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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 1 -- Performance reviews in the scheme of things -- Reviews as just one part of a larger system -- Summing up -- Other linkages -- Managers checklist for chapter 2 -- Understanding performance good and bad -- What do we mean by performance? -- The stuff of performance good and poor -- Implications for your performance reviews -- Managers checklist for chapter 3 -- Documenting performance and rating and ranking systems -- So what's the point of documentation? -- Rating systems -- Ranking systems -- Managers checklist for chapter 4 -- 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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 5 -- 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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 6 -- 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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 7 -- Diagnosing, problem solving, and ongoing communication -- What is diagnosing performance issues? -- How do you do it? -- Problem solving to remove barriers -- Ongoing communication -- Managers checklist for chapter 8 -- Essential communication skills -- Communication facts and principles -- Generative skills -- Responding and eliciting skills -- Managers checklist for chapter 9 -- 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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 10 -- Reviews with employees of different stripes -- The underperforming employee -- The performing employee -- The excellent employee -- Managers checklist for chapter 11 -- 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 -- Managers checklist for chapter 12.0000000000000