It is very important to keep communications honest. Performance reviews are an arena where sugar-coating often takes place. If an employee is an average performer, give them an average rating. A misuse of performance evaluation will come back to haunt you when it is time to plan merit increases.

To summarize, communicate with others as you would prefer them to communicate with you. This will help prevent mistakes and build positive working relationships with others. In effect, it will help you and me to become  a better supervisor or manager in the workplace.