What to do when you get low "People Skills" score on a review.

[goldent]

1. During the review I would say (in so many words)

that I want to improve my people skills (ignore your feeling of whether you need to, or even if you can). Say "I want to get a 5 next time" Go on to say that to do this I need to know specifically what I am (or am not) doing so I can improve. I want to write down a list of specific things I can do, so that if I do these I will have an improved score next time. If he/she gives a vague response, you can say "I hear what you are saying, but it isn't very specific - I really need to know more specifically where the problems are - I want you to give it to me straight with concrete examples because if I really don't know what the problem is, I can't improve."

I have seen this work, but it of course it depends on your boss. The idea is to give every indication you want to improve, and to put the ball in his/her count by making him/her give you specifics, with the idea that if you follow the plan, you will get a much higher score. And it wouldn't hurt to have a chat with him/her after a month or so where you make the case that you are improving, so that he/her knows you are thinking about this. Or send emails giving him progress, if you want a written record.