At Thoughtworks we run regular rounds of reviews (at least twice a year). We also try to collect project roll off reviews although collecting feedback at these points sometimes proves difficult as people move on to other projects. The last few rounds, I’ve used the list that Jason Yip wrote a while back here. It’s served me well on the most part, and thought it’s about time to review them to be slightly more relevant. Here’s the latest one I’m using for my current project.
- How do you feel about how I’ve listened to you? Tried to understand you?
- Did I provide you with enough guidance and support? Did I give you enough freedom? How would you describe my approach?
- What things made it easy for you to work/pair program with me? What things made it hard to work/pair program with me? How do you think we could collaborate better?
- In the role of a technical lead, do you think I was effective or ineffective? How could I become more effective in my role? What do you see as my greatest strengths? What do you see as my greatest weaknesses?
- Describe how my style differs from other technical leads that you’ve worked with? What would you change? What would you keep?
- What things have I done that have had a significant impact (positive and negative) on the project?
- What areas do you think I can improve or grow in and why?
I’d be interested to see if you have any more that you ask yourself? If so, please leave a comment.
Wow, I don’t even remember posting that.
The two most important questions that I use and suggest today:
What makes me stronger? What makes me weaker?
These are the questions that we ask ourselves and we answer them empirically. And we ask and answer weekly, not biannually.
Thanks for your feedback Jason. I do like those questions, though I’ve found when asking for feedback, sometimes I need to ask stronger leading questions over open questions like above.