It was truly a novel experience - being appraised by people whom you know and who know you very well. I am talking about my appraisal (1st round) which happened today.

As per top management's instructions, after some kirikiri, two people from our department were to appraise the rest. Though I thought it would be a bit embarrassing, the whole episode went off really well.

Sometimes it is important that we are appraised by people who are physically close to us and observe our daily routines. Again, it is important that they do it as per instructions. The same thing happened today with two of the three editors appraising other people in the department. Even the two editors were new to this as I was.

There were many instances where they shared how they managed their team when I was narrating my experiences (as we lead teams that are similar in structure and do identical work) which would not seldom happen. It was a platform for us to talk about different problems that each of us encounter everyday and what we would do to overcome.

It is also good they not very biased though I am on par with them. There was a sense of purpose, respect for each other, camaraderie and of course the ratings. There were times when I underrated myself and they tried to put forth my positives and at the same time giving suggestions on the fronts I could improve upon. I didn't encounter such situation during my 3 plus years of working career where someone evaluated my behavior or performance in front of me. Lucky! I was not one of them.

At the end of it, the ratings sheet was given to me to sign. I didn't even bother to see the points and signed it as I was very confident of the show put up by my colleagues.

Wishing all the appraisers and appraisees all the very best.