Be as truthful as you can without exposing yourself unnecessarily. Obviously if your company and/or boss does not have a positive and fair approach be careful not to create vulnerabilities for yourself.

Always be positive, never negative - don't complain, don't point out problems, avoid making personal attacks on anyone or their abilities. If there are problems express them as opportunities to develop or improve, an if possible suggest or recommend how these improvements can be made.

Ask for help and training and coaching and development in areas that you believe will improve your productivity and value to the organization.

Look for ways to relate personal growth and development of your own passions and interests outside of work, to your work, and the benefits this sort of development will bring to your employer. Think about your hobbies and your natural strengths - they will almost certainly entail using many attributes that will be helpful for your employer - perhaps beyond the role that you find yourself in currently. If your employer is unaware of your talents and potential make sure you tell your manager, and if your employer fails to understand the benefits of helping you to follow your unique personal potential (which each of us has) then maybe think about finding an employer who places a higher value on their people.

Use the list or skill categories on the appraisal form to assess your capabilities and behaviours one by one - be specific, objective and be able to reference examples and evidence. This is an important area for the appraisal meeting itself so think about it and if necessary ask others for feedback to help you gather examples and form a reliable view of your competence in each category listed. If the appraisal for does not have a list of skills and behaviours create your own (use your job description for a basis).

Assess your performance for the appraisal period (normally the past year) in each of your areas of responsibility; if there are no specific responsibilities or objectives brought forward from your previous appraisal or on-going meetings with your manager again use your job description as a basis for assessing your performance, competence and achievements.

Identify objectives for yourself for the next year. These should be related to your current job responsibilities and your intended personal development, and be a mixture of short, medium and long-term aims (ie, days or weeks, months, and a year or more). Attach actions and measurable outputs to these aims and objectives -this is a commitment to change and improve which demonstrates a very responsible and mature attitude.

If your aims and actions require training or coaching or other support then state this, but do not assume you have a right to receive it - these things cost money and your manager may not be able to commit to them without seeking higher approval.

Think about and state your longer-term aspirations - qualifications and learning, career development, and your personal life fulfilment issues too - they are increasingly relevant to your work, and also to your value as an employee.

Seek responsibility, work, and tasks within and beyond your normal role. Extra work and responsibility, and achieving higher things develop people and increase productivity for and contribution to the organization.

Always seek opportunities to help and support others, including your boss.
Always look upon reward as an economic result of your productivity. You have no 'right' to reward or increase in reward, and reward is not driven by comparisons with what others receive. Reward, and particularly increase in reward, results from effort and contribution to organizational performance. As such, if you want higher reward, seek first the opportunity to contribute more.

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© alan chapman 1995-2007
http://www.businessballs.com/performanceappraisals.htm