Line of fire [appraisal guidelines]

This article considers appraisals and presents guidelines on how to make them constructive and useful. Appraisals should act to review an individual´s past performance; plan future work, work emphasis and overall role; set specific goals at an individual level; and agree and thus create individual ownership for such goal; making them more likely to be achieved. The scheme just have clear intentions and good documentation, and the meeting should allow sufficient time and be free of interruptions. The appraisal process is not all about criticism and highlighting errors or faults (though realistically there may be some of this). It is about using analysis and discussion to move forward. It is about building on success, sharing good experience and effective approaches and, above all, it is about making more of the future.