Goals setting and performance review unpacked
Let's talk about the most popular topic for December - perf review!
This time of the year, again. Your inbox is overflowing with feedback requests, you’ve got two days to write a comprehensive self-review that highlights all your achievements over the past year, and there’s still a pile of work to wrap up. A high ARR user just escalated an issue, and after work, you’re racing against the clock to help Santa by picking up those last-minute Christmas presents. Welcome to December!
For me, December is always associated with the performance review, goals setting and Christmas. In this post I’ll unpack all three topics :)
Write an impactful self-review
Self-review is a chance to showcase your contributions, growth, and potential. Yet, we often rush through it, eager to move on to what feels like “actual work”. Here are a few tips that help me streamline this process:
Document achievements throughout the year.Make a habit of jotting down key wins as they happen. Create a Google Doc or a note to capture a quick summary of each milestone—what was achieved, its impact, and your role in it. When review season comes, you’ll have a ready-made list of highlights to draw from.
Start early. You probably know the general timeline for performance reviews at your company. Start drafting your self-review at least a month in advance. This reduces stress and gives you time to refine your writing
Write the self-review from your manager’s perspective. Last but probably most important is to write self-review from the perspective of your manager. Approach your self-review with your manager’s priorities in mind. What were the organization’s goals, and how did you contribute to achieving them? Highlight any cross-functional projects or initiatives that improved organizational health or raised the quality bar.
Set the goals that propel you forward
Goal setting is an art and a science. There are multiple techniques and trainings for goals setting. My favorite one is “big rocks” method.
Imagine a pot you need to fill with stones of various sizes. If you start with the smallest grains of sand, followed by larger pebbles, the big rocks won’t fit, leaving unused space.
But if you begin with the big rocks, then add pebbles to fill the gaps, and finally pour in the sand, everything fits.
The pot represents your life and your attention. The big rocks are your top priorities—both in life and at work. Medium rocks represent projects, and sand is for all little things.
Performance reviews and goal setting are not just tasks—they’re opportunities to reflect, learn, and shape your future. By framing your self-review with clarity and taking a strategic approach to goals, you’re investing in your growth and building momentum for the year ahead.
Celebrate Christmas
Don’t forget to take time to unwind and enjoy life! Pamper yourself with guilty pleasures, send Christmas cards to long-lost friends, and introduce a small Christmas tradition if you don’t have one yet. Personally, I love attending the annual Christmas panto—this year, it’s Peter Pan!
2 cents from Dina
When it comes to work in December, I keep a couple of key principles in mind:
December isn't the time for launching major projects or high-risk releases, since teams typically operate at limited capacity during this month. Planning should account for reduced availability and bandwidth.
Try out this exercise: have a clear, one-sentence vision of where your product and team will be a year from now. This vision-sentence can then be transformed into specific objectives for the coming year.
As for performance reviews, they no longer feel as daunting or time-consuming as they once did, thanks to my habit of writing Weekly Recaps. These recaps serve as a foundation for my self-assessment.