That’s one Brigada participant’s question (and he happens to be working in North Africa): “What lessons have you learned about creating and doing valuable annual performance evaluations in the on-field missionary context?” If you have a lesson learned, please click “Comment” after the online version of this item. Thanks!
For us, it was a negative experience. We’re committed to accountability, but before our agency started using reviews, our accountability was natural and people-focused. After the reviews, accountability became corporate and project-focused. We eventually left.
We have found that people resent number ratings. Instead we find value asking questions about personal growth, family, supporters, ministry, formal work and administrative responsibilities. More important than the form itself is the time the supervisor spends talking through it with the person. Let me know if you’d like a copy of what we use.
Yes, I would be interested in getting a copy. Thank you, Don!
Could you give me your email address?
Yes, Don, I would find it helpful if you could send me a copy of the form that you use. Thank you.
As part of a larger organization that is making a valiant effort to do / carryout annual reviews, and having carried them out, and having had them carried out on me …
a) annual reviews have to be part of a larger picture of recognition of the value of the person. When they are the only “tool”, there’s not much value in the process and everybody knows it.
b) to be meaningful, the person / family involved must be a key player all the way along, from planning, to periodic reporting, to receiving meaningful feedback on those reports, etc. (How many times has a senior supervisor ever sent you an encouraging note after reading your review?)
c) peer reviews on a quarterly or semi annual basis may well be much more helpful and encouraging than those annual reviews conducted by supervisors alone. Think about it … peers are the folks we interact with all the time…
d) I’ve done this … conduct annual TEAM reviews. How are WE doing as a TEAM? Makes a lot of sense because we work mostly in teams.
e) more than any of the above … personal reflection in the light of the Scriptures may well be among the better tools we can ever use to assess our relationship and service to God.
Great stuff, Eric. Thank you. I’d be quite interested to hear more about the “TEAM reviews” you’ve conducted.