Treat appraisals as auditions for panto

Monday 23 October

I just came across this article from the Guardian on surviving life in the workplace. The tips vary in quality, but my favourite by far is no.5. I can remember coming out of more than one appraisal spouting my bosses views.

5 Treat appraisals as auditions for panto
An appraisal is where you have an exchange of opinion with your boss. It’s called an exchange of opinion because you go in with your opinion and leave with their opinion. When you have had a bad year, the best approach is a balance between cringing apology and groveling sycophancy, something like: “My respect for you is so intense that it sometimes distracted me, thereby causing the continual string of major cock-ups that have been the main feature of my performance this year.” Interestingly, giving appraisals is actually as hard as getting them. The secret is to mix criticism with recognition. For example: “You’ve made a number of mistakes Martin, but we recognise you made them because you are a total idiot.”

Guy Browning offers 20 top tips for surviving life in the workplace
The Guardian Wednesday October 18, 2006

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1924681,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11

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