Performance Review 3
Sheffield Hallam University:
Performance Review
Student: Megan Dutton
Supervisor: Jody Smith
First: 13/12/21
Mid: 21/04/22
Final: 2/08/22
SKILL AREA Student Examples / Comments Supervisor Examples / Comments

A. Professional &
Organisational Awareness
1. General presentation
2. Equality & diversity
3. Professional ethics
4. Confidentiality
5. Company structure &
function
6. Departmental structure &
function
7. Commercial awareness
Final:
 Continued to gain an understanding into how the
department functions by seeing how it supports
students during masters’ projects
 Attended the ‘Actively Building a Safe and Inclusive
Culture Workshop’ for Hallam staff members as part
of the protect and respect programme.
 Developed more of an awareness to how different
departments operate within LAO such as stores.
Score
8/10
Final:
Throughout Megan’s placement she has
always maintained a high level of
professionalism. She has continued with
this approach during MSc projects and
has provided face to face support to the
students and therefore provided a high
level of customer service.
She has completed all the necessary
training required for the role to enable
him to successfully complete his
placement.
She has respected that some
information she has been given is
confidential and has kept that
confidentiality.
Score
9/10

B. Communication
1. Clear verbal
communication & active
listening
2. Presentations
3. Explanatory ability
4. Writing skills
5. Communicating with
people at different levels /
from different backgrounds
Final:
 Assisted students during MSc projects that have
come from courses at different universities with some
having lower levels of practical involvement
 Overcoming linguistic barriers with students providing
equal support to all students.
 Mentoring a high school student on work experience
for a short session demonstrating placement student
responsibilities such as stocking the prep room,
preparing for teaching practical’s, and explaining the
QMS system.
 My confidence has greatly improved throughout my
time on placement which has made me more effective
of an effective at communicator as I am more clean
and concise.
 Gaining experience in undergraduate projects has
made me more knowledgeable in questions I need to
ask to help solve a problem during master's
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan has further improved her
communication skills during the MSc
project session. She has spent a lot of
time being student facing dealing with
student enquiries. She has done this in
a very professional manner offering
support where She can and if she
couldn’t she would find the appropriate
technician that could thus providing an
excellent customer service to the
students.
Score
9/10

C. Working with Others
1. Cooperating
2. Contributing to teamwork
3. Working under supervision
4. Supervising / showing
leadership
5. Working with different
people
6. Interdisciplinary working
7. Emotional intelligence
Final:
 I have worked as part of team during projects by
helping to cover project support in the prep room
when required.
 Taken on extra leading responsibilities for a practical I
was assisting on due to having more available time
than my colleague who was originally lead.
 Liaised with colleagues to cover practical classes at
breaks and lunches.
 I feel I have been more pro-active and approachable
to students during masters’ projects compared to
undergraduate as I have gained more experience and
confidence, and due to having less time absent and
preparing for for practical’s I have contributed more.
This was something I noted to improve on in my
reflection for my second review.
Score
9/10
Final:
Megan has integrated well into the team
throughout her placement. She is a
good team player and contributes to all
teamwork she is involved with. She has
taken the time to get to know all
specialisms of each team member which
has been invaluable in helping her
develop her own technical skills but also
in supporting the students during the
project sessions.
Score
9/10

D. Self-Improvement
1. Enthusiasm, commitment
2. Willingness to learn
3. Initiative, resourcefulness,
autonomy
4. Taking responsibility
5. Maturity
6. Effective time management
7. Personal organisation / work
planning
Final:
 Sat in on the masters training courses to expand
knowledge of equipment and best practices.
 Took responsibility for unforeseen absences by
notifying assists via email with up-to-date information
of what was outstanding and where things could be
found etc. for training courses I was leading.
 Have improved time management skills to manage
shared tasks and responsibilities when colleagues
have been on annual leave or absent due illness.
Have continued to accommodate extra
responsibilities during projects, such as increased
stock checks.
 Have taken responsibility for my own training and
learning by following the training checklist to ensure I
have attended all the required courses and enrolling
myself onto workshops such as ‘Actively Building a
Safe and Inclusive Culture’.
Score
9/10
Final:
Megan confidence has grown
enormously since starting her
placement which has been great to
see. This is evident when she is
providing support to the students.
Megan has demonstrated that she has
good time management and
organisational skills. Throughout her
placement she has had numerous
weekly duties to complete along with
her practical workload and projects
support. She has managed to cope
with this well and kept on top of her
workload.
Score
9/10

E. Problem Solving & Resilience
1. Prioritising tasks
2. Defining problems
3. Taking action
4. Locating information
5. Taking a range of
approaches
6. Persevering
Final:
 Have prioritised and planned tasks to manage
practical preparation and covering project support
alongside weekly duties.
 Noticed masters’ students were using improper
waste streams in the labs and cell culture suites at
the start of projects and so produced signs to try and
rectify the problem. The problem persisted and so the
issue was escalated to the projects manager by my
colleague and more in-depth posters were issued.
 Understanding of the information covered in the
methods folder in the prep room has allowed me to
identify the necessary folder to supply MSc students
with standard/general protocols and recipes for their
projects.
 Reading the MSc project training course booklets
and making notes during the sessions has allowed
me to direct students to the relevant parts of the
manuals, for example when assisting in cell culture
how to split cells and how to use the
haemocytometer.
 I have persevered when assisting MSc students with
equipment I haven’t used for a long time or ever
before by trying different things if one approach
hasn’t worked to rectify the problem.
 Knowledge of information on the google drive and N
drive has allowed me to assist masters’ students
during projects and request access to databases that
could further help me such as the combined chemical
inventory.
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan has used her problem-solving
skills to complete the practical
developments she has been assigned.
she has done this to the best of her
ability.
She also used her problem-solving
skills when dealing with issues within
the project lab and was able to identify
when an issue needed escalating.
Score
9/10

F. Information technology
1. Using Word/Excel/PP etc.
2. Using specialist software
3. Using databases
4. Literature searching
5. Open to developing and
utilising new technology
skills
Final:
 Used excel to carry out calculations for recording and
presenting standard data as graphs, and word for
producing documentation of this data for the students
when completing my allocated practical development.
 Used word and excel while preparing for MSc
projects such as lab allocation and student
supervisor sheets for producing name badges and
the supervisor kit request sheet for filling supervisor
boxes.
 Continued to use databases whilst supporting MSc
projects such as equipment booking and the project
request spreadsheets, as well as spreadsheets that I
haven’t previously had access to such as the
combined chemical inventory.
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan is competent at using all the
databases we have in LAO and knows
which ones to use to get the correct
information.
It is particularly important that she can
competently use all the databases
associated with the project session so
that a high level of customer service
can be provided to the students.
Megan has been able to do this with
ease.
Score
9/10

G. Numeracy
1. Calculating / evaluating
2. Checking results
3. Applying appropriate
statistics
4. Recording / presenting data
Final:
 Helped masters’ students with calculations such as
serial dilutions during projects.
 Checked standard data results for allocated practical
development and recorded and presented the data I
generated myself when running through the
practical's.
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan has further developed her
numeracy skills whilst completed her
practical development. She has used
these skills to generate data and check
that data against the existing standard
data. The purpose of doing was so she
could determine if the development of
the practical has improved the results,
and if they had this would make the
learning outcomes of the practical
better for the students.
She has also continued to use her
numeracy skills to do regular stock
checks and when preparing material
for the open day events.
Score
9/10

H. Working Practice
(i) Knowledge
1. Experimental/project design
2. Function / principles of
equipment
3. Health & safety procedures
4. Knowing reasons for
particular working practices
5. Background / theoretical
knowledge
Final:
 Attended training sessions during projects which
covered best practice of certain methods and the
functions of equipment such as SDS tanks, western
blot tanks, PCR machines etc.
 Assisted MSc students in using and trouble-shooting
equipment in projects.
 Set an example of good health and safety practice
when checking the project laboratories.
 Demonstrated the use of equipment such as the
spectrophotometers and microscopes to PSP1
students.
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan has furthered her technical
skills by attending numerous project
training courses. This has benefited
herself as she has gained new skills,
but it has benefited the project
students are Megan can competently
provide support in these areas. Her
ability to be able to do this ultimately
provides a high level of customer
service to the students.
Score
9/10

(ii) Work Skills
1. Careful & safe working
practice
2. Manual dexterity
3. Correct use of
equipment/methodology
4. Follows methods / protocols
5. Competent in a range of
activities
Final:
 Followed the QMS and lab scripts of practical's and
used equipment correctly to check and identify errors
for practical development.
 Have followed safe working practice in the labs during
projects such as wearing correct PPE to set an
example to students.
 Throughout my time on placement I have completed a
wide range of activities and with ongoing experience
have improved in effectivity and confidence.
Score
8/10
Final:
Megan can work safely in the labs.
She can do this because she can
follow and understands the relevant
documentation that allows her to do
this, such as RA’s, SOP’s, QMS’s and
lab scripts.
The ability to be able to do this is
fundamental in a technical role.
Score
9/10

(iii) Quality of Work
1. Accuracy
2. Reliability of service
3. Attention to details
4. Efficiency
5. Meets deadlines
6. Resilience under pressure
Final:
 Have met deadlines when it comes to individual duties
such as tasks allocated in preparation for projects,
laboratory check actions and practical development.
 Showed attention to detail when completing practical
development by noticing errors requiring amendment,
and accuracy when producing standard data.
 Have shown resilience under the pressure by
managing shared duties during staff absences
alongside individual duties such as setting up for
practical’s.
 Demonstrated reliability by ensuring all my duties
have been prepared for and covered when absent due
to unforeseen circumstances.
Score
9/10
Final:
Megan has proved that she is very
reliable and can complete all tasks
given to her on time and to a high
standard.
She has demonstrated she can work
well under pressure. This was
apparent during the Ug and MSc
project sessions where she had to
balance routine tasks with student
support.
Score
9/10
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SUPERVISOR

Comments / Proposals
Potential action to assist with
training, extend experience or
address problems as follow-up to
Performance Review
Third:
Megan has been a great asset to the technical team over the past year. She has been keen to learn new skills.
She has managed her time accordingly to be able to fit in training around her allocated duties which show she
has good time management skills; this will stand her in good stead for when she comes to do her final year
project next year. Megan has worked well as part of the technical team, and I feel this has helped build her
confidence enormously from when she first started her placement. Thank you, Megan, for all your hard work
over the year, I wish you all the best for your future endeavours.
Date discussed:
First: 13/12/21
Mid: 21/04/22
Final: 02/08/22
Supervisor: Jody Smith Student: Megan Dutton