it's that time of the year where we have to give both a self review and review of our partner for our company

ive only ever had to review myself since i was only promoted to a leader position near the last review period and i just want to know how to keep it professional/not be a complete douche

1) when we get along its great, when we argue it's ugly - I can only assume this is partly and naturally attributed to the fact that we work 20 days in a row for 10 hrs on the road. I argue moreso than with other partners I've had but that also leads into

2) is it unprofessional/unadviseable to tell my managers that he needs to stay on his meds. he took himself off last week and even when he was on them it was difficult at times. he's not an asshole and he's not violent, but he throws temper tantrums about small things several times a day usually involving the equipment we're working with or scheduling. it's the kind of thing where you just think to yourself "jesus man, pick your battles".

3) any other general advice about peer reviews and what pitfalls to avoid

5/31/2009 5:38:16 PM

chances are, everything you say about him is going to get back to him

5/31/2009 6:16:18 PM

I would be wary about putting "personal" medical stuff into the review. I'd talk to him directly about it and that you worry about him because he loses his temper more often without them. You don't want the company to get involved in reminding him to take his meds because that might be seen as a violation of trust (you can't trust me to take my own damn medicine, so you're going to harass me about it every day???!!?).

Try to keep it mostly focused on their work performance. If they're on the phone with their wife/girlfriend all the time and not focusing on work then it'd be worth noting that. If they have a tendency to come off as an asshole even when they are on their meds and take an attitude about stupid stuff sometimes then that could be a problem (some people are just jerks). If they have trouble prioritizing or have a tendency to miss certain deadlines then just note that they should work to improve their strengths in so and so area and that they should work on scheduling better. You don't want to take the tone of "they can't do this or this or this and they're always late on this" when filling this thing out.

When I had to do this as a part of a DOT internship (it's silly and it wasn't super official, but I had to evaluate my coworker/other interns when I was leaving) and as a part of my last internship (my boss would ask directly if there was anything that I was having an issue with, like if they weren't good at explaining something or if they weren't open to assisting me) I would keep things fairly civil and avoid the minor nagging social stuff that you're going to have to deal with no matter who you're with. Make sure that, unless this person really needs to be fired, that you talk about what they do well in equal amounts with where you think they need improvement ("need improvement" is a nicer way to put it than "he/she isn't good at" or "he/she has trouble meeting deadlines").

Just be fair and try to think past times where you might've had a personal disagreement that was unrelated to work or that probably unfairly represents both you and them as individuals. If you got in a heated debate over politics that ended with one of you calling the other an idiot that's probably not worth mentioning. If they have a tendency to be insensitive and make fun of people for their handicaps in a way that is not light hearted teasing nor welcome, then you've got a problem and you need to note that.

Oh, and my main reasoning behind the "don't bug your boss about the meds" thing is that it could very well lead to him getting fired. If employees are perceived as being unstable or even dangerous in the workplace then your boss could probably legally justify putting him on unpaid leave until he can get his stuff together. Given what it sounds like (an issue with a temper and moodiness), he probably is just going through some depression type stuff and might just need a personal reminder (away from other folks as this is a private matter) that he can be a little worrisome when he's off his meds and that you think that (though you've had your disagreements) you got along better with him when he was on them. Or something like that. Try to politely inform him of the problems that missing his meds has caused for you and the other coworkers and that you're just concerned that it looks bad in the workplace and makes people uneasy.

^ This is a possibility. My peer reviews were more as a private aside than an official annual review. Both times the bosses just wanted to see how said employee(s) were getting along with me and how they handled training and dealing with somebody who had to ask a number of silly questions from time to time. It's for this reason that you'll want to keep any more "personal" attacks out of the review.

[Edited on May 31, 2009 at 6:21 PM. Reason : ]

5/31/2009 6:19:22 PM

our arguments aren't usually about social/unprofessional matters

its more like things that i consider basic tenets and principles of our job, he considers himself either too good for or as if he's being punished ("why do we have to do this? why does this have to be this way" "umm...because it's part of the job")

i consider myself pretty loyal and proud of our company and he flatly refuses to be so in most situations, he'd rather focus on the negatives

5/31/2009 6:31:34 PM