Performance reviews have come up recently at my work, and I was put in an interesting position. Our team does a lot of pair programming, which has a tendency of averaging out the skill differences between team members (especially considering we rotate pairs). Generally, when doing performance reviews, you look back at the work you've done, and demonstrate what you've accomplished, and how you've exceeded expectations to try to negotiate a raise or other benefits.
How do you demonstrate (or even measure) individual performance in an environment like this?
Best Answer
include the value you added to the pair programming in the performance review - did you help the other programmer learn useful things? (and vice-versa, did you listen to his/her sage advice and cooperate well?)
a performance review should not be a competition, it should be a coaching evaluation relative to your personal goals (which are presumably in line with the company goals and mutually agreed upon at the beginning of the year; otherwise it's just arbitrary)