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Performance reviews are critical for individual growth and building a high-performing team. Despite their importance, it can be hard to do them well – 95% of managers are dissatisfied with their performance management systems, and 59% of employees feel performance reviews are not worth the time invested.
A well-run performance review can empower team members, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and drive success for both the organization and the individual. However, if mishandled, performance reviews can lead to demotivation, resentment, and a lack of clarity on goals and expectations.
That’s why understanding how to conduct empowering performance reviews is crucial. Effective performance reviews should not only assess past performance but also provide actionable feedback, set clear goals, and create a supportive environment for professional development.
To help us navigate this tricky topic, we’re thrilled to host Olubunmi 'Boomie' Odumade, who will share her extensive experience as a senior engineering leader. With over 20 years of experience in software engineering leadership, Boomie has held senior roles at NPR, Capital One, Accenture, and more. She’ll be sharing her experience on how to make performance reviews empowering and effective.
Boomie will speak to topics including:
We’ll also have ample time for Q&A with Boomie – feel free to send us your questions in advance or bring them to the event.
About the speaker
Olubunmi 'Boomie' Odumade currently serves as the Senior Director of Engineering at MIG, leading a highly cross-functional engineering team. With over 20 years of experience, Boomie has held leadership roles in various organizations, from large corporations like NPR and Capital One to small startups, earning numerous accolades. She is actively involved in mentoring youth and advising those interested in STEM careers. Boomie holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master's degree in Computer Science, and an MBA from Wharton.
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You can view the slides from the talk here - and see below for the full recording.
Boomie will speak on how to have empowering performance reviews.
>> Vivek: Uh, so the plan for today, um, is we're going to have Boomie talk about how to have empowering performance reviews. And then we have a group discussion just to first explore. For those of you who are new here, the Tech Leader Chats is a community for engineering and product leaders who are human centric. It's kind of, I guess, sponsored by the Multitudes organization, which is where Lauren and I work. Our goal as a company is also to help engineering teams deliver more in a way that's human focused. So that's why we put on the Tech Leader Chats.
Today we've got Boomie joining us. I met Boomie through the ELc community a long time ago, and, uh, she's been very generous with her feedback on Multitudes as a product. Um, she's done several UX calls, um, and yeah, it's also just got an amazing background, as I'm sure all of you have read that, uh, have RSVP'd as well. Yeah. Boomie is going to be speaking to us about how to have performance reviews, having gone through rounds at, uh, several companies on the receiving end, but also on the giving end. And. Yeah, super excited to pass it over to you, Boomie. I'll stop sharing my screen, um, and hand it over to you if you're ready.
>> Boomie
```: You good to go?
>> Vivek: Fantastic. And feel free to fire through questions on the start. I'm. Yeah.
I'm going to talk about how to have empowering performance reviews
>> Boomie
```: There we go. This one. Can you m. Okay. Do you see a presentation?
>> Vivek: Yes.
>> Boomie
```: Okay, cool. Cool. That's what I want you to see. Um, we have two monitors you have to double check. So thank you, everyone, for having me here today, and thank you also for your patience. My nickname is Boomie and I'm going to talk about how to have empowering performance reviews. So we have less than 20 minutes before Q&A, and there's a lot to cover. So I'm going to talk about some background, scope and preview, but I'm going to spend most of the time on performance reviews, the benefits to directs, the components and how to deliver them. And on wrap up, um, I know there were some questions, um, so for the ones that are not answered as part of the presentation, happy to take them. And, uh, my real life experiences, both mine and those that I've learned from others, are incorporated into the content. So you won't see a section that says experience because that's all weaved in starting off terminology.
What do we call things for the purposes of this presentation? To make things easy and make sure we're in sync. I'm going to call. We're going to talk about a direct report or direct. This person has a boss regardless of the boss's title, and they're going to receive a performance review. And then you're going to have a boss, regardless of their title, who's going to have at least one direct report regardless of their title, and the boss is going to deliver a performance review. Now, as leaders, we're both at review time, but for today's conversation, we're going to talk about a boss delivering a review. Feedback, it's so important. It's the key to performance reviews. The key to our jobs can be complementary or constructive, should be effective, but it's such a big topic that we're not going to go into the details today, other than to say feedback is very important. Happy to do a follow up session on that if we want. There are some debates about performance reviews, and this is just one example. And the meeting invite also had some stats. And I think the debates are not on whether or not these performance reviews are needed is not so much for misconceptions as much as it is from negative experiences that people have. So in this screenshot is an example post from an HR leader that I respect. I had to blot out what she calls performance reviews. They're called torture sessions and demotivation. Um, so this is one example of you. I posted a response, go to blog the same day because I've been having the conversation a lot of the time and that's part of what I'm presenting today. So my experiences. Not an expert, but, um, I've received a lot of them. Just like all of us, I've received empowering ones and demotivating ones. And like most bosses, I've also given a lot of them. I've had jobs where I've had 18 directs. Um, so in terms of giving performance reviews to directs, I've had directs that were newish to me or shared their reviews with their parents. And those are two stories, you know, felt the reviews were empowering and fair, got critical reviews, but improved because of it. And because I'm not perfect, I also got feedback that helped me improve in how I give performance reviews. Empowered employees are good for business. You know, a lot of times I feel like because I talk about empowerment and empathy, people think I don't care about business, but doesn't. It can be a win win situation. You know, they're both important and effective. Performance reviews can affect the development and retention part of the employee lifecycle. So a preview. We're going to go through a lot of content, but this is a preview I believe in. Ah, that and empowering. Performance review is a combination of feedback given year round as well as having an effective performance review. And the combination becomes empowerment.
So what are the benefits of, uh, performance reviews to direct? Before I talk about the benefits, I'm going to talk about an important prerequisite. And this is that a direct and their boss are having regular conversations, and those conversations should include feedback and career development. Some people think if you have this, you don't need performance reviews. But I say this is a prerequisite and the foundation. So once you have that foundation, then when it's done well, there's multiple benefits to effective performance reviews. I have five here. There could be more. Um, so first of all, reflection. It's a time for both employees and leadership at the company to pause and reflect. And reflection can bring insight. If we're just doing things over and over and we don't take a pause, we may not realize we could be doing things better. Um, another benefit is that it provides one snapshot. Ideally, we're getting feedback year round in useful pieces, but an effective performance review can bring these pieces together so that in one place we're viewing a snapshot of strengths, areas of improvement, career goals and more. Another benefit can be peer consistency. If you have people in similar job functions and levels, they may have different bosses. People are different, bosses are different. So effective performance reviews can at least bring consistency that can help minimize bias, aim for fairness, and provide for an equitable measure of evaluation. Another benefit is that it can and often does identify training needs. Not only job specific training, but maybe places where we need company wide training, or will we even need performance review training so that we do them effectively? And have you ever had a new leader or been a new leader? A prior performance review can be one way that a new boss learns about a new direct. It should not be the only way, but it does provide one way. So in spite of these benefits, directs may be nervous about performance reviews. And that's normal, understandable. So my suggestion for getting around that is tell, show, tell, show. Tell them about the benefits, show them an effective process, and keep doing that and get feedback along the way.
So now we get to talk about the components of empowering performance reviews. A lot of them. And again, there could probably be more. But that's, you know, why you wanted me to talk about this, right? You know, so one component is clarity about use. Clarity precedes success. How are we going to use this review? Is it just going to talk about my performance, or is it tied into potential promotions or promotions? A different process completely? Is it tied to compensation adjustments? And if so, how much of that is in my control versus how the company performs? Is it going to be used before the next review cycle? So those are all questions that should be answered so that people who are receiving the performance review understand the use. It should also have multiple inputs. Unless it's a company with two people, multiple people are working with the direct, so we should get input from as many of them as possible, although it should be delivered by the boss. Uh, all contributing to the puzzle pieces and performance reviews can actually be a milestone that bridges the past and the future. The past performance gives us some information and we need to determine future next steps. So by the end of our review, the next steps should be clear. Um, so it can be a milestone. And I want to point out that next steps can come from both positive or constructive feedback. And it can also include a ton of options. You know, it could be, keep doing what you're doing. It could be, hey, you want more responsibility? It could be, yeah. We got to talk about some issues and other examples that are not on this slide. Another component is that it's a conversation. It's not a one way delivery, you know? And because it is a conversation, new information can come up. So my recommendation is that there is some way to have some review addendum, um, in case there's new information or significant discussions. Ideally, there should be no surprises. And I don't like having caveats on slides, but in this one, you went back and forth with a few people, and this is what we came up with. So when it comes to both strengths or areas of improvement, there should ideally be no surprises. We've been giving feedback year round. We started the review process on time. We got the input from the right people. Um, and those may become the basis of the feedback and support. Those may be new, but the surprises or areas, I'm sorry, the strengths or areas of improvement shouldn't be new. I chose to put a caveat on here because if a boss learns new information late, then none of the options are ideal. You could argue this, maybe can't be empowering anymore, but at that point, you have to make a choice. Are we going to risk having a surprise and potentially not being empowering, or risk of holding the feedback, which is not without its own risk as well? So, um, yeah, should be the goal, but if it doesn't happen. You need to weigh the risk and we can talk about that more. My favorite part, highlight strengths and wins. You know, start the conversation by doing that, because that's the best way to encourage the person to continue doing the things that they are doing. Well, areas of improvement. So I'm going to do a sidebar. Before I get into that advice, I want to point out that areas of improvement can be both positive and constructive. Um, and if there are constructive areas, remember, none of us are perfect. And like I said on, um, a slide or two ago, there's also a risk to not properly addressing this on a review, even if it's shared in one on one ones. In both cases, whether it's positive or constructive, the direct needs to know more details.
But I'm going to spend more time on the constructive because I think that's where most of the discussion comes. And the purpose of sharing areas of improvement is, again, to have a conversation about it and show the impact in a way that the direct understands so that it's less of a debate of is this something that's having an impact or nothing? And then provide the actionable feedback, seek alignment, provide support. So don't just say this isn't going well, go fix it, but work together on how it's going to be resolved with areas of improvement. Also, I highly recommend you address trends and not one time observations. Everybody has bad days, so you observe something the first time, it's not a trend. If you observe it again, maybe it is, if you observe it again, possibly it is. Um, but you really want to identify trends. Um, and if there's no constructive trends that have been observed, I don't think we should create constructive feedback just to check a box, because areas of improvement can also be growth related. So identify the trends and, um, address them if you find them long lists, those can be very demotivating. And because I said on the last slide, we're seeking trends, first step, I would say, is to consolidate that list to see if you can find trends. And if you still find, I, uh, don't know, eight trends, then we're in the both things are risky scenario, again, where you risk giving a long list, which is demotivating, or you risk giving only part of the feedback. And not giving all of the feedback could lead to issues down the line. So we call this flexible consistency, partly because in some places performance reviews are used for compensation adjustments. And so when that's the case, we need to have equity across the company. So I'm saying we need enough consistency to make sure there's equitable compensation decisions. It's not based on my department, my boss, but we need enough flexibility so that, that it is tailored to the job function, the level, the contributions. Um, and then we also need enough consistency for peers who may have multiple bosses, as discussed on one of the benefits slides.
So now I'm going to jump into delivering performance reviews, and we'll also talk about tough conversations and perceived unfairness. So in terms of delivering, I broke this up into multiple stages. The pre delivery, the delivery, the post delivery, and like I said, we're going to talk about the special situations. So pre delivery, most of the work as leaders, we're analyzing, generating the feedback, consolidating that into a light up that is clear. That's where most of the work's going to go. Um, rehearse. I almost put a question mark on this, but rehearse reviews as needed. This is especially advisable if you're new at reviews or you have a new direct, or you're uncomfortable or you have difficult. I've done so many of them right now. I tend to do this only occasionally, but one of my colleagues recommends rehearsing all of them. And when you're rehearsing, you can do that with yourself on Zoom or on the mirror. You can with a friend outside the company. I had a friend recently rehearsed and I, you know, I acted difficult just so that friend would get practice, you know, or, you know. But if you do rehearse with someone at the same company, remember, confidentiality. So it should be someone in the management chain, you know, and not just, you know, someone in another department, you know, someone else who shouldn't know the information about the direct. Okay, deciding when to send a. My advice is to share it the same day because I don't want people to stew on the information if there's a misunderstanding or if they're bothered. I'd rather get that conversation sooner rather than later. I've been at places where they insisted on sending the day before. I don't recommend it. Um, so I try to give it to directs with enough time for them to read it, but not so much time that they're brooding beforehand. But of course, you know your people. I just said I don't recommend sending the day before, but I had a few directs where they needed the time to digest, and so I accommodated during delivery. This is also a large topic, but a few tips. It's an important conversation, undivided attention. Shut all the notifications off on both ends. You know and schedule a buffer just in case it'll be really awkward to end at a bad stopping point. Right. And if you're late, if the next thing you're late to is another review, they're probably going to be anxious about why you're late. Um, schedule a buffer and go through the various sections, pausing along the way. Ask for input from the direct, especially for quiet directs. I find that if I don't say, do you have any input or do you have any questions? They're not going to just offer it up front and end the review with thank you for something, thank you for the hard work, or thank you for the improvement you made since last time. Or something so that you're ending on a positive note. Post delivery. If there were things that came up in the conversation, update the review addendum. Ensure the review is available to both of you. I would actually recommend they save it, because if you leave, then, you know, I've had a boss leave and I couldn't find the review he left me. And follow any company processes.
So now, tough conversations. Why do these happen? We all are good bosses, right? For multiple reasons. It could be that there's misalignment in the content of the performance review and this can happen even with a positive review. I said I once had 18 directs. Uh, in that review cycle, my most difficult review was fine. My most disappointed person got a positive review. So you just never know. It could be disappointment on the review itself. It could be on related topics like the culture raises titles, could be the current work landscape that's leading to a lot of anxiety whether you're employed or not. It could be a lack of feedback culture. And it also could be that the relationship between the boss and direct is not where it needs to be and other reasons. Um, but these are just some examples why it could be a tough conversation. It may be about the review, it may not be. So regardless of why I again, it's about a conversation, I'm a little repetitive about this.
Um, so acknowledge what you hear. Whether or not you agree, respond as needed. You can be truthful, you can be empathetic, bad people upset about compensation. I didn't say, well, you have a job. I said, you say, those are valid reasons. I empathize. There's nothing I can do about it. Or if there is, then I'll look into it. Um, so respond as needed. And if you do, say you'll look into anything. Follow through. Don't make the direct ask for an update reminders. You can be both kind and assertive. Kind doesn't always mean nice, and you can definitely be empathetic. So now you delivered a review, you felt good, but someone tells you it's unfair. There's two possibilities here. It is or it isn't. But either way, it's perceived as unfair. And perceptions can be so powerful. And I'm assuming the boss and director going to continue to have a working relationship. So what do you do? Willingly? Listen. That's the first thing you do. Why do they think this is unfair? Listen with an open mind, because they may have some valid points and at the very least, they should feel that you heard them, even if you don't agree with them. And then you have to determine the next step of action. Are changes needed to the review? Did something come up that you're like, oh, actually, I should change this, then add to the review addendum and follow through. But if not, then were, uh, you able to resolve the perception issue? If you do, you should pat yourself on the back. And I mean this because changing perception is hard. And if no changes are needed and there's still a perception issue, you need to be kind, you need to be assertive, you know, but, you know, most people are dealing with multiple directs. You still got to be fair across all the directs.
Uh, so wrapping up. Saw this before, right? So empowering performance reviews are a combination of feedback given year round. We can talk details about feedback and effective performance reviews, which we did talk about. The combination is empowerment. And in terms of the benefits, the benefits. Two directs were the reflection, one snapshot, pure consistency. It can identify training needs and it can bridge leadership changes and the components that make a performance review effective. Uh, or clarity about use multiple inputs when delivery. It's a milestone, bridging past and future. It's a conversation with the review addendum. Ideally, no surprises. It highlights strengths and wins. It addresses areas of improvement and there's flexible consistency, especially if it's being used for compensation. Um, so to connect, I'm active in the following slacks that, you know, activism. I thought I wasn't active in leopard, FYI, and they said I was. So I'm going to say I'm active in tech leader chats now as well. Hey, yeah, and another slacks. And there's my LinkedIn. And I'm happy to take questions. I've seen, um, some things come through in the chat, but I haven't seen them. But one question that came out a week ago was how to sound empathetic during a performance review. So if we feel that's not answered. Happy to talk about it more. I also do have two appendix slides, if we wanted to, about dealing with underperformers or if you have a new constructive area of improvement at review time. And I know, Vivek, you sent me a few more questions this morning or last night, and what are water time zones? So, um, we can make sure I covered those, and if not, I can cover them now.
>> Vivek: Great. Thank you so much. Boomie, that was fantastic. And yeah, I certainly learned a lot. Um, uh, we'll go through some of those questions, um, that came through. And then also Nick had a question that he's put through the chat. And if anyone else you've got questions, either fire them through in the chat, but also feel free to take your mic off and ask them directly.
When is it harmful to leverage a coaching approach when talking to a direct report
Um, the first question was, when is it more harmful, uh, than helpful to leverage a coaching approach when talking to a direct report?
>> Boomie
```: Okay, so, um, I would say if you have shared this the first time in an ideal situation also depends. We're going to assume this is not like a hugely serious, um, feedback the first time. I would approach it from a coaching standpoint. I don't know if you all have heard about situational leadership, but it's one of my favorite courses because it talks about, depending on the individual, there are times the same individual is going to need more or less advice, um, assistance, support. So you're not judging the person? Judging is not the word. I'm sorry, I've been in jury duty too long. You're not evaluating the person, you're evaluating the task. So with one task, you may totally say, this person's got it. Need to, only need to check in with another task, same person. You can say, okay, I need a little more input here. So using situational leadership, I would coach the first time, and if those results are not getting to where we have agreed in that coaching session it should get to, then I would be a little more forceful. Um, we're all different. Some people are, you know, just always been unconfident. But some people are overconfident. And especially sometimes you need to get the point across that this is an issue and we need to solve it. And at that point, it's no longer a coaching issue. But ideally, that's not the first time you're sharing it. And with every question I'm answering, if there's a follow up where I don't answer it fully, please do ask, you know, please do let me bring that to my attention.
>> Vivek: Cool. Thank you so much, Boomie.
Is there a specific format you follow for running performance reviews
Um, we had one question just come through. We'll go to the next question first. Is there a specific format you follow for running performance reviews?
>> Boomie
```: Like the light up, or just like.
>> Vivek: Is there a structure? I guess, or, Nick, maybe you want to come off mute and clarify your question, but, um, yeah, that was a question. Is there a specific format?
>> Boomie
```: So the places that I've worked at usually had a format that was determined by HR and often change the format every year. So. But if I can create a format, which I'm probably going to get the opportunity to at my current job in the next few months, it's going to be, um. And this is off the top of my head, too. So, um, there's definitely going to be a section to talk about wins and impact with examples we sometimes tell people will be smart, specific, measurable, attainable, um, relevant, time based, but giving people real examples of what that means. And, um, in the areas of improve the areas of improvement, making sure that there's guidance on showing the impact. I also strongly believe in self reviews. Um, so having the direct do their own self review, and I always tell my directs, this is not the time to be modest. As much as I want to believe I'm a good boss, I may not remember every amazing thing you did. Um, so I'd have the self review at least two peer reviews, unless the company's too small for that, and put all that into a write up that's showing the trends. But I want to make. Because I'm not sure that was the question. I want to make sure I answered it.
>> Vivek: Yeah, Nick, maybe if you want to just say in the chat, if that was helpful.
How do you manage when the direct report is defensive when giving constructive feedback
Um, we'll move on to the next question from fee foster. Uh, how do you manage when the direct report is defensive? When they hear the constructive feedback coming up with excuses, rationalizing, or not being receptive?
>> Boomie
```: Yeah, that's definitely, um, one of the toughest conversations, you know. Um, I'll step back for a minute and say, with all my directs, I usually ask them, how do you like to receive constructive feedback? Do you prefer heads up, or do you prefer I just jump into it and, um, using that information and also having one on ones with my directs, I know the people who may need a little bit more information. Um, so that's step back, number one. Step back, number two, I think companies should train people on how to give and receive feedback. So, real life example, I had someone who was very defensive while, um, receiving the feedback. And I sent this person a few articles on receiving feedback, and that feedback is a gift. And they came back one or two business days later thanking me for those articles because they said it would help them, not only professionally, but even personally, you know, so I think, you know, let's try to be proactive by doing those two things. And then if you're still getting defensiveness in the moment, you know, you listen, you hear, you're assertive. Um, I've sometimes had to tell person, let me finish. You know. Um, so, you know, I come with the multiple examples. Not so much that they think I'm picking on everything, but enough so that if they think the first example doesn't count or is invalid, I still got enough to show that it's a trend. Um, so I try to get my point across, showing the impact, you know, having the relationship. And if at the end of the day there's still defensiveness, I will say, okay, at this point, I believe that the feedback I have given is fair, you know, and, um, so, you know, how do we, how do we move forward to try to change the future? I'm not trying to, you know, pick on the past and, you know, beat you up about the past, but we need to change the future. So how do we move forward even if we disagree?
>> Vivek: Mhm. Awesome. Thank you so much.
How do you manage performance reviews where there are no further upward movements possible
Um, we'll do one more question, everyone. Um, and then we're going to do the breakout room exercise. So you can ask if you're lucky enough to have Boomie in your breakout room, you can ask her directly or, um, feel free to fire, uh, questions to her on slack. The last question we'll do is, um, how do you manage performance reviews where there are no further upward movements possible? Are you the person who's already at the highest level, but you don't want them to become unmotivated or leave?
>> Boomie
```: Yeah. So I try to point out that the job is about a combination of, you know, career ladder rungs and also breadth. Yeah. Um, so even if we're at the highest career ladder rung at the company, is there more breadth? I can't speak for all engineers, but I know that a lot of engineers don't like being bored, myself included. So there's still ways to provide challenge and goals and ways to do more, even at, ah, you know, even if there's no upward rung on the ladder, I will also say, maybe you should be sure there's no upward rung on the ladder. Last year when I, um, shadowed the director of engineering at GitLab. I have to go back to my blog on that but I think he actually made a new run because there were enough people where it justified having a level above where they, you know, where people had maxed out at.
>> Vivek: Awesome. Yeah, that's really good. Um. Really good answer there. Um, awesome. Thanks, everyone. I'm gonna. For those of you who are listening to the recording, this is the end of the recorded part, so I'll stop recording.
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