Over the weekend, Newsday – a NY newspaper – published an article called "Hey, boss, improve those performance reviews" that quoted some of the stories that have been submitted to our Worst Review contest. The article is about some of the reasons reviews are often so poorly given and poorly received and talks about some ways we can make the whole experience a little better.

Some tips from the article: 

Nothing in the review should be a surprise. That means bosses have to give more frequent feedback and hop on problems as they happen. Hard to do with so many other obligations? Of course, but remember what Stephen Covey says in his legendary book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People": You’re far better off making time for issues that are important but not urgent – so they don’t go on to become urgent.

As for those whiny, self-aggrandizing, argumentative employees – the ones supervisors want to avoid – you might consider what Paul Baard, a professor of communications and media management in the graduate business school of Fordham University, has to say: Draining as it may seem, your regular feedback can actually wear down those challenging types – he calls it "systematic desensitization."

Learn language that elicits constructive responses. As Baard says, "People don’t like to be ’should’ upon." You could tell someone he really annoys his colleagues – or, you could say: "Bill, you’re tremendous in sales. And I want to help you be that strong in interpersonal relations."

Loosen up when appropriate. With today’s pressures, you may have misread a person’s contribution – and if she comes up with examples proving you wrong, "you should not be too proud to admit having made a judgment error," Baard says.

Also, remember that it’s not just about the employee’s compliance. Sometimes see where you might bend a little. Boyle says that if an employee is consistently late, she looks to adjust the person’s start time. "I tend to be flexible."