// A working out loud, public second brain

Objective Setting and Evidencing Guide

Notes: Publish this somewhere on the intranet or wiki, so it’s visible to your direct reports/teams. There should be no surprises

Purpose

The primary objective for each team, is to deliver on the strategic roadmap and BAU activity as required by the business and as such this is not reflected in individual objectives. It is our collective purpose.

Individual objectives are set around performance-based goals adjacent to this, with the aim to improve the holistic performance of the engineering function.

Method

  1. Set one or two business-related objectives per engineer per quarter - these are often likely to be the same across engineers within a team as we aim for high-performing teams and not individuals.

  2. Additionally, and crucially, there is one personal objective per engineer per quarter to focus on personal development and growth, whether that is training on agile, specific technology or techniques, or perhaps working towards an Azure certification. These should be engineer-led but with agreement from the Head of Engineering.

Objectives

[Provide link to objective tooling e.g., HR system]

Evidence

Following a similar approach to science experiments at school in the UK, for those that remember them. Using the following outline provides a good template for succinct evidence.

  • Hypothesis (what do you expect to happen)
  • Method (What steps did you take)
  • Conclusion (what was the outcome)
  • Evaluation (what will you try next time)**

Published 18 February 2025, with 239 words.