It’s mid-year review time!

If you’re in a corporate role your mid-year review will more than likely be happening right around now.

Most of us dread these conversations because they can be uncomfortable. Analysing yourself and receiving judgment or criticism is tough. It can bring on strong emotions that you will probably try to suppress because of the situation you’re in – sitting across the table from your boss.

Usually managers try to do these types of conversations in person. Now, for the first time in history, the majority of mid-year reviews globally will be done remotely on either voice or videoconference.

This will be a very different experience for most people. Video will most probably play a role, and we’re all getting used to appearing on video more and more with our colleagues!

Why is a good mid-year important?

Your mid-year review is a measure of how you’re doing overall performance-wise.

It’s an indicator of where you will end up in your year-end rating if you carry on the same way.

Your year-end review is generally the rating that gets officially recorded about you. It will stay on record for the rest of your tenure – so you want it to be good.

You’ll likely be getting a rough idea of your projected year-end rating in this meeting. If you carry on the same as you are now, this will be the rating you get at your year-end.

The great thing is though, you have the rest of the year left to turn things around if you’re not tracking to your goal.

What you say in your mid-year matters

You might think that everything said in your mid-year is a done deal, too late to change opinions and comments.

That’s actually not true – if you bring good evidence and feedback, think carefully about how you can highlight your achievements – you can change the outcome for the better.

Do your prep

Before you go into the conversation make sure you prepare.

Here are the four ways you can prepare:

1. Understand the team goals, your manager’s goals, your individual goals – have an understanding of what deliverables will show that these goals are achieved
2. Think about all the achievements or deliverables you have been responsible for that align with each of the goals. Think of an achievement as a chunky piece of work that can stand on it’s own two feet
3. List the tangible benefits for each piece of work – highlight or call out any facts, figures, or stats. For example, amount saved per annum, month, week, daily or per transaction, extra profit per annum, time-savings for colleagues etc.
4. List the intangible benefits – the difficult to measure advantages like improvements in experience or customer happiness – be able to talk about each thing as though it were a story. It’s always useful to be able to talk about each intangible benefits as a case study or story

I recommend that you try explaining these out loud before the actual meeting just for practice, so you’re confident on the details and to check you didn’t miss anything.

Strengthen your relationship

The meeting itself is a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your boss. The way you receive feedback from them is important. They will be watching how you react when they share particular types of messaging with you.

If they have to give somewhat difficult messages to you it won’t be easy for them either. The vast majority of leaders prefer to give positive messages than talk about development opportunities. This can sometimes lead to the manager playing down an area of higher importance because they don’t feel comfortable.

Listen carefully

Effective listening is crucial. Make sure you let your manager speak and ask clarifying questions to make sure you fully understand what they mean. Don’t be afraid of short silences if you need a few moments to think about your response. You can pause when answering a question, it’s best to consider your answer rather than trying to answer as fast as you can. Believe me the pause feels longer to you in the moment than it does to them!

Be sure to talk about your opportunities for improvement as well as your achievements. Ask your manager for honesty and to share their true thoughts with you about what you need to do in their eyes to develop. If you’re not clear on what they mean ask if they can expand on their point, and ask for examples.

Finally, ensure you end on a high note. You want to leave your leader with good memories of the discussion. Even if you have a bit of a debate in the meeting itself, this will be largely forgotten if you finish up on a positive note.

Good luck with your mid-year review!

Please share this article with friends and colleagues if you think it will be helpful.

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