Here's how you can provide ongoing performance feedback outside of formal evaluations.

Leaders should not wait for formal performance reviews to provide feedback - it should be delivered on an ongoing basis for employees to grow. One way to do this is to spend time 1:1 on a monthly basis. In the session offer the safe space for an open two-way conversation. I recommend to follow this agenda: 1) Align on goals 2) Discuss progress 3) Reinforce achievements 4) Address Concerns and 5) Offer coaching for areas of improvement. Also, regularly clarify goals/expectations to ensure alignment as business priorities change rapidly nowadays. Lastly, ensure to prepare properly Eg. Have your performance notes at hand (include both behaviors & impact), collect feedback from other sources and have a clear outline of what you want to deliver.

Regular and consistent check-ins have many benefits. One benefit I’d like to highlight is regular check-ins can cultivate an atmosphere where team members feel safe to express themselves, take risks, and collaborate effectively, thereby enhancing both trust and psychological safety. Infrequent and unbalanced check-ins can negatively impact team dynamics and undermine trust. Without regular check-ins, important information may not be shared timely, leading to misunderstandings, misaligned goals, and confusion. Be consistent, be timely, be balanced, and check your intentions at the door.

The best way to review feedback outside of formal evaluations is to do it - well - informally. So yes...regular check-ins are critical. Said simply, have consistent conversations with your team and your direct reports to help them understand where they are winning and where they have opportunity to improve. Nobody wants to be surprised during their formal evaluation period. Surprise means that the leader failed to effectively communicate throughout the evaluation period.

Real-time feedback is a great way for letting your employees to know if they are doing good or need to improve in certain areas without necessarily waiting until the formal evaluation day! Ask them questions about the reason for performing a certain task in the way they do in order to assess the training opportunities and share your feedback with them so they can improve on a continuous basis !

Evaluations often turn into 'the many ways we could improve' versus highlighting the areas where we crushed out goals. Major miss. The first step of any good evaluation is to unpack what was done WELL. A huge amount of effort and commitment went into doing those things well, so we don't want to lose sight of that. Everyone appreciates acknowledgement and - more important - everyone appreciates knowing what's working so they can do more of it. Only after that should a leader start tackling the areas to improve. This should include guidance on how to get started on that path. Your role as a leader is to ensure your people are empowered to make positive changes.