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Performance review season

A review is a chance to look back on a whole year, in just one hour. Feeling a little tense is part of it, whether you are being reviewed or writing the review.

Most of what makes these conversations go well happens beforehand: knowing which examples you will bring, and what you want the other person to leave with.

Which situation are you in?

You are being reviewed

Your own year is the topic: before the conversation, during it and afterwards.

  • My review conversation is coming up and I want to prepare

    What do you want to have said, and heard, by the end of the hour?

    I want to leave knowing how my manager sees the past year, and having said clearly what I want to work on next...

    Example

  • I have to write my self-assessment

    What did this year teach you that a list of tasks wouldn't show?

    When the delay became clear, I tried to make up the time myself instead of raising it early...

    Example

  • My review doesn't match how I see my year

    Hurt is a fair first reaction. The useful second one is finding the one assessment you really see differently, and the examples that show it.

    The rating reduces my year to one moment, and I don't know what I should do differently.

    Example

  • I want to make the case for a promotion or raise

    Asking for more can feel unfamiliar. Evidence turns it into a conversation about your work.

    For a year I have been leading the payments topic, which is part of the next level's role description...

    Example

You are writing or giving reviews

For anyone who assesses other people's work, with or without a management title.

  • I have to write a review and want it to be fair

    What happened in March? A fair review reaches back past the last few weeks.

    In two of three handovers the documentation was missing, and open issues only came up when someone asked...

    Example

  • I want to say more than “great job”

    Specific praise shows the person what to keep doing.

    She split the migration into weekly steps, raised risks early and documented every step for the rest of the team...

    Example

You are looking at next year

Reviews also look forward: at goals, and at what you want to learn.

  • Next year's goals feel unrealistic

    Easier to raise now, while the goals are still a draft.

    This year the same team shipped 14 releases, and about a third of our time went into support...

    Example

  • I don't know what to work on next year

    From a vague wish to a first concrete step.

    So far I have taken part in reviews but never led one, and I hold back when senior colleagues disagree...

    Example

Something else around your review?

Find a fitting method with a few questions.

Find a fitting method

If this is about more than a different view of the year and you feel treated unfairly, you can get support, for example from HR or the works council.

What makes reviews easier

  • Keep the whole year in view.

    Recent weeks are easier to recall than the start of the year. Notes from across the year give a fairer picture, of others and of yourself.

  • Raise important things early.

    Feedback works best while it is still fresh. What matters to you is worth raising before the review.

  • Keep the conversation bigger than the rating.

    A number or label draws a lot of attention. Decide beforehand what you most want the other person to take away.

  • Write it down before you respond.

    In an hour full of feedback, not everything sticks equally well. Note what was said, praise as much as criticism, and take some time before you respond.

Portrait of Daniel Schmeiß

“No surprises.”

A good review sums up the year for both sides and brings clarity for the next one. It shouldn't surprise anyone.

What I would do differently today

I should have started much earlier to write down my goals and results regularly, perhaps once a month. It helps with or without a management title: you go into the conversation better prepared, get more out of it for yourself, and can show your manager more than they expect. And next year's plan builds on something tangible.

Daniel SchmeißMore about Daniel and Reflacto

More background

The methods behind these reflections

From the blog