Individuals - Objectives and performance reviews

Types of objectives
There are three types of objectives, defined every six month:


 * 1) Project objectives - defined every six months for the project as a whole, they are global objectives set for the project, and each recurring contractor is evaluated on his contributions to match them during the appraisal process (ex: "Have 10.000 accounts created on the project games by February 30th 2011")
 * 2) Operational objectives - they are tailored to every job and every recurring contractor, the goal is to set clear goals that are linked to the daily operational work (ex: "Do not delay more than 3 weekly iterations by February 30th 2011")
 * 3) Personal development objectives - they are not necessarily directly linked to the daily operational work and are more there to provide guidance on the person personal development, ie learning new skills or improving existing ones (ex: "Learn 3D animation and get at least three different 3D animations integrated to one of the project games by February 30th 2011" for a designer with no previous knowledge of 3D animation)

SMART outcomes
The defined objectives outcomes have to conform to the "SMART" criterias:


 * S - specific (must be clear what it is for everyone and well defined)
 * M - measurable (must include specific metrics that will be used to decide if the objective has been attained or not)
 * A - agreed upon (must have been explicitely agreed by all involved parties)
 * R - realistic (the necessary time, knowledge and resources must be known and allocated to allow to achieve it)
 * T - time-based (there must be a deadline, that can be matched)

Process
Objectives are defined every six months for both the company and recurring contractors. They are defined between the community and the contractor. For each contractor, one person is appointed as 'the reviewer', in charge of defining with the contractor operational &amp; personal objectives for the person, that are added on top of the project objectives.

During the course of the six-month period, if contributors acquire the status of recurring contractors, they enter the appraisal program, and therefore a reviewer defines with the contractor the objectives that will be his for the next six months.

Through the course of the 6-month period, the reviewer and the recurring contractor regularly hold 121 meetings (they meet online through voice/video chat). They discuss objectives advancement, operational and personal issues, and the reviewer makes sure the contractor is getting proper support. The review form is updated by the reccurring contractor at the end of the meeting, and issues, suggestions and ideas discussed during the meeting are raised on the mailing list, by the recurring contractor himself as much as possible. Except when items are explicitely listed as a topic that are can be held private, the content of the discussion must remain public.

At the end of each 6-month period, the reviewer, along with the community through a 360 feedback process, prepares the appraisal of the contractor and discusses it with him.

Review template
Any page on the wiki can be turned into a review form - simply replace its content by the following:

See an example of a review form.

Lists of competencies

 * General competencies
 * Technical competencies:
 * Art