CS302: Software Engineering

Evaluations are annual assessments of the person from both professional and organizational perspectives. Evaluations are written and usually are signed by the reviewed person and the reviewer. Quality and quantity of work assignment are the professional assessments and are the most important aspects of junior level work. Junior staff, having no business experience, are monitored most closely for their ability to do their work. Competence for the assigned jobs is determined, and the more competent, the faster the person is promoted. 

As people become more senior, quality and quantity of assigned work becomes assumed and organizing, motivating, communications, and interpersonal skills become more important. The non task specific skills are viewed from an organizational perspective. More emphasis is placed on the ability to persuade, manage, motivate, and communicate with others, thus describing a good manager.

Promotion for most senior people is to the managerial ranks. In some companies, the importance of very senior, technical experts, is recognized. In those companies, equal emphasis is placed on the professional and organizational assessments. Technical staff can aspire to the senior technical positions without having to sacrifice their technical expertise in the bargain. 

The usual performance evaluation contains sections for assignments, communications and interpersonal relations, absences, planning and organization, supervision, delegation, motivation, training, and special considerations. Each of these is described briefly.

The assignments section contains a brief description of four or five major assignments with expectations on quality and quantity of work for each as well as a brief paragraph assessing the extent to which the assignment was met. Quality and quantity of work are intangible and frequently subjective assessments, but there are always expectations of the amount of work a person should do, and of the extent to which reworking is needed. In addition, the individual's job description should give guidance on expectations for work quality and quantity. Finally, the extent to which the person needs to be monitored and assisted is an indicator of the extent to which they can work independently and competently at their job. The discussion of quality and quantity should be presented in terms of job description, manager expectations, and extent to which expectations are met. Specific examples are required to demonstrate very high and very low quality work.

Project managers evaluate communications and human relations. Assessments of both relating verbal and written communication skills are developed. Communication skills are related to specific project assignments and to other project activities, such as walk-throughs, that are not major assignments. Communication evaluation includes grammar, speed, persuasiveness, clarity, and brevity. The person's ability to develop and deliver a presentation, and actual experiences doing these are described. 

Another area of assessment is interpersonal relationships with project manager, senior staff members, peers, others in the department, and users. Additional comments might discuss specific incidents that vary from the general assessment and that might highlight a need for improvement, or identify a particular skill. For instance, a person with good negotiating skills might be identified by their arbitration of a disagreement between two other project members.

Work absences are mentioned in terms of total days missed, number of absences, and type of absence. If there are company policies about absences and they are exceeded, a comment about the extent to which absences affected work might be added. The ability of the person to meet deadlines, maintain an accurate status of the project, and need special communications due to absences are all described. Extraordinary situations causing a long absence, such as emergency surgery, are included. 

For planning and organization, accuracy, detail, independence of work, and cooperation with other affected groups are all assessed. In addition, the person's adherence to their own plans is discussed. Do they use it properly as a road map, or is it a rigid rule from which no straying is allowed, or is it ignored and treated as a task done for management?

Delegation is the extent to which the work is shifted from the manager to subordinates. Issues rated are how well work assignments match people's skills, allow monitoring to ensure completion, provide for personal and career improvement of subordinates. 

Managerial style is assessed in terms of group motivation. Does the project manager obtain commitment from staff with enthusiasm, discomfort, unhappiness, or anger? Does the manager ask or command? How successful is the strategy and what must the manager do to change unsuccessful strategies? Are tactics altered to fit the person being managed, or is everyone treated the same way? Are people treated fairly or is favoritism prevalent? 

Can the manager motivate others to learn new skills? To what extent does the manager provide needy staff with training, either formal or informal, on techniques, technology, and tools? If formal training is given by the person being rated, summaries of student ratings of quality and quantity of training should be presented. The person's ability to provide mentoring and quality of mentoring might be addressed.

Finally, there is usually a section for the project manager to recommend future assignments, training, or other professional activities for further development of the individual.