7 Ways To Crush Your Next Performance Review At Work

Unsplash/David Travis

Got a performance review coming up with your boss? Maybe you’ve hit your annual milestone, or maybe your company prefers to do regular performance reviews. Regardless, you should know exactly how to prepare so that you get the most out of the meeting. Here’s a step-by-step guide to having the most beneficial performance review ever.

1. Review any past feedback.

Read over any feedback or notes you got on your last review (if applicable), or if you haven’t had a review before, take note of any casual feedback you’ve gotten over the course of your time at the company. If your boss previously mentioned a weak spot of yours and you improved, document that with any corresponding evidence.

2. Decide on your goals for the next year.

Look back on everything you did up to this point. What more do you want to accomplish, or what direction would you like to take if not your current direction? It’s important to lay out your personal goals and your perspective on your role’s trajectory over the next six months or so.

3. Know what you’re asking for (if you’re asking for anything).

If you’re heading into an annual review, it’s typical to get a small raise at the very least. So, if you knocked it out of the park throughout the last year and you’re hoping for something extra (a bigger raise, more PTO, equity, etc.), be clear about what you want and know how to communicate that. Brush up on those negotiating skills — they’re essential to asking for something more than what your boss is offering to you in the review.

4. Make a list of your accomplishments.

Unsplash/Cathryn Lavery

After doing some self-reflection on the last year and figuring out exactly what you want to come out of this performance review, take stock of all your accomplishments from the past 12 months. Did you hit all the goals you set for yourself, as well as the goals your company set for you? Did you go beyond your job description, and if so, did you absolutely crush those goals, too? Make a list of all those good things and have data to back you up.

5. Do an honest self-evaluation.

How do you think you performed in the last year? Put the opinions of your superiors and teammates aside — this is about whether or not you truly feel you fulfilled everything you wanted to fulfill. Be brutally honest when you ask yourself this question. It could be really impressive for you to walk into your meeting with a list of things you would have done another way and what you’ll do differently next time.

6. Have honest feedback for your boss and company ready.

This is your opportunity to air out any issues you’ve noticed throughout the last year. We’re not saying you should lay all your HR-related issues on your boss, but feel free to mention any process or part of your job that could be handled more efficiently. This meeting should be completely solution-based, so take some time to think of how your job could be better (other than you killing it every day, of course).

7. Prepare for the best… and the worst.

It’s safe to assume that if you did a great job for several months, you’ll be rewarded, but it’s important to ground yourself. Imagine both scenarios — you walk into the room facing a big fat raise, and you walk into the room having to defend your job with evidence and data. Prepare for both, and you’ll have no problem handling whatever you get in between.