When was the last time you had a performance appraisal?
I realize one of the benefits of owning a business is that you don't have a boss. You can decide to do whatever you want, and you reap the rewards -- or clean up the mess -- all on your own.
Therefore, no performance appraisal for you.
This, I fear, is a mistake. You should sit yourself down and do a critical evaluation of your performance and set your personal goals for the upcoming year. Here's why:
You can't set goals if you don't know where you're going. In order for your people to make decisions that advance your business they need to know what your plan is. If it's just in your brain it's difficult to disseminate, and you end up doing it in bits and pieces. You need to think through this for all parts of your business -- development, marketing, production, and logistics.
Your employees won't tell you the truth. Oh sure, you didn't hire a bunch of yes-men (or women). But it's a rare employee that will come to a boss and say, "Listen Steve, you're inconsistent with the way you respond to X, Y, and Z, and it's causing problems A, B, and C."
Instead, your employees might tell you that A, B, and C are problems, but not that you're the cause. You should definitely solicit their opinions, but be prepared to do the criticism yourself.
Your customers won't tell you the truth, either. If business is good, you can safely assume you're meeting your customers needs, right? Perhaps. Maybe you've just gotten an early start in a new market, and as soon as someone else opens up shop, they'll all be gone.
And you know what? They won't tell you in advance that they are in negotiations with another vendor (unless they do want to stay and are just looking for a better deal). One day they'll just be gone or upset or angry, and you won't be prepared for it. So you need to think about your shortcomings -- as a company and as a person.
You're not perfect. Everyone has weaknesses, and you're no exception. There are things you could improve on. If you don't take time to think about what you should do better, you won't do them better.
Doing the Self-Evaluation
What should a self-evaluation look like? If you regularly do appraisals on your employees and already have a form, go ahead and fill one out for yourself, with a few differences -- especially number 1 below. If this isn't a part of your business practice, here are some questions to ask yourself.
Do I do things I wouldn't allow my employees to do? Yes, you are the boss, but bad behavior is bad behavior. If you come in whenever you want, hire people based on friendships, or pitch screaming fits when your employees make mistakes, it's doubtful you would tolerate that behavior among your underlings. Stop and think carefully about whether you're guilty of bad behavior on the job.
Are you growing and developing? I know you already look at your financial reports and keep an eye on how the business is growing, but what about your personal skills? It takes different skills to run a one-person business than it does to run a five-person business, not to mention a 100-person business. You may have the skills to run your business now, but will you have the skills to run it tomorrow?
What are your weaknesses? You have them, so identify them and write them down. (And no, "working too hard" doesn't count as a weakness.) Then...
How you are going to fix those weaknesses? You're the boss, so you have the flexibility to come up with whatever solutions fit your style. If you're weak at hiring, delegate that task to a subordinate. If you're weak at organization, take a class to develop your skills. No matter what you decide, write it down and follow up.
Are you on the path that will lead to your goals? That may seem a stupid question -- of course you are! But stop and think about it: Are you sure that's where you're heading? If you want to acquire new customers, but your sales person is completely overworked, it's not going to happen.
Sitting down and going over your own performance and your own goals can make it so much better when you deal with your people and your clients. You''ll know where you are and where you're going. And that means you'll be prepared to lead the way.
