标签: dilbert

As we approach the end of the calendar year, our thoughts turn to the holiday season, gifts to give and maybe receive, end-of-year shutdowns or breaks, and, yes, even those performance reviews. I was reminded of this when I saw the recent Dilbert strip here , where Wally the chronic slacker utters some unvarnished words of truth. I know the official reasons for doing performance reviews: to establish employee goals, to assess areas of needed improvement, to look for areas of potential skill improvement or career-path change, and to align goals of the individual and the organization (ah, such management-speak). We also know the unofficial reasons: among them, to create a "paper trail", and to provide a legal appearance of uniform treatment of employees. Of course, there's also the flip side of the much-deserved cynicism with which many employees view these performance reviews. I'm sure you can fill the specifics in yourself, no need to enumerate them here. What about when your boss/supervisor/manager—the person who is doing your review—is a complete idiot or jerk (in your opinion), and is totally unqualified to comment on your work in any way? (Been there, done that.) Then there are the variations on the basic review. If it is such a good idea, why just do it annually? Why not do it quarterly, or even monthly? Some companies are doing just that. Even more exciting, don't limit it to just what your boss has to say. There's the trend to adding in comments from co-workers, subordinates, anyone you've had contact with; it's called the 360-degree review. If we do this right, we can spend all our time working on our own reviews, and adding to the reviews of others, and so have hardly any time left to do our actual work. The review process would soon take precedence over project completion. Dilbert's Wally would be proud! What's been your experience with reviews: are they useful, useless, or somewhere in-between? Is the time spent doing them even worth it? Are they actually counterproductive and perhaps divisive?  

I love cartoons like Calvin and Hobbs , and Peanuts , and... well, pretty much all of them really. When I was a young kid around 10 years old in England, I used to hang out with my cousin Gillian who lived up the road.   Gillian and I each used to get comics every week and – after reading them – we'd save them in a box. Every now and again our parents would ship these comics to our cousins in Canada. Similarly, their parents would occasionally ship us a box of Canadian / American comics. It was a "party day" when those comics arrived, let me tell you.   Of course, as an engineer I love the Dilbert comic strip along with the associated animations. Who amongst us could forget The Knack , for example (I always think of my long-suffering mom when I see this).   Usually when I see a Dilbert strip it brings a grin to my face, but someone just sent me a link to one that made me laugh out loud. I can't post the strip here for copyright reasons, but you can Click Here to visit it over at the official Dilbert website at www.dilbert.com.   I don't know why, but this one just ticked my funny bone. How about you – do you have a favorite Dilbert Cartoon (or any other cartoon, now I come to think about it)?

I love cartoons like Calvin and Hobbs , and Peanuts , and... well, pretty much all of them really. When I was a young kid around 10 years old in England, I used to hang out with my cousin Gillian who lived up the road.   Gillian and I each used to get comics every week and – after reading them – we'd save them in a box. Every now and again our parents would ship these comics to our cousins in Canada. Similarly, their parents would occasionally ship us a box of Canadian / American comics. It was a "party day" when those comics arrived, let me tell you.   Of course, as an engineer I love the Dilbert comic strip along with the associated animations. Who amongst us could forget The Knack , for example (I always think of my long-suffering mom when I see this).   Usually when I see a Dilbert strip it brings a grin to my face, but someone just sent me a link to one that made me laugh out loud. I can't post the strip here for copyright reasons, but you can Click Here to visit it over at the official Dilbert website at www.dilbert.com.   I don't know why, but this one just ticked my funny bone. How about you – do you have a favorite Dilbert Cartoon (or any other cartoon, now I come to think about it)?