Asking team members to complete a Self-Review prior to discussing their performance opens eyes, saves time, and expands the conversation.
Having a formal performance discussion without a Self-Review is much like playing darts blindfolded. You have no idea where your shots land or how to improve your accuracy. You just throw darts.
Both parties naturally view performance from their own point of view. But without a Self-Review, the leader’s vantage and perceptions of performance take precedence and often gloss over or miss where things stand and what should be done to improve performance in the future.
By beginning with a Self-Review, the team member gets the opportunity to influence the conversation and highlight what issues are most relevant to discuss.
Having a say in how they are evaluated can be hugely motivational and encourages them to take more ownership of their performance.
For team members, Self-Reviews encourage reflection, build self-awareness, foster a growth mindset, and increase confidence.
But the greatest advantage is for leaders.
By digesting the self-review before any performance discussion, leaders get the chance to instantly see the gaps between how they view performance and how the team member sees their own record of successes and challenges.
This saves a lot of time as the discussion can focus on points of contrast rather than covering ground where agreement is already high.
The ideal Self-Review format asks team members to think critically about their influence, accomplishments, and key learnings.
Here are four questions common to effective Self-Reviews:
- Where am I having the most impact?
- What successes can I point to?
- Where could I have done much better?
- What are the key learnings or takeaways from my experiences?
This is best captured on a single page, which makes the task easier for team members to compose and leaders to read.
There are just too many benefits of Self-Reviews not to insist on them. If you’re not asking team members to prepare a Self-Review before a performance discussion, you are wasting time and missing an opportunity for a better conversation.
Without a Self-Review, it’s just too easy to miss what is most important to talk about.
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