Judgment Day

For a couple of days I have been pre-occupied by the 360-degree evaluation. In this, we are judged not by the conventional exams, but by the feedback from peers, project stakeholders and professors. This is how the system works:

1. There are 20 of us scholars (yes, scholars [fanfare]) at the PDC. Each of us is given 20 forms to fill in, one for each scholar.

2. These forms have sections on the skills acquired through the various course work we took up. Plus one section on Team and Leadership skills. We have to rate each person on a scale of 5 on different aspects of the skill, giving elaboratory comments. So you can't get back at your PHB team-lead just by saying "This friend of mine is a #$%& dunderhead with IQ less than that of a dead dodo," but must support with substantial evidence indicating how it is indeed so.

3. We then send these filled-up forms to our professor, who would edit the feedback to ensure anonymity. (And to delete flames, if any...) So our carefully constructed feedback in step 2 might be bowdlerised to "Must practise Mensa puzzles twice a day..."

4. Our professor would then send the distilled comments to us. Look Momma, my grade sheet!