Mid-Year Reviews

We live such fast paced lives and we don’t always stop and reflect about what has gone well and what could be improved on and this is where mid-year reviews come in.

Mid-year reviews should be a time for celebrating successes, getting honest and constructive feedback and looking for opportunities for growth and development and future planning.

When speaking to non-social care friends, this is something that social care could really improve on and something I have become passionate about changing in my current team and with those I am supporting within the sector.

In this week’s blog, I thought I would share a great resource that I came across on LinkedIn that provides some really useful tips and how you can do this for yourself and your teams, even if it’s not standard practice within your organisation.

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Make a practical to-do list.

The middle of the year is a great time for a 'career health check'. We want to be reviewing what's going well, how fulfilled we are feeling and whether we are aligning with our strengths. It's also a great time to get 360 feedback from colleagues, friends and mentors.

Once this is done, we are then able to build a plan for the second half of the year and set a?short term personal vision.

Vision drives decision-making, so write down what you need to do, set it as a screensaver and get to work on achieving it! This should also shed some clarity on whether you are set up for success in your current role or need to try and pivot position or move employer.

Either way, entering into the second half of the year with a renewed career clarity will be really energising.

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Put your all into it.

There is nothing worse than a tick box exercise. Turning up, unprepared, just because you have to is pointless and it can make your direct report feel undervalued and that you really don't care. [Equally], as a direct report, you can send the message that you don't care or have any ambition to do well at your organisation. For a good conversation ensure you schedule a reasonable amount of time to avoid rushing. Both sides should come prepared and have some time to reflect on the last six months, but also what the next six months looks like.

Be human. Actually take an interest and listen to your colleague. Find out not only what they did and how they performed on tasks during the?last six months, but what did they enjoy, what was a strength, what was a challenge, what do they want to do more of?

Finally: No surprises! Ensure these conversations happen throughout the year and not just twice a year. Weekly, monthly or whatever you decide works for you, but make sure that the regular check-in is on performance, how you are doing, and actually be clear on what you need as a manager/from your manager to make sure you/they succeed.

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Use feedback to inspire you.

Short-term goal setting – such as a six month goal – is a good idea, as it gives you small steps to follow to get to your bigger, longer-term goals. It can also help you keep focused and give you the motivation you need. After all, if you have a two- or five-year goal, it can seem a long way off and may not provide immediate or consistent motivation. Six month goals are also good if you feel you need to upskill or learn new skills, as this period of time typically produces good results.

I'd advise anyone to take a look back and reflect. What went well? What didn't? What have you learnt? Ultimately, the aim is to identify those areas in which you've grown, and those where you feel you need to improve. Use this reflection for self-assessment and getting a handle on where you currently are.

When setting goals for the next six months – make sure they're achievable (but not too easy) and measurable. Base your goals on the areas in which you'd like to improve or change, whether that's a practical skill, building your network, moving into a different team, etc. Make sure you have a plan for achieving these goals.

Finally, make sure to ask your colleagues, manager, mentor, friends and family for feedback. They might be able to give you new ideas, opinions or suggestions you haven't considered.

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Further reading (recommended)

Whilst on the journey of reviews and 1:1 coaching, I came across the book Trillion Dollar Coach, written by Eric Schmidt , Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle about Bill Campbell. The book discusses Bill’s framework and how he found that the most effective way to help people become more effective was to ensure they had well-structured 1:1 time, with the time to prepare for it. The book goes onto split this into four sections:

1. Performance on job requirement - It explains about starting the 1:1 with small talk about family , trips and life and from there he moved to asking questions on the performance of the individuals.
2. Relationship with peer groups - It establishes that Bill always ensured he got feedback from peers because he believed that peer relationship was more important than relationship with your manager and other higher-ups. This included relationships with product, sales etc.
3. Management/Leadership - From peer relationships, Bill would move on to team and always wanted to know if his coaches were setting a clear direction for the team , understanding what they were doing and constantly guiding their people to do heroic things.
4. Innovation - Bill would always talk about innovation. He wanted to be sure if managers/leaders are constantly evaluating new technologies, new products or new practices and making space for it on their team to balance between innovation and execution.

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Other Feedback:

Reflection is such a great practice, especially when we’re all constantly on the go “onto the next thing,” we forget to look back and see how far we’ve come. We dwell on what we can’t do, rather than celebrating and identifying the strengths we have. These are great tips - but remember don’t make your goal setting in a vacuum of just work, consider the implications to your life as a whole in the goals you want to achieve. Who else needs to know? What support do you need? Make sure you consider the consequences to your personal as well as professional life.

One thing I always recommend to my clients is to keep a feedback and wins log throughout the year and to note down any amazing feedback or projects that they have excelled in as they go. It can be really tricky to remember all of the great things that we have done when we are asked or on the spot! This way, when mid-year reviews come around they have proof of their performance and the value that they are adding to the organisation. This provides a really solid platform to pitch their case for development opportunities or potential in investment in their development ?? 360 feedback is also really useful for encouraging self-reflection!

Taking?a look back on your achievements and learnings from earlier in the year is a great way to gauge what your goals should be moving forward. But many of us find it tough to engage in self-reflection; we feel awkward boasting (the UK famously suffers from "tall poppy syndrome") and it's typically hard to remember any big wins because projects tend to blur together.

When you are self-employed. You have a plan each year and milestones to hit throughout the year for yourself, your company, your customers, and your clients. Anything that didn’t go well. You write it down and circle back and make tweaks for the following year.

The past performance check should be about 20% of the discussion only to check how far did one meet the set goals and milestones and what can be done to improve it. The rest of the time, talk about the next 6 months / 1 year and what you will want to achieve in that period; how will you go about it and what support you will need.

?The rest is over to you... but to summarise:

?? Top tips for a good performance conversation:

1?? Ensure you schedule a good amount of time to not rush the conversation, ensuring not back to back too.

2?? Both sides come prepared and have some time to reflect on the last 6 months, but also what the next 6 months looks like.

3?? Be human. Actually take an interest and listen to your colleague. Find out not only what they did and how they performed on tasks the last 6 months, but what did they enjoy, what was a strength, what was a challenge, what do they want to do more of?

4?? Be clear when talking, when reflecting and when planning the future action plans.

5?? No surprises! Ensure that these conversations happen throughout the year and not just twice a year. Weekly monthly, whatever you decide works for you, but make sure that is the regular check-in is on performance, how you were doing, and actually be clear on what you need as a manager / from your manager to make you / they succeed.

? What top tips would you give someone?

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