At work, I’d be thrilled to take on any challenging project. I pride myself on turning around projects that others have failed to execute.
But when it came to writing my self-appraisal, I was plagued by perennial procrastination and permanent freeze mode.
I would wait until the deadline to write it. A few hours before the deadline, on a day that seemed so jam-packed with meetings, I would berate myself for not having done this ahead of time.
I would open the HR system, look at the goals, and just freeze. I wouldn’t be able to remember what I had done the entire year. I know that I have been working on important things, but right at that moment, I would find it hard to put in writing what exactly I had accomplished through the years.
I would trawl through my inbox, trying to find clues about my work, with a zillion thoughts racing through my head.
“Who has given me good feedback throughout the year? What have been the major pieces of deliverables? Where are the places I had been visible? Is there any point in writing all of this? The ratings are fixed in any case.”
I’d go round and round in circles until I had 10 minutes to write the whole thing. I would then type, I delivered the project x, turning it around from a status of Red to Green in 3 months. That would seem so inadequate to distil my work for the past nine months, leaving me with no breaks, stress, conflicts and pressure into clinical words like that.
This happened during the critical pandemic year; when I was working 14-hour work days, my colleague couldn’t handle the stress and had a heart attack; people were walking off the project, and I was put in charge. I delivered that project only to freeze during the self-appraisal cycle, not knowing what to write.
At that moment, I made a key change to my work life that has made the process of self-appraisal smoother since then.
At the beginning of the year, I would take my goals and write them down in my to-do list Tracker. I would then align my everyday tasks under each goal. I started building up a running list of activities that I accomplished under each goal on a daily basis.
At the end of the month, I would reflect on how close I am to my goal. Am I on track, behind track, or exceeded my expectations? I would mark it as Red, Amber, or Green. I would use this to guide my priorities for the next month.
I would also write down a summary of each goal in terms of
what I had intended to accomplish,
what I did accomplish,
how do I know I accomplished something (metrics, data, feedback)
what am I not happy about
what will I change for next month
I would use this framework to give progress updates on projects and 1:1s with bosses and super bosses. During the self-appraisal time, I had enough data to fall back on and sit down and write down my achievements for the year.
I procrastinated because I had no system or preparation to rely on. During the moment of truth, I had nothing to draw on except vague statements.
Having a consistent reflection and summary process helped me be assertive if I thought my boss wasn’t giving me my due. I could easily push back to ask for clarifications when I received vague feedback on my performance.
This process ensured that I had clarity, preparation and data to have my own back when it came to appraisal and calibration meetings where performance is reviewed and rewarded.
What systems do you have to ensure you can do full justice to your self-appraisal? Tell me about it.
P.S. If you are ready to level up, work with me for 1:1 career coaching. Hit reply, and I’d love to share more.