Back when I was a management consultant the end of year performance review was THE most excruciating experience. Having to assess yourself and be assessed by others. Having to assess others and provide feedback was agonising. It always felt forced and awkward. And often was simply an unnecessary rehashing of something that had gone badly. Or praise for something that was already in the distant past.
These days, though I would say I review myself quite regularly. I find it extremely useful.
The difference of course is that I’m writing my own questions!
Corporate end of year reviews typically ask questions like:
- What did you do well?
- What were you proud of?
- Where do you see room for improvement?
- How satisfied are you with your development opportunities?
The questions are wrong. Especially if the answers are driving something like a bonus or pay review. Because you’re unlikely to give yourself a totally honest review right?
And because answering these questions in a corporate environment will almost invariably led to talk about that big sales pitch that you won, the extra revenue generated or the big projects that went well.
But none of that is particularly useful or helpful on its own. Especially if delivering these sales / projects / revenue caused misery / stress / burnout / boredom…
It needs to be in the context of the whole of your life, happiness and fulfilment.
So these days I choose different questions.
Like these:
… what have I enjoyed working on?
… what type of work gave me energy? what type of work drained my energy?
… what made me feel most fulfilled
… what felt most futile
… how are my short term actions aligned to my long term goals
… how am I taking care of my physical and mental health
… is there enough love and fun in my life
Now I know for some of you in “actual jobs” may be thinking you have less ability to influence what exactly you spend your time on. This was certainly the case in IBM – I had zero self-autonomy.
However we do have some influence… Like a junior member of the team who you can delegate work to. And understanding WHAT makes you tick vs what drains your energy is super helpful. Because if you know that you have that awful end of month report to do and then you might try to schedule some more positive jobs around it. So that you balance yourself out.
And I’d suggest that this type of review doesn’t need to be solely work oriented. But rather whole of life focussed
You could think about it in terms of motherhood. What activities where joyful (chasing the dog over the frosty field) vs which ones are a drain (swimming at Spectrum with the kids anyone)
And you can superimpose your hobbies and leisure activities and the things that you do for yourself.
So here’s your job. Some point in coming days, when the presents have been wrapped and the turkey has been demolished, find a slot of time, some chilled music and the absence of children ideally.
And have a think on some of these questions.
Be honest with yourself – after all there’s no boss to impress and no bonus to try and achieve.
The bonus will be gaining clarity and self-awareness. To help you to grow as a person and establish which areas of your life need attention.
And that clarity should be used to propel you into action…
Because however we feel about new years resolutions, the end of the year is a chapter closing and is a great time to reflect on how we’re developing as a person…
