Performance Review

In all of our travels through and with organizations, there is probably no area that creates greater fear than the performance review. All employees want to know how they are doing, at least through the eyes of their boss. They want a review.

Most bosses, on the other hand, avoid performance reviews like the plague. Few bosses feel competent to do them well, so reviews are not done in a timely manner or with any design or expertise. This is especially the case for employees whose performance is less than optimal.

When done poorly, which is most of the time, employees find themselves surprised by a poor review or not allowed to speak their truth to power. Bosses, meanwhile, wonder how to evaluate someone who is technically proficient but interpersonally toxic to the team.

DramaWorks creates events and workshops in which people can rehearse and role-play performance reviews until it feels true. Often this occurs with us being proxies for audience suggestions. We create an atmosphere where it is even fun to make mistakes, because no one is going to be hurt. When employees can role-play it, they can do it back at the office.

In this video, we show what happens when a boss has done a 360 degree review and failed to report back to his team.