just hard enough to keep their jobs. “Spoiled athletes,” you might say. “The money they make should be enough to motivate them!” Which leads to eighth key:

8. Money only keeps them coming back. Take it away and they won’t come at all but more of it will do nothing to make them work or play harder.

9. Treat your people like volunteers. Have you ever noticed how hard volunteers’ work, how dedicated most of them are, how much time they give to their volunteer organizations? Why is that? Well mostly because others recognize and appreciate their skills. Often volunteers are given important jobs that carry large responsibility. Recognition and opportunity are what drive volunteers. Treat the people who work with you like volunteers and the results will amaze you.

10. And finally, remember that happens while you’re there doesn’t matter–it’s what happens when you’re not there that counts.

© Dr. Tom Olson 2004, all rights reserved Permission to reprint article granted as long as this signature remains intact.

About The Author

Dr. Tom Olson is the author of Don’t Die With Your helmet On. Visit www.Dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com for more information about Dr. Tom, the book and his work.

onfo@dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com

One of the easiest ways to drive prospective clients and customers to your business is to become the expert in your field. The term Expert carries credibility and prestige that can open many doors for you, and, oddly enough, the term is relatively easy to acquire. This simple three step process can help you quickly and easily set yourself up as the expert in your field.

Step 1: Determine Your Niche

Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, narrow down your focus to the things that you are really, really good at. A friend of mine set himself up as an expert at leadership training for water treatment facilities. When he told me what he was doing, I asked, “Is there any money in that?” He smiled and said, “Every city’s got one, and I’m the only leadership expert in this field in the country.” He was frequently quoted in trade journals and asked to speak at their conventions. Find your niche, and you’ll eliminate your competition.

Step 2: Write about Your Area of Expertise

After you determine your niche, begin to write articles about your area of expertise. Every single day, tens of thousands of editors, web masters, and newsletter publishers are looking doggedly for unique and information-packed articles. If you can write articles that teach readers about your industry, you will find numerous places that will quickly publish your article.

I spent ten years as a trainer before someone, out of desperation, asked me to write an article for her trade journal. A few months later, another editor saw the article and asked if she could reprint it. Before long, I began to get inquiries from companies in that industry, and a snowball effect began to occur. The more business I did in the industry, the more of an expert I became. I followed with other articles, and within a short period of time, I became a recognized expert in an industry that I had never received any formal education in.

Write a few articles, and you can become a recognized expert in any field.

Step 3: Speak as Often as You Can

When your articles begin to get published, you’ll start to receive requests to speak more often.

95% of the population has some type of nervousness about public speaking. So when you stand up and say what you want to say, the way you want to say it, you are doing what 95% of the population wish they could do. When you speak about your industry, you set yourself up as the expert on that topic. You gain instant credibility.

If you get nervous when you speak in front of a group, attend a public speaking class. It will be the best investment of your life, because the more confident you present your ideas, the more competent you will appear in front of a group.

Follow these three simple steps and you will become the recognized expert in your specific niche.

Doug Staneart, doug@leadersinstitute.com, is CEO of The Leader’s Institute® (www.leadersinstitute.com). He is an expert at helping people overcoming the fear of public speaking, building confident and autonomous leaders, and improving employee morale. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830 x100.

Charles Petrie, from Stanford, released a short article entitled “The Problem of Coordination,” which highlights 4 categories in which businesses find it difficult to connect:

InteroperabilityAgent
Communication
Semantic Unification
Coordination

Though this article refers to a specific type of business, its principles are just as applicable to any business, especially when collaborating on a contract. Contract collaboration and management is difficult in any business, and the negotiations can go on for weeks, months, or even years. In seeking to manage contract deliberations, organization of personnel, documents, and software can make or break a clean operation.Using Petrie’s model, this article explores how the right contract management software is the solution to the problem of coordination.

Interoperability

Interoperability is defined by Petrie in the question “Can you read my data?” Search “contract management software” in Google, and in .44 seconds you will be introduced to millions of products indexed for your specific search-18,400,000 to be exact. The only problem is that they are not all compatible.The most commonly used business software is MS office software, which coordinates email with other applications targeted toward common business needs: spreadsheets, word processing, presentations, etc. The problem cited by Petrie and applied to contract management is that businesses which work together need to have the right contract management software, which will aid collaboration within these commonly used business applications. The solution is surprisingly simple.

Agent Communication

Again, some questions: “What is the protocol? How will you find me?” In contract management, generally a draft is drawn after much negotiation and deliberation. The man or woman who is “lucky” enough to draft the contract must draw from up to thousands of documents of drafts and notes. This draft will quickly multiply into an almost unmanageable number of drafts and documents.The old way to handle this document influx was either to file them in a drawer, paperclip them together, or pile them on your desk. This is virtually impossible to handle because it takes up so much space and is so difficult to organize. What most people don’t understand is that if you are saving these drafts electronically, you still have the same problems. It is almost impossible to manage all of the drafts, and you may overload your desktop.The other way protocol becomes a problem is that the editorial cycle is really not a cycle at all but a cyclone of drafts whirling back and forth in no particular order. The likelihood of always finding the most recent draft right away is about the same as reaching out into the cyclone for a specific thing and finding it in the first grab. In other words, you may send several drafts to several people before any of them send their collaborative efforts back. When they open and save your drafts to a drive, they are not only needlessly taking up too much space on the drive, but they have also just downloaded a pile of drafts that they now need to sift through in order to make their changes. Now, imagine what will happen to you when they send all of their drafts back-the cyclone image comes to mind again.How can the right contract management software solve this problem? The answer, again, is surprisingly simple. The right contract management software will have Digital Thread technology, which connects the who, what, when, where, and how of each draft, even creating a “family tree” of the drafts or a flow chart to help you to see exactly where you are in the protocol. No matter what order the drafts whirl by in, they will always be tracked, saving you time and storage space and protecting the integrity of the contract protocol.

Semantic Unification

“What do you mean by ______?” Semantics is a nightmare in contract management. The precision in wording is an important service to any business, and creating the right wording produces a solid contract. It also produces the most drafts. One word can be deliberated over for hours, days, or weeks. Drafts will go back and forth, and a quick and easy way to review changes as small as word choice in a document that could range from 10 to 1,000 pages long.Document Signature is a feature that is almost a necessity to keep up with semantic changes. It produces a window attached to any document you open that lets you know that changes were made and who made it. It’s that easy.

Coordination

“What do I do now?” This question probably cycles through every professional’s mind, no matter how briefly, at least a few times a day. In contract management, the question might be altered to “How do I go about implementing all of these changes?”This simple answer is probably the most surprising. You need the contract management software that will record changes and merge them for you. You are involved in so many drafts and changes that you can barely keep track of them, but with the right contract management software, all of the changes are tagged and tracked, almost like a DNA strand. The changes from various drafts can then be merged within seconds, giving you the ability to review the merge when it happens and use it to produce your final draft.In collaborating any project, whether a contract, a budget report, a presentation, or even a memo, these four problems of coordination always loom over professionals’ heads. Contract management software answers back to the rescue of every collaboration committee. Narrow the search using the answers provided in this article and you will find the right contract management software for your company and finally find the solution to the problem of coordination.

Joe Miller is specialist in online advertising. For more information on contract management software, please visit NextPage.com.

Presenteeism is alive and ‘not well’ in many businesses today. It will visit your business or may even be present as you read this article.

Presenteeism may be described as ‘attending the workplace with minor or serious illnesses’ when in fact your employee or you should be away recovering’!

It’s a fact of life that when we don’t feel good we don’t operate at our best!

Many of us have observed workers and co-workers who have come in for the day and seemed present at the job only to observe a decrease in productivity or an overrun of deadlines. Some of us would have experienced this ourselves.

Employees or managers attending your workplace with minor sicknesses such as asthma, irritable bowel, migraines, arthritis, stress, fatigue may cause your business serious risk such as legal claims, productivity loss, declining employee morale and a occupational health and safety problem.

With more seious illnesses such as surgery recovery the effect on your business may lead to serious consequences.

In our business culture of lean and mean, fewer people more work, many employees come to work ill just to protect their jobs. After all there are bills to pay, medical expenses, school fees and the list goes on.

With many businesses reliant on team structures the presure by an ill employee to ‘not let the team down’ is a very real pressure. You can train your team to recognise these factors and save your business considerable grief.

Presenteeism is a concern in our workplaces today as pressure continues on individuals, families and enterprises to remain competitive. Fear is a terrible negative motivator! In the end your business will suffer consequences.

By way of example; at a company I worked for in a senior management capacity we disturbed an executive who had his door closed for quite some time. A staff member of mine had a master key and required access to the executive’s office to get some material and on entering disturbed the executive who was sleeping under the desk on the floor. He was recovering from eye surgery and needed 5 days off on Doctors orders!

From our experience many workplaces do not have the human resource infrastructure or capacity to ensure that they comply with the myriad of regulations and complex legislation that is required to protect your business interests in today’s workplace. However, you are not alone and there are practical solutions for your business.

A few questions could be

1. Have I noticed present employees who are not performing because of illness?

2. Am I actively looking after their welfare?

3. Do I know what my obligations are?

4. Have I policies and procedures to circumvent organisational illnesses such as stress?

5. Do I understand the risk involved in allowing the person to remain at work?

From our experience most employers are not aware of their obligations, consequences and risks and ignorance of these issues is ‘no defence’ in the eyes of the law. There are practical solutions to minimise your risks and give your biz momentum. For more information see www.biz-momentum.com

Philip Lye started his career in banking and finance as postage clerk for a major bank. He moved through various industry sectors and achieved executive management roles in business as Chief Executive Officer.

He has worked in small business, national and global companies and has significant international experience. Previous to founding Biz Momentum, Philip managed two companies out of impending ruin while being able to retain and develop the current employees.

Philip is a Certified Professional Human Resources Consultant and a qualified Accountant. Contact Philip at http://www.biz-mmentum.com

There, right in front of you is the golden door with a sign above it. The sign says “SUCCESS.” All you have to do is open the door and walk through into entrepreneurship’s holy grail. You grab the handle and pull. “Drat!” the door is locked. Who has the key?

We all have the key. It’s right there on our key ring. But there are many keys on the ring and we have to find the right one to open this lock.

If there was one key that opened every door it would be easy. The problem is that each business, even businesses in the same industry, have different key factors for success and we have to discover which key will turn in our lock. For some businesses the door is locked because it can’t get control of labor costs so the “efficiency key” will open the door. A fast-growing business needs more access to capital and the “vault key” will turn the lock. Another business needs to motivate the customer-contact people to become friendly and helpful and they need to find the “customer service key.” Those keys and many more are all there, right on the key ring. The key to the door of success is discovering which key is the “Key Factor For Your Success.”

You might go through all the keys at your disposal one-by-one…
The “Strategic Planning key? Jiggle -turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope!
The “New Customer Acquisition” key? Jiggle -turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope!
The “”Shipping Department Dispatch” key? Jiggle -turn-pull-cross fingers - Nope!
This can be a time consuming, long effort.

You might take some time to critically look at your business, go over your financial statements. Compare them to your business plan (No Business Plan? Maybe that’s the Key!) with your financial advisors, survey your customers and prospects, survey your staff. Ask them all probing questions to discover the vital key factors that can radically affect your ability to unlock that door. When you discover and improve your “Key Factors For Success”

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Questions??? Send an email to larry@larrygaller.com

The success of a company or business is often determined by the
business and performance skills of the employees and managers
within the company. The more qualified and knowledgeable the
team is the more efficiently the business will run. Many people
who are thinking about starting a career in business will want
to consider taking some type of business management or
performance management course. In today’s competitive field of
business it’s more important than ever to have that edge over
the competition. One of those edges is hiring employees that are
as skilled as possible in business management.

Business management concerns itself with all aspects of a
business environment that need precise management to ensure that
all these divisions run smoothly. The more effectively a company
or business runs that more success they will generate in all
areas of their affairs. It’s the management team of a company
that is in charge of making decisions that will affect all
employees. It’s this team that will create the milestones that
the company must cross to go from average to superior. There are
many different methods and aspects of business management that
will enhance the performance of the company. These methods
include communication skills, data management, information
management, time management, contact management, and project
management.

Performance management is all about the performance that
employees exhibit in their business actions. When the average
performance of employees never improves the company is in
serious jeopardy of never experiencing any growth and finding a
solid footing with the competition. It’s because of this fear of
non-growth that many companies are insisting that their
management teams are also well trained in performance
management. When the management team of a company performs with
excellence the success of the entire company is capitalized.
Performance management benefits all areas of the company,
whether or not each employee is trained in this discipline or
not.

Summary: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy

Don’t you hate it when people talk about the “good old” days? Everything was perfect, and there were no problems. I’m not taking you on that path, but organizations can learn from the past. Life hasn’t always been hectic for people. Life was once very simple. Let’s explore how this experience can help our contemporary organizations. Leaders must return to agrarian values to maximize success. First, technology doesn’t automatically improve society. In over 50 years, America has gone from rural to city and from national to international market. Critchfield, author of Trees, Why Do You Wait, argues that these advancements have weakened our core values such as family tradition and work ethic. Secondly, the disintegration of the agrarian code has destroyed our moral stability. Davidson, author of Broken Heartlands, suggests that technology and the economic prestige of the agricultural system brought a host of social ills such as poverty, depopulation, and soil erosion.

Conversely, organizational leaders can use our agrarian heritage as a competitive advantage. Mayo postulated that this could happen in a modern society if society rebuilds social solidarity and promotes small working groups; he argued that a society vastly removed from nature would lose sight of its meaning. Critchfield advocates using an agrarian model as the ideal cultural blueprint. Why? Agrarian values promote teamwork while maintaining individual independence.

Finally, I would suggest that the farther humanity moves away from its agrarian calling (viz., information-gathering, technology-focused), the harder it will be to lead our “Emergent Workforce.” Undeveloped countries are embracing Western technologies while abandoning the land. Leader, you don’t need to till the land to gain credibility, but it helps when you don’t treat your followers like dirt, either. Celebrate the simple things in life like the agrarians. Start today!

References:
Critchfield, R. (1991). Trees, Why Do You Wait. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Davidson, O. (1990). Broken Heartland: The Rise of America’s Rural Ghetto. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Wren, D. (2005). The Evolution of Management Thought. Hooboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

© 2006 by Daryl D. Green

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of two acclaimed books, Awakening the Talents Within and My Cup Runneth Over. He is a columnist, lecturer, professor, and management consultant. Mr. Green has a BS in engineering and a MA in organizational management. Currently, he is a doctoral degree in strategic leadership. For more information, visit his website at http://www.darylgreen.org

Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? I’m sure many of us have at one time. The purpose of the interview is to obtain good information about an applicant to make a wise selection decision. It may sound simple but then why are there so many poor hires? The reason is that many hiring managers make 10 key interviewing errors that prevent them from hiring the best people.

1. Beginning an interview saying, “I haven’t had time to really review your resume…so tell me about yourself.”

   Before every interview, study the person’s resume to zero in on qualifications, to decide on what questions to ask and to make efficient us of the allotted time.

2. Asking for information you already have.

   You ask, “Let’s see, how long have you been in your current position?” This is a wasted question because you should know the answer from the application. The interview should be used to obtain new information and hone in on the applicant’s capabilities.

3. Being afraid to ask tough questions.

   If you uncover anything during the reference checking or employment history review that raises red flags, ask about it during the interview. It is important that you clear up any concerns before you reject or hire the applicant.

4. Overselling your company.

   Many interviewers brag about how things are booming in order to lure an applicant on board. Do not paint an unrealistic picture of your company. Rather lay out the strengths and weaknesses putting them in perspective.

5. Allowing non-emergency interruptions.

   Your office door should be closed. Put calls and messages on hold. Remember, the key purpose of an interview is to determine if this person is a good fit for the position. Don’t waste this precious time on other matters.

6. Asking these popular but meaningless questions.

   For example, What book would you want to have if you were stranded on a desert island? What animal would you be?” Rather, ask specific questions about an applicant’s skills and experience.

7. Not spelling out the position requirements.

   It is imperative that people know what is required of them before beginning a job. The interview is the time to outline the job’s requirements, as well as your criteria for evaluating success in the role. Then the applicant can self-select out if not qualified.

8. Talking more then listening.

   Wait for answers. Silence suggests that you expect more information. Listen with the third ear, the one that asks the questions: “What did the person really say? Why does he or she answer that way, and what does that tell me?”

9. Creating unnecessary tension.

   If you deliberately try to catch the person off balance, you’re not being fair to the applicant or yourself. You may get the pleasure of watching a person squirm, but are you getting a true picture of his skills and experience to make a wise hiring decision?

10. Forgetting the Golden Rule.

    Treat every applicant the way you’d like to be treated with courtesy and respect. Appreciate the person’s accomplishments even if they are not a match for the job. Always thank the person for her time and interest. As one applicant said, “The way you are treated coming in the door tells how you will be treated once inside.”

Make the next interview count. Think back to previous interviews you have conducted. Did you make any of the above mistakes? If so, what can you do to improve your interviewing skills the next time around?

Marcia Zidle, the ‘people smarts’ coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to
http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report “61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers”. Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

We’ve written an article entitled “The Ten Stupid Things Managers Do To Screw Up Performance Appraisals”, but the truth is that managers don’t do dumb things just to fill up their time. A lotof the time we find that when managers are doing performance appraisals badly, they are getting a lot of “help”from their human resource (HR) or personnel department. Central HR departments can create a situation that virtually destroys any value from the performance appraisal process. Here’s the list of dumb things HR folks do.

Stupid Thing #1: Focusing on and stressing the paperwork and forms.

We can understand why human resource people want some sort of paper trail related to performance appraisal. But when the emphasis on the forms and paperwork overshadows the real purpose of doing appraisals, then huge amounts of resources are wasted. When HR departments focus on getting the forms done, that’s exactly what they get. Forms done. If that’s all this is about, hire a monkey to do it. Any fool (no insult to the monkey) can tick off boxes on a form and send it on.

Stupid Thing #2: Believing that a ratings based form of appraisal will serve as protection against lawsuits by employees.

Big mistake. If you are caught speeding, do you think the court is going to accept as evidence a policeman’s statement that “On a scale of 1-5 the driver was a 4?” I don’t think so. But HR departments believe that THEIR form is going to withstand legal scrutiny. It’s not. It’s too subjective and too vague. This desire for false security is one reason HR folks feel they need to pressure managers to get the forms done. At least until their first lawsuit.

Stupid Thing #3: Using an automated system.

This is a new development. You can purchase software that automates the performance appraisal process. What it does is it takes a lousy paper process, then makes it a lousy computerized process, so now we go much faster pretending we are doing something useful.

Performance appraisal is an interpersonal communication process. Even between two people, it’s often not done well. Automating the process is a waste of money and time, and HR departments that go that route are doing charitable work for the vendors of the software.

It’s bad enough we mechanize a human process using paper forms. Now we can take it one step further. Heck, now managers never have to speak to staff. This is progress?

Stupid Thing #4: Undertraining or mis-training managers in the process.

Take some HR folks. They design some new forms, and a new way of doing performance appraisals. They print out some basic instructions, print out some forms, and distribute them to managers. The assumption is managers will know the purpose goes much further than “getting the forms done”.

That’s not going to happen. If the HR folks yell and scream, they probably WILL get the forms back, but not much more. Managers need extensive training, not only regarding the nuts and bolts of the appraisal process, but about the why’s and interpersonal parts of it. Without that, one gets an empty paper chase (while people pretend it is a useful way to expend energy).

Stupid Thing #5: Not training employees

Why would you train employees in their role in the appraisal process. First, because the only way it works is when employee and manager work together, in partnership. Both manager and employee need to hold the same understanding about why they are doing appraisal, how it will be done, and what is expected.

Very few organizations offer anything but a superficial orientation to the appraisal process. That’s because they see it as something done TO employees. It isn’t, except of course when the HR department treats it as something done to employees. Then managers will probably do it that way.

Stupid Thing #6: Thinking pressuring managers to get the forms in is productive.

One reason managers procrastinate with respect to doing appraisals is that they don’t see the point, or see it as a waste of time. There are other reasons, too. Most can be dealt with by using flexible approaches that take into account the needs of managers. Unfortunately, a good many HR departments believe it’s just a question of ordering, yelling, coercing or begging managers to get them done.

That doesn’t address the reasons why managers aren’t doing them. If they felt they were useful, they would do them. The key to getting them done is to make them useful. Unless of course the HR folks want to spend their days ordering, yelling coercing and begging.

Stupid Thing #7: One size fits all fantasy

Imagine the difficulty for HR staff if every manager used a different form, or different method. How would you keep track? How would you file them? We can understand the desire to standardize the forms across a company.

But if you think about it, does it make sense? Can we evaluate a teacher in the same way as we evaluate the school custodian? Do we evaluate a baseball umpire the same way we evaluate a baseball player? Of course not. But still, HR departments expect managers to use a single tool for everyone, often a rating form. This kind of inflexibility addresses a filing problem. Is that why we do appraisals? To make it easier for the HR department? No, we do it to improve performance.

Stupid Thing #8: Playing the appraisal cop.

Unfortunately, HR and personnel departments get stuck with the responsibility of getting appraisals done by managers. Perhaps it isn’t their fault, but it is a strong indicator that the system being used is or has failed. How come?

In a properly functioning system, each manager is assessed on a number of things, one of which will be their fulfillment of the performance management and appraisal function. The responsibility lies with management. If a manager is not carrying out the responsibility, it is his or her boss that should be evaluating the manager. It’s a cascading process. No appraisal system is going to work until each manager’s boss makes it clear that getting it done is going to be a factor in the manager’s own appraisal.

HR departments shouldn’t be appraisal cops If anyone is to do that, it should be the manager’s boss. Anything less is going to be a waste of time and effort.

(c) 2005, Robert Bacal, Bacal & Associates. You are welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end) all links are made live, and this copyright notice and indication of authorship are included.

Robert Bacal is a noted performance management author, consultant and trainer, and is the author of a number of books published by McGraw-Hill including Performance Management - A Briefcase Book, Manager’s Guide to Performance Reviews and Perfect Phrases For Performance Reviews. For more free information and help with performance management, reviews, and appraisals, visit the Performance Management & Appraisal Help Center at http://performance-appraisals.org.

In addition to over 800 articles on performance related subjects, you will find tools to help with diagnosing performance, using progressive discipline, and setting objectives at http://performance-appraisals.org/learnto.

His company also runs a free site to educate consumers, with buying guides, scam alerts and consumer protection hints and tips at http://consumerprotectionzone.com.