As the owner of a scorecard it is your responsibility to make sure that it is reviewed and closed every 90 days. However, out of respect for our “no interruption for a developer during a sprint” policy, if you are part of a development team that is currently in a sprint when your scorecard is due then your scorecard review date is moved to the last day of your next cool down period.
Regardless of how your review date is set, to ensure your scorecard is closed on time please make sure that your first draft is well thought out and clearly communicated, and it is delivered to your team leader at least 1 week before it is due to give both of you ample time to discuss and close it. Be sure to check in advance to confirm and work around holiday plans to make sure you won’t be delayed because one, or both of you, are out on vacation.
Begin your scorecard review by reviewing the latest version of the scorecard template and where applicable update your scorecard for any changes or improvements that have been made to the process.
Your scorecard review should be an affirmation of everything discussed weekly in your one-on-ones with your leader. There should be no surprises or misalignments. If both you, and your leader, have been communicating well over the last ninety days the scorecard review should be done in two iterations.
If you are performing all aspects of your role, for greater certainty you aren’t working your way into your role and as such are in training to take it over, and you have scored an A for 2 consecutive quarters, then your base compensation, which includes employer benefit contributions, needs to be meeting the median target for the role you hold. If it isn’t, don’t be shy, point that out and get it resolved.
If you have scored less than an A on your scorecard then you and your team leader need to define your performance improvement plan to get you to an A by your next scorecard review. The performance improvement plan has four parts;
- Situation; The summary of the problem, no adjectives, superlatives, stories or excuses, just the facts about the situation.
- Cause(s); What is causing the situation to happen. List them out. Once again, just the facts.
- Correction(s); For each cause what correction(s) will be taken to eliminate the cause. Corrections are actionable; they have a clear and quantifiable outcome, 1 owner, and a due date.
- Followup; The plan to mutually check in on the performance improvement plan progress. Your weekly one-on-one together is a great opportunity to touch base and confirm where you are at with your corrections.
If during the above review you conclude this isn’t the role for you and you would like to take on a different role we will do our best to accommodate that change, assuming we have an opening, and you are qualified. If you conclude the company isn’t a good fit for you, or come to that conclusion at any time during your performance improvement plan, and you resign, we will pay you full severance. If we have mutually tried to correct the situation for two consecutive scorecard reviews and we have not achieved an A result there is no point repeating the same pattern. Assuming there are no new corrections to be made that were missed, or not properly supported, you will need to take a different role.
Once you and your team leader have completed your scorecard review update the status of your scorecard in the scorecard status spreadsheet.
Whether you want to share the conclusions reached in your scorecard review with some or all members of the company is your choice. Scorecard reviews are not published to the company unless the person who was reviewed chooses to do so.