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Performance Review Tips: In-House Edition – Above the Law

If
your
employer
operates
on
a
fiscal
year,
which
ends
March
31,
then
performance
review
season
is
upon
us!
While
performance
reviews
are
handled
differently
by
company
and
leader,
if
you
have
an
opportunity
to
submit
a
self-evaluation
or
assessment,
here
are
a
few
tips
for
you
to
consider.


Get
Over
The
Awkward

I
totally
get
that
it’s
hard
to
switch
your
mindset
from
humble
servant
leader
to
tooting
your
own
horn,
but
you
have
to
get
over
it.
Think
of
it
this
way:
it’s
not
hubris
if
true
and
not
excessive.
Plus,
if
you
can’t
confidently
articulate
what
you
have
contributed
to
your
clients,
the
team,
and
the
company

how
can
you
expect
someone
else
to?
Importantly,
think
of
your
self-evaluation
as
a
way
to
help
your
manager,
who
you
know
is
super-busy.
Consider
the
fact
that
they
probably
have
to
evaluate
more
than
just
you.
Finally,
let
me
put
it
this
way

if
I
were
your
manager,
I
confess
that
I
don’t
remember
what
I
did
yesterday,
much
less
remember
all
the
excellent
work
you’ve
done
over
the
year,
so
yeah,
help
me
out,
won’t
you?


Collect
Your
Data

Now
that
you
have
committed
to
advocating
for
yourself,
let’s
review
your
work.
If
you
haven’t
been
keeping
a
“done”
list
all
year,
then
you
may
want
to
consider
setting
aside
some
time
to
review
your
calendar
from
April
1,
2022,
until
now.
Have
a
scratch
sheet
of
paper
handy
so
you
can
jot
down
litigation,
projects,
and
clients.
The
purpose
of
this
is
to
create
a
“junk
drawer”
of
work
that
you
later
can
sort
through
and
organize
to
demonstrate
your
value
and
impact
to
the
company.
It
may
amaze
you
how
much
you’ve
done
and
how
much
you
have
forgotten
what
you’ve
done.
By
the
way,
going
forward,
you
may
want
to
keep
a
“done”
list
that
you
add
to
weekly
or
monthly
so
this
isn’t
so
time-consuming
next
year.


Analyze
The
Impact

Once
you
have
the
“universe”
of
your
work
for
the
year,
you
may
see
that
the
items
fall
into
natural
categories
that
you
can
group
together
and
talk
about.
Depending
on
your
manager
and
their
style
or
their
ask,
you
may
want
to
pick
three
things
that
you’re
most
proud
of
and
focus
on
those
and
explain
why
instead
of
regurgitating
your
list.
Importantly,
try
to
choose
things
that
objectively
made
the
most
impact,
even
if
they
may
not
have
been
your
favorite
projects.
Consider
how
resolving
a
legal
matter
early
potentially
saved
the
company
a
lot
of
money
or
protected
the
brand.
Maybe
you
contributed
to
a
project
that
led
to
a
new
innovation
or
product
line.
It
may
help
to
get
out
of
“lawyer”
mode
and
think
more
broadly
on
how
your
work
connects
to
the
business
and
the
bottom
line.
Another
strategy
to
consider
is
to
choose
to
highlight
accomplishments
that
showcase
your
strengths
or
that
set
you
apart.
Maybe
everyone
litigates
and
settles
cases,
but
you’re
the
one
who
clients
call
for
crisis
control.
If
you
have
a
unique
value
proposition,
then
by
all
means,
share
it.


Write
Concisely
And
Earnestly

Once
you
know
what
you
want
to
highlight
and
share
with
your
manager,
invest
time
into
articulating
your
value
concisely
and
candidly.
Stay
away
from
superlatives
and
hyperbole.
Practice
third-person
writing
if
you
can
to
stay
objective.
Consider
your
audience

would
a
short
paragraph
be
helpful
or
bullet
points?
Finally,
don’t
forget
to
save
your
work
in
a
file
that
you
can
reference
next
year.




Meyling Mey Ly OrtizMeyling
“Mey”
Ly
Ortiz
is
in-house
at
Toyota
Motor
North
America.
Her
passions
include
mentoring,
championing
belonging,
and
a
personal
blog:
TheMeybe.com.
At
home,
you
can
find
her
doing
her
best
to
be
a
“fun”
mom
to
a
toddler
and
preschooler
and
chasing
her
best
self
on
her
Peloton.
You
can
follow
her
on
LinkedIn
(
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/).
And
you
knew
this
was
coming:
her
opinions
are
hers
alone.