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Useful Appraisals Rely on Documentation
What's that smell in the air? Leaves falling? Pumpkin-spiced everything? The NYC Marathon runners prepping for the big day? No. It's the approach of Appraisal Season. Review Time. Annual Feedback. And if you haven't had good documentation all year, you're going to be feeling the pinch of bias and forgetfulness when it comes to reviewing your employees' performance over the last year. To help with that, here are some valuable tips for reviewing the documentation you've c
Kate Siegel
Oct 284 min read


Increasing Your Influence by Sharing Benefits
Before diving into this post, ask yourself: Where do you need to be more influential? Is it at work, with your manager, stakeholders, or direct reports? Is it at home, with your spouse, partner, or kids? Or is it in your community, with your friends, neighbors, or fellow members of an organization? No matter where you need to be influential, it's important to know who you're trying to influence and what matters to them . You, like my father, may get all jazzed up about
Kate Siegel
Oct 214 min read


Why people don't do what they're supposed to do
We've all worked with someone who, for reasons we can't understand, just doesn't do the things they're supposed to do. The filing piles...
Kate Siegel
Oct 145 min read


Work Motivators (and Their Potential Downsides)
In his oldie-but-goodie 1995 book ‘Supermotivation’ , author Dean Spitzer describes 8 desires which drive our inner motivation. While...
Kate Siegel
Jul 16, 20245 min read


Useful feedback follows a template
Tip number eight of eight - use a predictable template when giving feedback. I've learned and taught a lot about feedback over the...
Kate Siegel
Jan 22, 20246 min read


Useful feedback is prepared in advance
Tip number seven (of the eight ideas I originally shared ) is to prep your feedback before you give it. Now you might be saying, "Kate,...
Kate Siegel
Jan 16, 20245 min read


Useful Feedback Happens Before Things Escalate
Tip number six (out of the eight I originally outlined ) is that to make feedback useful, it has to be delivered while there's still time...
Kate Siegel
Jan 5, 20242 min read


Useful feedback comes regularly
Tip number five (out of the eight originally shared ) is to make sure that giving feedback is not a rare occurrence. When we think about...
Kate Siegel
Dec 19, 20233 min read


Useful feedback is not a sandwich
Imagine you're about to give some unpleasant critical feedback to someone who is definitely going to have a hard time taking it. What's...
Kate Siegel
Dec 11, 20233 min read


Useful Feedback is Specific
Tip number three (out of the eight I originally outlined ) is that to make feedback useful, it needs to be specific and not a vague or...
Kate Siegel
Dec 6, 20232 min read


Useful Feedback Gets Delivered
Let's say that you want to give your direct report some feedback on the meeting they just ran. You have the idea of the behavior you...
Kate Siegel
Nov 27, 20232 min read


Useful Feedback Focuses on Behavior
When I was acting, I got a lot of feedback that really wasn't helpful. "You're too tall for this role." "We need someone older." "We...
Kate Siegel
Nov 20, 20232 min read


Eight Ways to Make Feedback Useful
When I first started managing people, I knew I was going to have to give feedback. I was nervous because the only real first-hand...
Kate Siegel
Nov 15, 20234 min read


Treat Your Manager Like a Client
In a world of increasingly casual work interactions, it's always a good idea to remember that your boss has control over a lot of things in your professional life, and you don't want your opportunities for advancement or recognition to be undermined by a less-than-ideal relationship with your manager. Here are some tips to consider as you think about your relationship: Pay attention to your interactions With clients, we’re (ideally) on our best behavior. With our bosses, it’s
Kate Siegel
Apr 29, 20212 min read
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