Most people agree that the annual review process is a huge pain. Feedback is essential for high-performance teams but it is also hard, and getting the words that will go on an employee's record right can be very challenging. I used to do more than a dozen of them each year. I had a good process. However, generative AI is changing the world and my old methods are now inefficient. Here’s how I would approach them today.
Elevating my team members was a top priority. A text message from a former employee the other night reassured me of this reality. It said “thank you for believing in me.” I always knew that the best way to make my life better and support the organization's mission was to make sure that my team had the right support and feedback.
It’s not easy to open a blank doc and start writing about an individual’s performance. Speaking, and perhaps even rambling a bit, is an alternative way to get the context and content out of your head. But speaking into a void is not helpful. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the support of generative AI to help you write this important document? Storied’s newest feature, voice-to-writing, enables some of the best and fastest writing you’ve ever shared.
Instead of starting with “John, you had a great year…”, you might start by answering some carefully crafted questions about the team member. Questions focus the mind. So, I have a few notes, including metrics, in front of me and across my whiteboard about the individuals on my team. I start to speak and that builds momentum, which helps me discover the things I really want to say. When said right, it’s the things that the individual needs to hear.
Philip Clarinval, GM of Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Switzerland, says that doing reviews annually makes it a chore for the managers and only a snapshot for the employees. Voice-to-writing makes it less of a chore, and opens some new possibilities.
We all know that great leaders ask great questions. We can help your team create custom question templates so it is easy for them to get started. With better questions, creating reviews becomes so easy that feedback can happen more than once a year. Sharable question templates result in more of the right things being discussed by both leaders and team members. This is a big step toward the continuous improvement culture you have been striving to be part of.
If this sounds interesting to you or you know someone who organizes employee reviews, we would love to have a conversation about how we can enable easier and better quality feedback.
