Additional Performance Appraisal Tools to consider

Examples on the Internet:

· AHI Employment Law Resource Center: http://www.ahipubs.com/products/pa/pasample.html

· American Academy of American Physicians: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20030300/evalreport.pdf
· http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20030300/staffappraisalform.pdf

· Business Balls.com: http://www.businessballs.com/performanceappraisalform.pdf

· Business Bureau UK: http://www.businessbureau-uk.co.uk/employ/appraise.htm

· Halogen Software: http://www.halogensoftware.com/files/PDF/employee-evaluation-forms/Hourly_Performance_Appraisal.pdf

· Kansas Department of Administration: Sample Appraisal Forms: http://www.da.ks.gov/ps/subject/arc/resources/perfevalpub.htm

· Ohio State University: http://www.performance-appraisals.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=3853

Examples in Print:

· How to Make Performance Evaluations Really Work: A Step-by-Step Guide Complete with Sample Words, Phrases, Forms, and Pitfalls to Avoid, by Glenn Shepard. Call number: HF 5549.5 R3 S46 2005

Information on Your Final Presentation (Assignment #4)

Please think about an interesting business or social problem that relates to communication in some way. You can draw upon your own experience, an item in the news, or a hypothetical situation. Your goal will be to describe the problem, analyze what companies and/or individuals did wrong from a communication perspective, and what they could have done ("best practices for communication") for a better outcome. The communication solution(s) you suggest can come from your reading, class discussion, and/or your own original thinking.

Follow these approximate stages in your presentation (with whatever variation you choose):

1. Grab our attention (the chapter on Oral Presentations in your Management Communication book talks about ways to accomplish this goal.)
2. Describe your topic so that we know exactly what you are going to talk about.
3. Give a brief "roadmap" of how you plan to develop your topic.
4. Make your point(s), including some kind of support (an example, statistic, anecdote, authority, etc.) for what you say
5. Wrap up with a memorable conclusion that answers the question "So what?" (So what if your points are true? What final thoughts or action(s) do they lead to?)
6. Take two or three questions from the audience.

Your main presentation should take no more than four minutes. The Q & A section will take no more than two minutes. Your professors will signal remaining time (1 min., 30 sec., etc.) so that you come pretty close to the time limit. (We all need to respect the time so that there is enough time during the evening for everyone's presentations.) Don't worry if you run 20 or 30 seconds beyond your time, but no more.

You will be given the opportunity to sign up for your place in the order of speakers. Some people prefer to go early, some later.

In addition to your DVD copy of your speech, you will receive feedback from your professors. You will also pass out five feedback sheets to five classmates, who will give you additional praise and suggestions for improvement.

Feel free to use notes, but take care not to read your presentation. In your coaching sessions this coming Monday (July 28), we will work on the "10 Do's" specified in the Oral Presentations chapter as well as other professional tips for confident presenting. We will also have time during our July 28 presentation workshop to answer any specific questions you may have about this assignment.

Additional Internet resources to consider in advance of our job interview class

For our class on Wednesday, please bring a current copy of a job specification from your present employer. If you can find a current analysis of the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the listed job, bring that with you as well.

Also, please check out any of the listed sites to gain some additional insights into the art of "interviewing" either as an applicant or selector:

1. http://humanresources.about.com/od/interviewing/Interviewing_Tips_and_Interviewing_Techniques.htm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_interview
3. http://education-portal.com/articles/45_Proven_Job_Interview_Techniques_for_Landing_Your_Next_Job.html
4. http://www.job-interview.net/
5. http://www.beyond.com/Media/Behavioral-Interviewing.asp

Thanks, Monika

Reading on Management Interviewing

This excellent piece shows managers how to sharpen their social and interviewing skills so that the right hires don't slip through their fingers:

Click here for Business Week article on Management Interviewing

Assignment #3: Team Paper Due July 30

You have already received team assignments (the class roster with a number 1 through 6, constituting three-member teams). Assignment #3 won't be due until our class on July 31. Please note that Assignment #3 is not especially long, even though it will involve the work of all three team members. Here are specifics for the assignment:

1. See your assigned topic below.
2. Brainstorm with your team (either in person or electronically, perhaps using a wiki or google docs)
3. Decide how the three of you prefer to handle the drafting process, once your research has been completed. For example, some groups may want to meet in person to "talk though" the content of the paper. Others may want to circulate an outline electronically for team members to consider and revise before beginning the actual drafting process. Still other groups may want to divide up writing tasks, then carefully and seamlessly stitch the entire document together during the final editing and revision stage. Your work method is up to you.
4. Remember that I am available to help you. Although I am technically on vacation from July 21 to 31, I am "at your service" via email and, if you wish, by phone. You can send me any portion of your paper for comments and suggestions. (Obviously I would prefer not to grade completed papers twice, but I am eager to help you in the shaping process.)
5. Please abide by the style principles you have already discussed with Monika and the Eight Matters of Management Style I will emphasize in class on July 21.
6. Entire books could be written on any of the assigned topics. Your goal should be to narrow the scope of your inquiry to one or two central concerns of maximum interest to your classmates. All papers turned in will be shared with the entire class.
7. Length: no more than 5 pages of body text, not counting cover page and endnotes or bibliography. Please single-space, with double space between paragraphs. In a report of five pages, you will probably want to use a few internal headings, as illustrated in the sample reports in your Management Communication textbook.
8. Audience: your professors and classmates
9. Due: in class on July 31, in hard copy with electronic copy sent to bell@usfca.edu so I can distribute your paper easily to the rest of the class.
10. The paper will receive one letter grade, which will be shared by all three team members. If you experience dysfunctions on your team (for example, one team member does nothing), please communicate this problem to me so I can be fair in giving the correct grade to individual team members. If I do not hear about problems on your team, I will assume that things went smoothly and that all members contributed.
11. For a 5-page paper, I do not anticipate dozens of research sources, although I do not want to discourage your effort in this regard. Realistically, you may end up with eight or ten supporting sources that appear in your notes (footnotes or endnotes) and bibliography. I will pay attention to the currency and validity of your sources. (In other words, a quote from Wikipedia may not be adequate to support one of your key points. Business magazines and journals (perhaps as accessed on line) will be helpful in pointing you toward solid research studies. For many of the topics below, excellent books have appeared recently.

Assigned topics: Feel free to change your topic somewhat as your group decides upon its core message(s).

Team 1 Workplace Romance: Realities, Problems, and Solutions

Team 2 Flextime and Working from Home: Policies, Problems, and Potentials

Team 3 The Population Problem: Implications of Too Few Children in Many Major Trading Nations

Team 4 Offshoring and Outsourcing: The Dilemma of the American Worker

Team 5 On-line MBA Education: Costs, Quality, and Reputation

Team 6 Honesty Testing: Its Use and Effectiveness in American Business

Team 7 Causes and Solutions for America's Education Gap in Comparison to its Competitors

Team 8 Workaholics: American Schedules and Attitudes Toward Work in Comparison to Other Major Trading Nations

Readings on Illegal Interview Questions

The following link has a lot of good information on how to be an interviewer and an interviewee. Please read the text on the site and also click on some of its further links toward the bottom of the first screen.

Click here for Interview readings

Note on Blog Reading for Speaker's Nerves

There is no blog entry for an article on Speaker's Nerves since this material is well covered in your required reading of BUTTERFLIES BE GONE (one of the three paperback textbooks required for the class, available in the USF bookstore and on-line).