Being able to review another person’s work is one of those extremely valuable skills that someone aspiring to any type of leadership position must master. It can be a very challenging and intimidating task, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some basic tips that will help you not only rise to the task, but also excel at it.

To Note: The type of review I will be referring to for this article is what I call a in-depth review. That means it’s for both content and basic grammar and spelling.

• Be familiar with the topic – This may seem like a no-brainer if you’re doing a content review, however, you’d be surprised how often this isn’t the case. If you’re not familiar enough with the topic to do a good review, please let me know. The last thing you want to do is make your work worse after your feedback is incorporated. One of the worst results of this is that one of your comments could actually make your work wrong, which can lead to a cascade of different problems.
• Have a template for your comments – Many times someone has returned my work to me with their comments scattered all over the document, forcing me to search through the document to find out what they said. This is a time consuming process and also leaves room for a comment to be lost, especially if it is a large document. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to comment inline, however you also need to mark where these comments are in a predefined template. This template is usually pretty basic, a simple example would contain the name of the reviewer, the review date, the work being reviewed, and then for each comment there would be a reference number, location and description.
• be descriptive – If you are going to make a comment, be sure to explain exactly what you want to get at. It doesn’t have to be a thesis, but writing “Wrong” won’t be enough and will just lead to you having to explain each comment. Usually a few short sentences should be enough to explain yourself. They should contain what you are referencing and how you think it should be changed. If you need more than that, it’s probably best to take note of their comment and talk to them about it.
• Be constructive with your criticism. – This goes hand in hand with the previous point. If you think something needs to be fixed, don’t say “This sucks, get rid of everything and then play in traffic.” While it may be true that they need to do a lot of work, instead of pure negative criticism, suggest a way that it can be improved.
• be objective – This could be the most important advice I can give you. Many times at work we are asked to review the work of someone we don’t necessarily like or respect. This should NOT be taken into account when actually doing your review. Remember, you are reviewing their work, not them personally. Even if you don’t like them, their work could be important to your project. Making it worse or not helping to improve that product won’t do you any good in the long run.
• Make sure you have the latest version – This is a two-way street. While it is the other person’s responsibility to make sure they have the latest and greatest copy of her work to review, it will be your time that will be wasted if he reviews the wrong copy. Before you start reviewing, do a final check with them to make sure you have the correct copy.
• Book time for the conference – Make sure you are prepared to take time and answer questions about your review. I have never had a review where I was not asked questions or asked questions of myself. Know that this is going to happen and try to plan accordingly. A good idea if you’re short on time during the day is to schedule a time to go over the review and make sure you have all your questions ready for when you meet.

I can’t stress this enough: being able to effectively Y thoroughly reviewing someone else’s work is one of the most important skills you can develop in today’s workplace. Leading others is one of the most important milestones in most people’s careers, and to do so, you need to be able to review what they produce.