Conquer Your Annual Review in 10 Steps ??

Your annual review is a glorious mountain top ?? . It's the good stuff, not the dusty climb, not the sweat, not the terrible calf pain, just an exhilarating panoramic view. It's looking at someone's Instagram feed all in one go - spectacular moments only.

But your daily work is done in the valley, with stress and toil, over long hours, and in a pandemic nonetheless. How do we turn valley sweat into a panoramic view? Put another way, how do I conquer my annual review?

Here are ten steps I take to prepare for my annual review (AR):

1. Have regular one-on-one meetings with your manager ... and their manager. Waiting until your annual review to tell your manager about what you've done is not the way to do it. A. It's too much information all at once B. You may not have the chance to share this information during the annual review C. You might share what you've done and realize too late that it's not the work you should have done to meet your performance metrics. Instead have regular one-on-ones to share what you are working on, how it's going, what blockers you have, ask for feedback, and offer support for anything they need help with (this is a great way to access new opportunities and add value, but most importantly, it's kind).
2. Track your tasks. Every week I fill out a table on a One Note page. It has two columns, the project name, and tasks. In each row, I put every task for that project whether it be an email that needs to be sent, a follow-up conversation I need to have, a link to a ticket I need to review, or a design mock I need to make. Below the table, I track all my meeting notes - important information, todos, links, etc. This serves as a great digital reference for everything I have done throughout the week. At the end of the year, I can go back and not only reference important information and conversations, but see exactly what I've worked on.
3. Know the priority level and stakeholders for each project. Above my task table in One Note, I have another table that tracks all my projects, the stakeholders, the priority level, the desired outcome, and how that outcome will be measured (the KPI - Key Performance Indicator). I repost this on a new page each week so I can always see a high-level overview of what I'm working on. This serves two purposes: 1. To regularly reflect upon the work I'm doing and see if I am headed toward the desired outcome (this internal benchmark helps me measure how I'm performing) 2. To assess the caliber of the projects I am working on. This is not always true, but often the higher the priority of the project, the more 'important' the stakeholder, the riskier it is to fail, and the more money there is on the table to be earned or saved by the company. Work to get on those projects. It can be a sign that you are doing well in your craft. Inversely, if your projects are low priority and don't affect too many stakeholders, work with your manager to learn what you need to do to be assigned other projects (if that's your goal - your career goal may not match that of the company and you might benefit in the long run from being on 'low priority' projects). That leads us to step 4...
4. Know thyself and tell thy manager. My one-on-ones are every other week and we often go over career goals, work styles, and long-term dreams. For some, this may seem too vulnerable to share, but it's important that your manager knows you and your professional goals so they can help you get there. That is the literal job of a manager. If they are not doing that, they may need more information and guidance from you or it might be time to switch teams/companies. Like in any relationship, state clearly what you want. If you need help figuring out what you want, then ask for that kind of help.
5. Complete a weekly assessment. Below my task table and meeting notes, I have my mission statement, a desired outcome statement for my time at LinkedIn, and a few focus words that help me stay connected to my mission. Then I have weekly check-in questions - what am I most proud of, what went well, what do I need to work on next week? I'm not great at celebrating my wins so this helps me do that and prepare for making the next week even better than this one. It also makes annual review super easy because I have all my wins for every week already listed out. These glows and grows can easily be compiled into one document at the end of the year.
6. Gather metrics. Most Product Managers or Business Analysts are keeping track of how well the product you are working on is performing - the number of visitors, errors, inquiries, opportunities won, dollars made, etc. Reach out to your PM and ask for this data. If you revamped a platform, ask for what the data was before and what it is now after you changed the code. Keep these for your AR.
7. Keep a celebration ?? log. Sometimes called a 'brag book', a celebration log is a document with all your wins. This is a bit different from my weekly One Note page. It has the biggest of those weekly celebrations and then it also has any appreciation I have received from others, shout-outs, and commentary on how I've made a positive impact. That impact could be financial, social, cultural, or interpersonal. This is useful not only when I feel the imposter syndrome, but any of it can be used to show impact during AR. One semi-long note - some companies only value financial impact (deals won, money made/saved, customers gained, etc). To me, a great company will also recognize that sometimes other things matter way more. You may not be directly making the company money, but if you can influence a cultural shift, or you are someone people want to work with even if the work is hard, from a business perspective, those things maintain/increase retention which is very valuable. Companies spend a lot of money trying to keep people around. For annual review, know that you might need to do some work to make the value of your impact clear. Additionally, you might be at a company that does not define impact in the same way you do. It's important to get clear on what kind of impact the company values and if it doesn't match (which could be reflected in your performance metrics), find another match.
8. Ask for peer feedback. Reach out to people who know your work well and will champion you. Request they write down what they think about the experience of working with you, things they saw you do that were valuable, and the growth they've noticed. Try to ask for this a quarter before AR so they have time to reflect. Make sure you have permission to present this to your manager. If not, you can pull out the key points and present those. Ie. "I know that people have seen me grow in X ways" or "I have feedback from my colleagues that they like working with me because of Y". If you are in a customer-facing position, ask that your customers leave a recommendation on LinkedIn.
9. Update your LinkedIn. When we are not looking for a new job, often we let the experience section of our LinkedIn profiles go stale. But having to sit down and write an updated bullet point about your current position can be a great motivator to reflect on the impact you're currently having. Include metrics.
10. Practice your pitch. The annual review looks different at different companies. Sometimes it's a meeting. Sometimes it's a form to fill out. Either way, get face time with your manager and their manager (psst, this is why we have regular one-on-ones) and pitch yourself. Share with them (verbally, on slides, in a document) all that you have done over the past year, what you want to work on next year, and how the work has impacted or changed your long-term goals. This pitch is something you can practice ahead of time with a mentor or champion.

Bonus Tip: When you are interviewing with a company, ask them when their annual review cycle is. If you are going to be hired close to their AR, ask them how they plan to assess your performance. This will tell you what you need to focus on in those first few weeks or months and what the company ultimately values.

A software engineer asked me, "what should I keep track of for my annual review?" To view my audio response, visit?Opportunity Made on YouTube.

Follow me on LinkedIn?and share these tips! Send this newsletter to anyone who may need a little support preparing for their annual review.?Let's make an opportunity for others to succeed! #OpportunityMade

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Serve widely, give greatly, & take care y'all.