Making objectives common in performance appraisal interviews

• We examine the setting of common goals in performance appraisal interviews.
• We show that writing practice is crucial in the accomplishment of common goals in the interviews.
• The jointness of goals is not only verbalized, it is also embodied.

This paper investigates goal setting in performance appraisal interviews. The data are video-recorded performance appraisal interviews from a Finnish public sector organization. The study focuses on the role of writing in deciding on common goals for future development. Drawing from conversation analytical methods, the empirical analysis highlights three central interactional patterns for the setting of goals: a proposal–approval/rejection format, a question–answer format, and a summary format. It is shown that they are different in terms of how they allow the employee to participate in the process. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that writing practices play a crucial role in these interactional sequences. It is thus argued that goal setting is inextricably connected to the discursive action of completing the appraisal form.