📝 How to Write a Performance Review: A Simple Three-Step Process
Performance reviews can be a daunting task, but they are an essential part of your career growth. It's the time of the year when you have to write a review of your own performance, and it can be challenging to know where to start. In this article, we'll share a simple three-step process that you can use to help make it easy for you to write a review that really helps make you shine and increases your chances of getting that raise.
Step 1: Brainstorm Your Wins and Learning
The first step in writing a performance review is to brainstorm your wins and learning. You want to have data to show where you have met or exceeded expectations. Think about the projects that you and your team have delivered in the last performance period. Consider your specific contributions, where did you lead, where did you support? For each project, did you meet your goals? If you completed the goals or a major milestone, that could count as a win. If not, capture any learnings.
If you're using a tool like Jira or another project management tool, you can run a query to see everything that you delivered in the last performance period. If you're unclear where to start, talk to your project manager or scrum master, and they can help provide this query for you. Filter and pick your major wins and major learnings.
Step 2: Present Your Wins
Now that you have your wins and learnings, it's time to present them. But how do you present this succinctly but with major impact? Instead of saying, "delivered project A on March 1st, 2022," which is passive and doesn't have sufficient context, use the STAR framework. This framework is traditionally used for interviewing. You provide the situation, the task that you had, the actions that you took, and the result or the impact. Be as specific as possible.
For example, "Project A was running a couple of years behind schedule. That's the situation. I was hired to lead the team and deliver the project by March 1st, 2022, which was a new day that we had promised to our users. That's the task. I took ownership and led the following engineering and process improvements: streamlined the planning process, created dashboards, automated X system. Those are the actions that I took. As a result, we delivered the project on time, improving user engagement by 30% and retention by 20%. Here, I showed the results. Stating the results has been super valuable. This is what has helped me make strong cases for promotions and raises for my people in the past. Make sure to include any relevant links that may help support.
You also want to reference back to the behaviors to show your strengths. These are behaviors that the company expects everyone to live day to day. These usually tie back to the company values. One example of a behavior is leadership, or it could be collaboration or teamwork. The behavior that I demonstrated was leadership. This level of detail also serves as a good record in case your manager changes in the future.
Step 3: Present Your Learnings
The final step is to present your learnings. Make it as specific as possible, and include the next steps. For example, "I received feedback that I'm not biasing action. At the time, I would wait to get a lot of data before making any decisions. That's my learning. From now on, I will set deadlines for myself on when I need to make a decision so that I can move my team forward in a timely manner and learn from the results. That's my next step."
Depending on the company culture and your manager, you may want to be strategic as to what you include here. Some managers appreciate the candor. For others, it's less important that you made a mistake but more important how you've learned from it. Other managers may use this data against you, so be mindful as to what you include.
Bonus: Set Yourself Up for Success
To set yourself up for success in the next performance period, take five minutes at the end of every workday to think about one or two wins that you accomplished that day. Capture these in a document. Also, capture any positive feedback that comes your way. If someone says, "Hey, great job leading that project," capture that quote in a document. Also, capture who said it and when and what it was related to. All of these will help you refresh your memory when it comes to your next performance period.
Let's celebrate one of your wins from the past performance period. Add it in the comments section below. I'd love to check it out and cheer you on. Make sure it's not confidential, though.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Provides a simple three-step process for writing a performance review
- Helps you brainstorm your wins and learning
- Teaches you how to present your wins and learnings succinctly but with major impact
- Provides a bonus tip for setting yourself up for success in the next performance period
Cons
- May not be suitable for all company cultures and managers
- Requires some effort and time to implement
Highlights
- Brainstorm your wins and learning
- Present your wins using the STAR framework
- Present your learnings and include the next steps
- Set yourself up for success in the next performance period
FAQ
Q: What is a performance review?
A: A performance review is an evaluation of an employee's job performance over a specific period, usually a year.
Q: Why are performance reviews important?
A: Performance reviews are important because they help employees understand how they are performing and what they need to do to improve. They also help managers make decisions about promotions, raises, and other career development opportunities.
Q: How often are performance reviews conducted?
A: Performance reviews are typically conducted once a year, although some companies may conduct them more frequently.
Q: What should I do if I disagree with my performance review?
A: If you disagree with your performance review, you should talk to your manager and provide evidence to support your position. You may also want to consider seeking the advice of a human resources professional.
Resources:
- [Jira](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira)
- [How to Set Goals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6pLH5fJQMs)
- [AI Chatbot](https://www.voc.ai/product/ai-chatbot)
