Page 13 - 2020 January E-issue

Get to the Point!

Keeping Track of Your Performance

Its that time of the year again. Once a year I offer this article as Your goal should be to record details about the key events that
an encouragement to document what you do. We all are evaluated transpired during the month. Rather than describe what was
on our performance and often our pay and promotions are linked expected of you, identify what you accomplished.
to our accomplishments. Every yearor half-year for some
peoplemanagers and supervisors write performance appraisals As the template shows, divide your information into three
to describe the strengths and weaknesses of the staff who work compartments:
for them. (Performance appraisals are written about them, too, by
someone further up in the organization.) This article describes a 1. What you accomplished, separating your information into the
simple personal evaluation technique that can become a catalyst at work you planned to do and work that was unexpected.
performance review time. 2. Problems that arose and how you coped with them. Divide this
Write a Progress Report information into three subcompartments:

Many of us, as part of our work, have to write regular progress  What impact the problem had on your work.
or status reports describing how a project or task is progressing.  What steps you took to overcome or avert the problem.
We suggest using this progress report technique to describe what  What effect these steps had.
you, personally, have accomplished during a specific period. This 3. What you plan to achieve during the next month and, if
is an excellent time management tool too, because it helps you practicable, the balance of the year.
understand what you are spending your time on and what may be
slipping off the agenda. Summarize the Key Points
Set Aside 30 Minutes When performance evaluation time approaches, read through your
On the last working day of every month, open up a new file and list 12 personal reports for the past year to help remind you of your
particular accomplishments you had during the month, plus other activities. This is so much more effective than trying to remember
factors that either enhanced or constrained your work. Include it all, and you’ll be amazed at how much you accomplished.
projects you worked on, courses you attended, committees you are Extract key factors to show your manager or supervisor during the
involved in and any issues you helped resolve. Also include ideas performance review meeting. Write them as a summary report, using
you have about future projects and training or conferences that will the same topic headings you used for the monthly reports. You will
improve your performance or help you become a more effective staff be surprised at the positive impact this has, when your manager
member. sees that you have prepared for the interview and have been doing
some self-evaluation.
The plan is to capture this information while it’s fresh in your mind.
Create a Template As the year winds to an end why not start fresh by writing monthly
personal progress reports. Work on finding 30 minutes on the last
The ideal way to do this is to create a format for entering information Friday of every month and plan to write a personal progress report.
each month. The template should have brief headings followed by a If you include this in your monthly routine, you’ll find that if all is
space for entering information. We suggest headings like these: running smoothly, you will only need to focus on your Objectives.
Personal Progress Report If it isn’t working this way, you have valuable scheduling and time

Month:______________ management information to discuss with your manager.
1. Accomplishments:
Planned
Unplanned © 2019, RGI Learning
2. Problems/Difficulties: Lisa Moretto is the President of
Impact RGI Learning, Inc. For 24 years she has
Steps Taken helped engineers improve their oral and
Effect Achieved written communication skills. Visit
3. Objectives: www.rgilearning.com or
Next month call (866) 744-3032 to learn
Balance of year about RGI’s courses.

get to the point JANUARY 2020 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 13