Critical Incident Method- Keeping a record of uncommonly good or undesirable examples of an employee’s work-related behavior and reviewing it with the employee at predetermined times.
With the critical incident method the supervisor keeps a log of positive and negative examples (critical incidents) of a subordinate’s work-related behavior. Every 6 months or so, supervisor and subordinate meet to discuss the latter’s performance, using the incidents as examples. It provides examples of good and poor performances the supervisor can use to explain the person’s rating. It makes the supervisor think about the subordinate’s appraisal all during the year (so the rating does not just reflect the employee’s most recent performance).