Your first annual performance review with a new boss, in a new job, can be nerve-racking. If you’ve never had one at all, that’s even scarier. But you don’t have to feel afraid when your performance review is around the corner. Performance reviews are chances for managers to let their employees know how they’ve been doing in the big-picture sense. They’re also a chance for you, as an employee, to have an open dialogue with your boss about your job and your goals.
What to say in your annual performance review
Don’t expect to just sit and listen during your performance review. Your boss will ask you questions about your performance, and you should be ready to answer them. This is also your opportunity to bring up any topics you want to discuss. Things like how you can work toward a promotion, what you need to make your work environment better, and where you see yourself with the company in a few years are all fair game for performance review conversation. Use your performance review as a communication opportunity, and both of you will leave feeling like you achieved something.
Prepare in advance
Walk into your annual performance review already prepared. Make some notes about the things you want to talk about, so you don’t get overwhelmed during the conversation and forget any. Lists of accomplishments, strengths, and weaknesses will also help you during the review.
Evaluate yourself
Some bosses ask employees to speak about their triumphs and failures over the past year, so be prepared for that. Start with the good. What are some of the accomplishments you’re proud of from the past year? Focus on the times when you excelled, worked extra hard, and delivered fantastic results.
You also need to look at the spots where you could have done better. Are there any projects, meetings, or client interactions you don’t feel good about? Your boss will be impressed that you don’t just gloss over your failures. Make sure to explain what you learned from that failure and how you’ve used those lessons since.
It doesn’t hurt to do a little peer-to-peer comparison, either. Are you working as hard, or harder, than your coworkers? Knowing where you stand on your team or in the office in general is a smart thing to work out before you head into your review. If your boss has a radically different notion than what you see, this is the time to figure out where the discrepancy lies.
Check for benchmarks
Are you angling for a promotion or a raise? Understand how your company, or your management team, awards those things to employees. Have you hit the benchmarks you need? If you haven’t, use the performance review as an opportunity to talk about your development. Ask your boss what else you need to accomplish to hit the mark. Additionally, if you think you do the same quality of work as your coworkers but make less money, bring that up too. It’s not a raise, it’s just fair pay for the same work in this case.
Talk about your goals
An annual performance review is a dialogue between you and your boss. A good boss wants communication with employees, and is here to listen to you during the review. Though the conversation might start with your boss’s observations, you’ll have a chance to talk about your goals. If you feel like you’re not going to get that chance, you’re allowed to bring up the topic on your own.
Your job goals don’t have to revolve around promotions and raises. Sometimes taking on new roles, dealing with specific client accounts, or getting more telecommute days are the goals employees pursue. Maybe you need shorter hours so you can go back to school. Don’t worry about what your boss might want to hear. These are your goals, and you want your boss to understand them so you can find out if they’re realistic, and so you can develop a plan together to get you closer to achieving them.
Listen… then ask questions
When your boss gives you feedback on your performance, listen. Even if some of it is hard to hear, your boss is giving you the information you need to make improvements. When you want something like a promotion or a raise, listening and making changes in these areas is key. Even if you’re happy where you are, your boss is telling you things that will improve your performance in the next year and beyond.
Once you’ve listened, though, you can ask questions. Ask about specific areas of your growth or performance your boss didn’t touch on. Get clarification on some of the points your boss raised, or ask for advice on improving some of your weak spots.
Add a personal touch
What to say in your annual performance review can include more personal opinions about your role with the company and your job. For example, you can talk about what makes you happy in your job. If your job leads to happiness in your personal life, talk about that, too. Let your boss know which opportunities are valuable to you in your work.
You can also discuss the ways you want to help the company. Being in line with the company’s mission and vision makes you a valuable employee, and wanting to further those company goals is admirable. Tie your success in with the company’s success, and ask how you can contribute. In the same vein, talk about the projects you’d really like to work on in the upcoming year. When you have an idea for a new project, talk about that, too. Get it on your boss’s radar while you have their undivided attention.
Talk about what would make your job easier
Sometimes we face barriers that make it more difficult for us to do our jobs. Your annual performance review is a good time to bring up some of those barriers, if you haven’t had the opportunity to do so during smaller meetings or one-on-ones with your boss.
The technology you need
When your technology is lagging behind what competitors are using, let your boss know. The newest technology is essential to businesses running efficiently. Do a little research on the technology you’d like to be using, and demonstrate to your boss how that technology would speed up parts of your job for both you and your coworkers. Sometimes bosses don’t realize that the office technology is falling behind, because they don’t use all of it.
Similarly, if you lack technology that would make part of your job easier, tell your boss. Client needs and job duties change all the time, and sometimes a client might ask for something you have a hard time delivering without the right technology. Imagine trying to work on graphics with sub-standard software when you know Photoshop and InDesign are out there!
How you can do your best work
Rarely is a job situation perfect. Some employees need a lot of collaboration, while others want a door that actually closes to shut them out of the open office plan. Sometimes meetings or emails tie up so much time, you feel barred from doing your actual job. Talk about the barriers that crop up which prevent you from performing your job to your best ability. Ideally, your boss will help you find solutions, either quickly or slowly in the coming year, that will help you become more productive. After all, your boss wants you to do good work, so helping you get there only makes sense.
Some performance review examples even discuss telling your boss what you wish they would start or stop doing. Perhaps you need more one-on-one communication, or you feel like you’re not getting enough feedback on projects. Ultimately, if something is standing in your way, like not having the software you need to do your job, your boss wants to know about it.
When the review is over, take some time to reflect on it. Write down any advice or tips your boss gave you, especially if those involve achieving your goals in the next year. Also take stock of how you need to improve, because that information is as valuable as the good stuff you heard. The feedback you received is there to help you become a better employee, so use it!
