Yikes, Sophia! Glad your stuff is OK.

Oh my, Calli. Walls are not what they used to be....

Feel better, -t!

Wait, which did you miss? Hope it's truly ok either way.

I missed the big boss meeting, but it was totally fine. People still don't really remember I work here now!

An old cube of mine was just outside 2 conference rooms. Folks would excuse themselves from a meeting and then talk on the phone just outside my cube. Drove me nuts!!!

Working from home, the main thing that hits my sound issues is when Jack decides to loudly lick himself. I prefer the snoring, personally.

Due to high winds, apparently my sister lost power at her house yesterday and won't get it back until Saturday. BANANAS.

What's good feedback to give a junior person when you are senior?

shrift, when I was junior, I worked for several people that gave feedback primarily on where I needed to improve. So (1)I thought I was only doing things wrong, which led to depression, poor morale, and other problems, and (2) I'd be surprised at review time when my supervisor told me that I was doing fine. So I'd suggest telling people what they're doing right as well as what they're doing wrong.

Another thought is to anticipate what might concern or confuse junior people. On an admin note, I work for a government agency that doesn't close during lack-of-budget government shutdowns (because we're funded by assessments on the entities we supervise and not tax revenues). So I've taken on the role of making sure new people know that fact whenever the media start talking about the threat of a shutdown.

And ~ma for your sister.

Shrift depending on how junior they are, some of the best advice I ever got was to write up processes. The thought was that no one is indespensible and also people get sick, leave, whatever. Have your tasks documented to CYA and also to help if/when you leave. It makes people think about how they do tasks also.

Another thing was to document things. Having worked for 1)unethical people 2)forgetful people 3)people wanting to fire me 4)unmediated ADD people - it has served me well to ask questions in writing, to follow up meetings with an email outlining what I understood to be my responsibilities from said meeting (same with phone calls). Lots of "as we discussed today by phone.....).

And last thing I was once told, although it is never in any job description, part of every job is to keep the boss happy. If a clean office makes your boss happy, then it is in your best interests to try and maintain a clean office, even if it does not affect your job performance.

Awwwww, YAY! Tim's nephew recently got engaged, and he and his fiancee asked me to officiate at the wedding! Not until August 2018, so plenty of time. But still -- YAY!

Yay, Rev. Steph!

Shift, find something they have done well and then couch any constructive criticism related to that item as "you do this thing great and to take that piece of work to the next level, you should do this other thing".

One of the biggest things I learned from an old boss is NO SURPRISES. That goes for good as well as bad. If you're giving feedback throughout, the review process becomes a lot easier on all sides. There should be nothing in a review that they haven't heard before, with the possible exception of feedback you (the manager) received from others as part of the evaluation process.

I find that approach really helps me as a manager to remember to treat this as an ongoing, full year process and to both give praise and raise any issues or concerns as they happen and with suggestions (and time) to build on them.

I'm not sure from your post if these are actually direct reports - if not, more general "you're really strong at X and if you apply that to Y" type stuff might be more useful. As specific as you can get on steps to enhance Y is good since it's a learning opportunity as much as a formal review.

Shift, find something they have done well and then couch any constructive criticism related to that item as "you do this thing great and to take that piece of work to the next level, you should do this other thing".

Yes to this as well.

Oh, I've already talked about something they've done well! I was just trying to think about what's most useful for a person starting out in their career, like getting better at meeting facilitation, for example.

Thanks!