Success is measured by the accomplishment of objetives and goals. Define yours.

Héctor

"If a design project, however, is to be considered successful – and that would be the true measure of quality – it will not only solve the problem at hand, but also add an aesthetic dimension beyond the pragmatic issues."

http://www.elementskateboards.com/audiovisual/ev2.html

Thank you, but I was looking for some examples of how (based on what criteria) people are evaluated by the employers.

I mean practical stuff. If you make 5 typos are you fired? How do they evaluate whether your deisgn/layout/editing work has been successful? Doesn't anyone have to undergo some kind of job-related performace review?

K.

As a freelancer, my clients evaluate me on how quick I do it and how much the print shop charges them -- they usually trust me to "do it right" already. If I get the job done on schedule and make their print shop bill as small as possible, they come back. If not, not.

My accountant gives me a performance review -- if I'm making more money than I'm spending, I'm "successful." :-)

In your case, I'd be excessively wary of standards like "make x typos and you're sacked" -- if you've got the job, it's because you passed their editorial test before they hired you, and it's a moot point (we all make mistakes sometime -- we're human!). I suspect things like cost control and "customer service" are much more important (to them) measures.

Linda

Oh, practical stuff, I see, well, if you find it useful I have got a friend who did a 3-1/2 hours of interviewing and testing at DR&A in Berkeley for a position for, if I remember right, supervising the work of two copy editors on three magazines. He told me that the test was like the math problems of old, i.e., a scenario is given whereby such and such person purchases a certain number of items, etc., and the proofing test involved finding numerous repeated items such as too many or too few spaces between words and sentences, numbers that should have been spelled out, Romans that should have been Italics and vice versa, and misspelled words. Apparently $40K was too much to ask.
I am not sure if this was the place but you could try them, http://srcweb.berkeley.edu/

We do. It's all management fluff. A survey you fill out and some of your peers. It's mainly abstract things that aren't terribly specific.

It would be most useful for me to hear from people who hold editing/proofreading and page layout positions.

They appear to be too busy meeting performance standards which don't include "Post to Typophile" :-)

Not true! I will gladly use time I should be using for making graphs of psychological-test data ;) I work at a University and there is, as far as I know, no performance reviews. I do, however, work on a contract basis so have to keep reapplying for my job year after year, so I would imagine that if I sucked then I wouldn't get rehired.

I tend to measure my own success by whether the client is satisfied with their job, if it's delivered on time and if it's something that looks professional, is a bit special and functions well, vague huh. I am annoyed if I take too much time for a job that should be done more quickly, I am even more annoyed if I take more time and the result still sucks. I worry that sometimes jobs I would like to (and need to) be giving more attention to suffer because of other more pressing (but ultimately less important) jobs that monopolise time.

My employer probably mostly emphasises time = money and likes to see things done efficiently but she also appreciates that good design/typesetting/editing takes time and is not overbearing about the former but gently (thank God) reminding of my real world obligations. She is also very encouraging about design that she appreciates which usually matches my own tastes.
hope this helps

--N

Sorry, it's not true at all to say she mostly emphasise time = money, to clarify, she worries about this and needs to as the boss, but is generally very balanced in her approach b/w allowing me the time i need to work while reminding me of my obligations.

--N

Thank you. I guess my employment situation isn't typical of this industry. I'm not working on contract; I'm unionized and permanent. "Measuring excellence" is part of the university's new 5 year plan.

For sure the measurements can't be like those for data entry, which is precisely why I was having difficulty. However, I quite appreciate my supervisor's point: if I don't provide the guidelines by which to assess my success, someone else will, and it may be along the lines of x number of mistakes gets me canned.

I've included below what I came up with. Thanks for the input, and of course, I'd be happy to hear comments... I have a feeling this will be a work in progress.

Thanks,
K.

Measuring my success

On message
Do I edit and design with an eye to clarity, accuracy and unity of message? Are my designs consistent with University branding and visually compelling for the target audience?

Are my designs clear and readable? Do they contribute to or hinder the reader’s ability to find answers and information? Does the publication’s design/language fit its intended purpose?

Are my writing, editing and designs up to the standard of excellence the University wishes to project?

Accuracy
Do my publications contain errors and typos? How many? What (if any) impact do my errors have, financially or otherwise? Have I done my best to ensure accuracy?

Adaptability and responsiveness
Am I flexible and able to adapt to new/changing technology, methods, and target audiences as required, and within reason? Do I set reasonable limits?

Do I use creativity in solving problems?

Do I strive to improve? Do I improve? Does my work address/correct issues raised with previous publications? Do I correct my mistakes and take steps to ensure similar errors do not recur?

Overall contribution
How am I to work with? Am I flexible (again, within reason) with regards to work schedules and tasks? Do I assist the team or do I hinder? Do I set necessary limits? Do I contribute to the unit’s success?

Measurement tools (Keeping in mind that opinions will vary.)

1-End user surveys: recruiters, students, counsellors, graduates, applicants, professors, etc...

2-Feedback from telephone services, or other front-line services about ease of use, clarity or other questions and comments resulting from the publication’s language/presentation.

3-Casual feedback from other areas.

4-Feedback from peer competition events. (I believe K. was submitting the faculty booklets in an award competition of some kind. This kind of response can tell us how we measure up against our peers, whether others in the industry think we’re doing a good job or not.)

5-Self and peer evaluations.

6-Checking admission statistics against the unit’s target areas for adjustments to be made in the future. (What has or has not had an impact, where do we direct our efforts?)

Might be a little verbose -- I'd be tempted to turn "contribute to or hinder" into simply "contribute to" -- but certainly a good start.

The "Are my writing, editing and designs up to the standard of excellence the University wishes to project?" makes me a little nervous, though: if there's an extensive style manual that is rigourously adhered to, fine, but if there isn't, it become a pretty amorphous concept.

I'd also want to see something in there that also mentions cost-effectiveness: for example, you find a way to do a great piece by creatively imposing it to print one side one colour and the second side four, instead of both sides four, and save a ton of money in the process. Doesn't hurt to qualify being able to improve the bottom line.

As someone once remarked to me, "The person wanting this job done will want you to do it fast, right, and cheap. Always tell them they can only have two." Might as well get credit if you can get close to three.... ;-)

FWIW, I don't envy you having to do this: I know it's the backlash from Enron, but trying to wring "accountability" from intellectual and creative processes seems to frequently result in a lot of BS. That's not to say that there shouldn't be some way to objectively measure the difference between two employees, but all this palaver about "excellence" simply strikes me as the latest management fad proposed by someone else with a book to flog.

Anyone else remember TQM?

Linda

"“Measuring excellence” is part of the university’s new 5 year plan."

I'm getting nauseous. ;o)

I think your list is fine. In the end, it's really a matter of 'do my customers like my work and do folks like me around here'. But management can't use that as it doesn't have enough fluff to fit into their '5 year plan' initiative.

Linda, thanks for the input. "Hinder"... yeah, what was I thinking?
Also you're right about including something to do with costs. Even though I won't be designing anything in colour, keeping the page count down and still maintaining readability and appeal is good.

Funny, my editing prof said something similar about quality, low cost, and speed: you can only ever have 2 of the three.

Aluminum, yes, it's difficult to translate "customers like my work" into a dollar value for our next budget. It comes down to the work we do justifying the budget we receive (or poverty thereof). I'd like to think (but would probably be dreaming) that if we demonstrate clearly enough that we do have an impact on all those good things like enrolment, we would get more money to play with.

Anyway, thanks for the feed back. We'll see how it goes.
K.

Costing: There's also keeping track of how many print-outs you're making: do you go through 2 printed iteratations to review your work or 15? Are there other ways the staff can reduce costs? And for large runs, even in B&W, there's a time and place to spec specific papers and print sheet or web: that sort of stuff can really make a difference.

>Funny, my editing prof said something similar about quality, low cost, and speed: you can only ever have 2 of the three.

I think it's that way in pretty much every job out there. :-(

>I’d like to think (but would probably be dreaming) that if we demonstrate clearly enough that we do have an impact on all those good things like enrolment, we would get more money to play with.

Well, maybe not more, but certainly not less!

Good luck.
L.

“Measuring excellence” is part of the university’s new 5 year plan.

Did someone from the business school come up with this slogan? Sounds like MBA-buzzword-BS to me...

if I don’t provide the guidelines by which to assess my success, someone else will, and it may be along the lines of x number of mistakes gets me canned.

"x number of mistakes" is not a measure of success: it's a measure of failure. Héctor is entirely correct: measuring success depends entirely upon setting goals and achieving them. Goals, according to standard MBA-buzzword-BS criteria, must be...

• specific;
• measurable; and
• attainable.

Each project is different; each project has different goals. Ideally, the person who hands you the project should draw up his or her OWN list of goals, and your success should be measured against how well you do or don't achieve THOSE goals. If you don't have a clear idea of what you're supposed to accomplish in the first place, you shouldn't be held accountable if the end product doesn't meet (or exceed, to continue the buzzword-BS argument) the requisitioner's expectations.

Of course, this approach requires extra work from the people who want work from you, and it requires that their goals meet the criteria listed above. Chances are, even if you were to institute this regimen, you would have a difficult time getting complete, accurate and realistic information from your internal clients...which is why I said, at first, that it sounds like MBA-buzzword-BS to me...lofty, commendable, proactive, but basically marketing hype, and nothing else.