Performance Review Memo

Rationale:

At work, you will often be asked to account for your own performance on projects, or to account for the performance of others. Such performance reviews are often used to determine promotion and compensation decisions. In this assignment, you will be asked to make a similar assessment of your team's performance throughout this semester--including your own performance.

The purpose of this assignment is twofold:

to evaluate your own performance against the learning objectives for ENG 3050
to establish opportunities for improving performance in future writing courses and in professional settings

Minimum Requirements:

2-3 pages
Single-spaced
Standard memo format

Assignment:

For this assignment, you will write a performance review memo assessing your performance, both individually and collaboratively, in ENG3050 this semester. Your performance review should make explicit reference to the course learning objectives (on the syllabus), and should be written with attention to the interests and values of your instructor in mind. Your goal is to make an argument about the relative strength of your performance in this course. Use the memo format in Anderson, Chapter 23 (pp 478-9; 480).

Use the following outline to conduct your performance review and draft your memo.

Introduction (1-2 paragraphs).

Provide an overview of the topic of the memo and the points you will discuss in the body of the document. The introduction should serve to orient the reader to the purpose of the memo and your main points or conclusions. You should include here a description of the learning objectives (on the syllabus) you will be referring to throughout your memo. You should discuss most, or all learning objectives. Again, it may help to compose the introduction after the rest of the memo.

Performance review (1-2 pages).

The body of this document will be based around an assessment of your overall performance as well as providing assessments of your contributions to collaborative projects. Throughout your performance review, you should rely on concrete, specific details of your project work and your writing process(es) to support your analysis. Use the following guide to structure the body of your memo:

Individual performance: Assess your work on the projects completed individually (résumé/cover letter, professional site, WikiHow Cite, short assignments) in terms of how successfully you think each fulfilled the learning objectives for this course. How did your writing process(es) adapt to each of these writing situations? What concepts (audience, genre, persuasion, usability, design, revision, criteria...) helped you think about creating your work, or about the quality/effectiveness of your work? How would you change your approach to these projects now, if at all?

Collaborative performance: Assess your work on the projects completed collaboratively (project plan, instruction set/user test, technical report) in terms of how successfully you think each fulfilled the learning objectives for this course. How did your writing process(es) adapt to each of these collaborative writing situations? In what ways did you work to further the team’s success on these projects? What concepts (audience, genre, revision, usability, collaboration, stasis, ...) helped you think about creating your work, or about the quality/effectiveness of your work?

Conclusion (1-2 paragraphs).

In your conclusion, you need to do two things. First, argue whether your work this semester, both individually and collaboratively, met the learning objectives for ENG3050. Second, identify two to three lessons, findings, or strategies drawn from this semester's work that you might apply to future writing projects, whether these lessons might be about your own performance or about making team performances more effective.

Relevant Links for Performance Review Memo:

* “What is Performance Appraisal?”, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)

* “Objectives of Performance Appraisal,” What is Human Resource (whatishumanresource.com)

Due:

Tuesday April 28, Week 15

Rubric:

This memo will be awarded an individual grade, and it will be worth a maximum of 100 points toward your final grade in ENG 3050. The following rubric will be used to evaluate your performance review memo:

Factor	General Description	Description	Possible	Earned
Introduction		The introduction provides a concise overview of the material covered in the performance review discussion. The introduction forecasts the main points of discussion in the body of the memo. *The introduction forecasts the main conclusions or findings of the memo.	15
Performance Review		The performance review offers a thorough and candid assessment of individual performance. The performance review offers a thorough and candid assessment of collaborative performance. The performance review relies on clear reference to course learning objectives. The performance review is supported with detailed reference to project work.	50
Conclusion		The conclusion presents a convincing final argument for how well the writer performed individually and collaboratively this semester. The conclusion presents a persuasive set of lessons or findings that stem logically from the performance review offered in the memo.	15
Format	Is this document easy to read and attractive? Do you follow the conventions of this genre, or, alternately, break the conventions in interesting and creative ways that indicate that you are familiar with those conventions?	The performance review meets the 2-3 page length requirement. The performance review is presented in standard memo format. *Document design makes effective use of headings, section breaks, etc to effectively organize the document.	10
Grammar & Style	Is your document readable and sensible? Are words spelled correctly?	Grammar and mechanics are perfect. Style is appropriate for a professional audience.	10
TOTAL			100