10 Tips for a Great Performance Review

Worried about your upcoming performance review? Here are some tips we have pulled together to help you have a successful performance review.

Before your review

1.  Prepare beforehand!

• Review your own work of the past year; identifying any obstacles faced, your job description familiarity and how well you are meeting the criteria set for you, responsibilities and any expectations established with the manager.
• Note: if you keep track of your work throughout the year, you can cite your accomplishments easily when it comes time for your review.

2.  Fill out the given performance evaluation sheet before the meeting.

If your manager doesn’t have a set template for you to use, create your own:

• Write a short one or two page document of: your work over the year, goals for the new year, your needs to reach those goals and your personal view on your strengths and areas for improvement.
• Rypple’s coaching and mentoring tools are a great way to speed this process up. Have regular 1:1 coaching sessions and track your actions, goals, and notes throughout the year.

3.  Evaluate yourself honestly.

Talk about your strengths but also your weaknesses and areas for improvement. Giving a balanced review about your performance shows maturity and that you are flexible enough to take help from others.

4.  Become familiar with the company’s review process well in advance of your meeting.

The fear of the unknown can sometimes create anxiety for you prior to the meeting. This should be a learning opportunity and hopefully you will take away useful information. Get to know your boss and try to grasp an idea of whether or not they are receptive to suggestions.

5.  Understand the rating system.

• Some organizations do their performance reviews with a rating system, however these systems and numbers can vary from one company to the next. Ask someone in Human Resources if you’re unsure of how your performance is translated into a rating system.

During your review

6.  Communicate in a mature and professional manner.

Try not to be defensive and emotional when talking with your boss.

• It can be hard to hear constructive criticism – let alone negative criticism – from your manager. If you’re going into the meeting with a defensive attitude, your mind will not be open to change.
• Try to be calm and open to feedback: it will only be destructive to you if you don’t want to learn and improve from what your manager has to say.

7.  Managers can’t read minds, so speak up.

• Don’t let your manager do all of the talking. This should be a two sided conversation, not a confrontation; both positions and ideas should be shared.
• This is your chance to make any suggestions or comments for them to consider.

8.  Express career goals

• Towards the end of your meeting is the time to express your career ambitions with the company. Show initiative and motivation! Bring up your goals for next year.

After your evaluation

9.  Have regular “check ins” with your manager

• Instead of seeing him or her once a year, request a meeting with your manager much more frequently to see how you are doing and what you can do to improve before your yearly performance appraisal when it is too late to improve your work. We recommend having coaching and mentoring sessions on a bi-weekly basis.

10.  Amp up your effort a few months in advance of the next evaluation.

• Although you should be consistent and hard working all year round, you should increase your efforts two months or more before the review.

11. Bonus tip! Try Rypple to have more frequent and effective feedback discussions with your fellow employees and managers. It’s free to get started, so try it today!