I am writing job descriptions and evaluations for paid staff at our community theater. If anyone has words of wisdom I would really appreciate it. I have read 3 books and received information from this web site. The difficulty is wording that reflects the delicate nature of the artistic process, avoiding a bureaucratic approach, but still having a reliable scale and instrument.

Focus on the desired results not the process to get there. For example, if you are writing a job description for a volunteer coordinator, focus on the need ("builds a bank of volunteers who are knowledgable and enthusiastically support the mission of the theater") rather than list the steps to be taken to accomplish this goal ("writes article for monthly newsletter to attract new volunteers").

It sounds like you are developing an evaluation form rather than doing evaluations at this time. Every evaluator has a different evaluation style and I have found that a single form does not work. I have given our supervisors a lot of freedom in how to accomplish evaluations. A couple of things to remember: 90% of our employees feel they are in the top 10% of all of our employees and are very upset to hear that is not true. No matter how much good you put in an evaluation, the employee will focus on the one negative comment you included. No one likes surprises and the annual evaluation is not the place for an employee to find out that he/she has a major (or minor) weakness. ANY negative comment should be discussed in the months before the evaluation and the employee given time and counseling to correct it before the evaluation. If it is corrected, it should be noted positively in the evaluation and if not should form the basis of an agreed upon corrective plan documented in the evaluation.

I have lots of different evaluation forms (not for theater but business) but nothing replaces the sit down discussion between two people.