A winning formula for your next performance review
Start with the metric (that you drove up and to the right). Put numbers. Then, show how you did it (with artifacts, ideally)
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This week, I’ve been participating in performance reviews. Over the last 72 hours, I read hundreds of accomplishment bullets across a variety of functions and roles, and the vast majority had this one fatal flaw: they focused on what people did (input effort) but left out the most important thing: the outcome — why it mattered and how it moved the needle for the business.
It kills me to see how much effort my colleagues put into their work all year, only to fumble at the one-yard line and unintentionally discount the impact of their work.
But this doesn’t have to be you. With one simple winning formula, you can:
write an amazing performance review (in just a few minutes)
get full credit for the business results you cultivated
earn a better rating and bonus points with your boss
…even have extra time for a quick gym sesh 💪🏼
Below is a short, simple writing guide to supercharge your next performance review and make your boss love you even more (because who doesn’t love an employee who independently drafts a full-context, business-aware performance review??!)
Let’s dive in ↓
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TLDR: Write your annual review accomplishments like resume bullets
Write your accomplishments like resume bullets. It really is that simple. Your performance review should read like your resume: Short. Tight. Concise. Metrics driven. Quantified.
Describe the outcome first, then describe the input effort (how you made it happen).
Each accomplishment should:
(1) start with the business metric you drove up and to the right
(2) end with how you did it (show your expertise by linking artifacts you created and that show how to identified/drove/did/landed it).
It’s a simple, reliable, and winning formula for a context-aware, business outcomes focused performance review. A visual for you:
Let’s look at some specific examples with numbers (feel free to use these as inspiration in your upcoming performance review):