Ask the right questions to get to the desired state of performance.

"Creating a performance assessment involves both art and science. It consists of both research into available information and conversations with relevant parties," writes Hadiya Nuriddin in "Get the Whole Picture With a Performance Assessment."

While interviewing stakeholders, subject matter experts, and others about performance, the individuals you speak with may focus on shortcomings rather than on what performance should look like and why. Getting the answer to those questions will help you define what the desired state looks like in that organization.

If a company has benchmarks it wants to use as the desired state, that's a good place for a talent development professional to start. But if not, there are other ways to learn about that desired state. They include:

Review department and organizational goals. Every project that is undertaken should have a connection to the departmental goals, which then should tie into overall organizational goals.

Ask repeatedly and in different ways to different people. After interviewing numerous people and posing the question in varied fashions, you will be able to draw conclusions about the desired state, which you can then confirm with your sponsor.

Research best practices from similar groups or companies. Since you don't have benchmarks from your organization, look at what other companies are doing to find best practices and other data that may help.

These tips were adapted from the February 2018 issue of TD at Work. Learn more at www.td.org/TDatWork.