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How do I write a good peer review?

What are effective ways to write a non-positive peer review?

  • Answer:

    When writing a performance appraisal one should be constructive in one's criticism.  Your review should be factual, clearly written, use standard plain English, and not be emotional. Not Constructive:  "Bill's reports are a disaster. They are full of mistakes and I always have to re-do his work to fix them so they are not embarrassing to the team." Constructive: "Bill is good at aggregating data and information from a variety of sources for the reports he generates.  However, the reports are often missing critical citations or footnotes that document these sources.  In the past quarter, three of his 10 reports required re-work by team members to ensure they were accurate.  To perform at the expected level for his position and experience, Bill needs to take more care in assembling the report, documenting his sources, and spell-checking the final document before publishing it to the Executive Team."

Jan Day at Quora Visit the source

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Focus on the behaviours and not the person's characteristics. Give examples so that the peer can see why you are providing the feedback. I also like to explain the consequences of the behaviours (it applies for both positive and constructive). At the end of your review, encourage the peer to ask for more questions if needed. The most frustrating thing is to give someone constructive feedback and to do as if nothing happened. By having a conversation about it, the peer can discuss how they perceive their behaviours, and then negotiate for improvement. Another tip is not to "Write" but to have a face-to-face conversation. You never know how someone may react to constructive feedback. Therefore, don't "hide" behind your keyboard.

Wendy Pat Fong

Jan Day (somehow I think we know each other) has a great take; rather than positive or negative write it as "descriptive." As a short cut, I coach folks to think in terms of "here's what worked" and "here's what I wished were different." That subtle change helps giving feedback a whole different impact and effect - from dealing with only the negatives to identifying things to continue to do, and things that might be done differently. Here's a further post on the matter: http://life.backwest.com/?p=3978

J. Mike Smith

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