It's the annual performance review season for me. Many of us have to go through this exercise - and some of us look at it with dread. Shouldn't my performance speak for itself? Why should I have to write down all the awesome work I did in the last year/6 months/quarter....?
Not me!
I find performance review, especially self review, a great exercise to retrospect over the past few months, celebrate the wins, and learn from the experiences - both good and bad.
Here are some tips I follow to write a good, detailed self review:
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Through out the year, make it a habit to write down achievements in your favorite note-taking tool at whatever frequency works for you - daily, weekly, biweekly. I would suggest not going over 2 weeks without noting down achievements or learnings - we tend to forget easily!
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Make notes during/after your one-on-ones with your manager. If your HR software has a Journaling tool, use that!
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Through out the year, bookmark important emails or messages you've sent or received, especially those that show some of your achievements. Use the material for your self review.
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Use your task management tool such as JIRA or Asana or whatever your team uses, to query all items assigned to you in the review time period, to assess all the work you completed.
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Similarly, use your team's documentation tool, or wiki, to search for your documentation contributions in the last year.
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If you're an engineer like me, use the tools in your source control system, to review your code contributions to further add to your list of achievements.
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If your organization allows it, ask for peer feedback as well.
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Remember to highlight how you used your organizations values or demonstrated the competencies defined in your organization, through your achievements.
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Augment your achievements with data and statistics wherever possible.
Finally, remember, you have to be your own biggest advocate. Never fall in misconception that your performance will speak for itself - highlight all the awesome achievements in your self review. More importantly, enjoy the process and the learnings from it!
Any other tips for writing a great self-review? Feel free to comment below!
Cross-posted on LinkedIn.
You can also find Saloni Shah on LinkedIn.
