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t's year-end at Acme Progressive. Apart from wrapping up

the accounting, managers and employees are going through

their yearly dance of performance appraisal, as they call it.

Michael manages fourteen employees directly, so he's

going to be busy meeting with each of them, filling out forms,

and gulping antacid. Since the personnel department is push-

ing him to get his forms in on time, he has to figure out a way

to get this all done as fast as possible.

And he does. He sends an appraisal form to each employ-

ee via interoffice mail. After employees complete the forms,

he meets with each one for about fifteen minutes to discuss

the forms, and then signs them. Voil! Problem solved. The

paperwork gets done on time, the personnel department is

content, and everyone goes back to their "real work."

What's Wrong with This Picture.

The better question might be "Is there anything right with this

The Challenge of

Performance

Management