What Do I Put In My Performance Review? Finding Your Story — and Strength.
Performance reviews can trigger angst in all of us — and not surprising really because so much feels at stake. And yet, applying a blend of mental fitness, communications coaching and journalistic/storytelling strategy, you’ll take less time and gain the stellar results you seek. Consider these five approaches to minimize the guess work (and worry) with your next performance review — or any strategy document explaining your past and how that ties to your future.
Step One: Figure out what’s hard about this task anyway
Before strategizing on your performance review, first explore what feels hard about reviewing yourself, anyway. From the field, I hear the following obstacles:
- Uncertainty on which achievements to highlight and how these wins align with the company’s goals
- Insufficient input from your manager on what went well (or didn’t)
- Dislike of writing — performance reviews, strategy documents, or reports — and especially when writing in a second language
- Hope for a promotion, and with that, pressure for perfection
- Fear of failure, falling back, losing approval, feeling (and seeming) expendable, etc.
Whatever your obstacle, unpack all of the negative emotions coming up for you around this report. With blameless discernment and with full empathy and compassion, build self awareness to get to the root of your dismay with this assignment. Awareness builds power and comfort. Now, you’re ready to move towards step two.
Step Two: Look for the Gift and Opportunity
In mental fitness, and in Positive Intelligence, the NY Times bestselling book by Shirzad Chamine, we learn that any trying situation can be turned into a gift. You’ve two options: Accept. Or, turn the challenge into a gift and/or opportunity. Here’s what communicators might find as a gift when applying this technique. The performance review:
- Offers opportunities to gain input from a manager, coach or mentor.
- Helps reveal what feels missing at work. Recognition or communication from your team on how their efforts align with company goals, especially when/if they’re working remotely, becomes a recurring theme. Loneliness can also obstruct.
- Invites awareness on what parts of the job brings joy and pride — or not — and where to focus.
Whatever the gift, whatever the opportunity, by finding this Sage perspective, this positive response to a difficult situation, you’ve quietened down the survivalist part of your mind. You can now approach this task from a positive, more efficient, and less fearful (therefore more calm and confident) mindset.
Step Three: Explain what makes you proudest, and why
With limited space on what to highlight, you’ve an opportunity to analyze and then explain what makes you feel proudest and why. In doing so, you’re able to convey passion and high energy for what you do. You can also signal to your reviewer:
- Your values
- Your interests and super powers
- Your focus and where you want to go next
As you outline your proudest wins, highlight and analyze what the achievement means for you and the company. And for that vital audience centered part, you’ll need some help.
Step Four: Align your successes with company goals and industry trends
To validate your achievements and to ensure your work seems vital, gain precious insight from a manager, coach, or trusted colleague, especially if working remotely from the rest of the team and especially if working for a huge organization with global reach. You might want to:
- Share your preliminary ideas on what you want to share
- Ask what stands out to them as your most helpful work
- Gain advice on how to tie things to strategic goals and anything you ought to research or read up on, including external trends and developments within your industry
- Look for a narrative thread. As you compile your ideas and integrate precious insight from others, look for consistencies in what you’ve done — and what you believe in. Then, tie things back to where the company’s headed. Find a story within.
Step Five: Convey your ideas using clear, compelling language
The final step becomes putting it all together in clear, accessible language (and brief, too, as often the word constraints get tight — as few as 200-words per response). A few tips and strategies follow:
- Use active vs. passive voice for shorter, more specific and clear sentences and a more take-charge tone. E.G. My results were noticed vs. clients noticed the results.
- Minimize jargon. If you must keep some buzz words in place for comfort, avoid stacking jargon lest the review sound like a promotional brochure.
- Keep the language simple. The Economist style guide rule prevails in business writing, too: Never use a fussy or complicated word when a simple one will do.
- Allow some vulnerability. If you’re moved by something you’ve touched, then say so. Share what makes you tick and why this work matters.
- Use contractions like ‘I’m proud,’ vs. ‘I am proud,’ and ‘we’ vs. ‘the division’ for warm and accessible tone — and you trim some words, too.
Now you’ve some coaching, writing, and strategy tips in place for acing your next performance review. Perhaps the task feels more doable than before? I certainly hope so. Regardless, good luck with your work — and your submission — and may the force be with you!
Wanting communications coaching or strategy? Try my Calendly link for a 1:1 on how we might partner, or visit my website for details.