Team & People
Your First Performance Review: Setting Goals and Preparing Your Self-Review Over the Half-Year
Intermediate | 1 whiteboard page · Task board: 4 columns (5 parent tasks, 13 subtasks)
Intermediate: Method names appear, but the whiteboard explains the key points. Use the examples as a guide and fill it in, thinking it through for your own situation.
The first performance review template is for anyone one or two years into a career, and covers the whole half-year - setting goals, logging evidence, writing the self-review, and the meeting itself. The whiteboard builds the half-year goals with GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will), then holds a log you add one row to each month, a matrix that picks the three wins worth raising by impact against your own contribution, the running order for the day itself, and a bottom row with the review calendar, the phrasings to avoid, and the questions to always ask. The task board runs four columns, from set as a goal to covered in the review, and starts with five untouched parent tasks, from agreeing your goals to setting the next ones; rewrite the review cycle (half-yearly or annual) to match your team. Instead of scrambling the night before with nothing to point to, you walk in able to back every claim with a number and a piece of proof.
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Your First Performance Review
How to use: 1. Build the half-year goals with GROW 2. Log evidence as you go 3. Pick the 3 you will raise 4. Speak in this order on the day
1. Build the Half-Year Goals (GROW)
Goal (target and the bar)
- Run inbound support on my own 100 a month with no check
- The bar agreed with my boss 5 or fewer redos / reply in 3 hours
Reality (where you are now)
- 42 a month now, 11 sent back Six hours to first reply
- Estimates slip, I flag on the day No habit of reporting numbers
Options (what you could try)
- Turn the common questions into a playbook and halve reply time
- Copy a senior's replies twice a week to learn the standard phrasing
Will (what you do first)
- Write one playbook page every Friday
- Show my boss the 3 goals this week
2. Goal × Work × Result Log (add one row a month)
| Goal it maps to | What you did | Result (numbers) | Where the proof sits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | Goal 1 Inbound support Still checked by a senior | Drafted the first replies Reviewed wording with a senior twice a week | 42 handled / 11 sent back Six hours to first reply | Shared folder May_support_log Three correction emails from a senior |
| June | Goal 1 Inbound support Goal 2 Write the playbook | Turned 10 common questions into a playbook Started sending replies without a check | 88 handled / 3 sent back Two hours to first reply | Playbook FAQ_v1 (internal wiki) Thank-you email from the manager |
| July | Goal 2 Write the playbook Goal 3 Meeting notes | Handed the playbook to two juniors Took the notes for the weekly | 2 redos for the juniors in month one Notes out same day, 5 times out of 5 | First support logs from the juniors Five sets of notes (weekly folder) |
3. Choosing the Wins to Raise (impact × your own contribution)
Vertical axis: Impact (who it helped and how much) / Horizontal axis: Your contribution (how much was yours)
- Mention in passing A team result you rode along on. Add one line on your own part and leave it there.
- Your headline wins High impact and high contribution. Pick the three you raise in the review from here.
- Leave it out Skip it in the review. Keep it in the log as material for next term's goals.
- Raise as a smart fix Small in scale but your own idea. Add one after your three headline wins.
4. Running the Review Itself (your read, then facts, then the gaps)
- 1. Give your read first Call each goal met or missed before you are asked. Leading with your own read moves things along faster than waiting.
- 2. Back it with numbers Take your three wins as what you did, the result in numbers, then the proof. One minute each, read from the log.
- 3. Raise the misses yourself Do not hide them. Pair each cause with what you will change. Going first reads as self-awareness, not weakness.
- 4. Ask about gaps, set next Where your read differed, ask what they looked at. Then say two goals for next term out loud.
5. Review Calendar (rewrite it to fit your team)
- Goals agreed with your boss during April
- Mid-term check in July / self-review form due Sep 20
- Review Sep 28 (have your 3 wins and the proof open the night before)
6. Phrasings to Avoid
- “I worked hard.” Without numbers it is not treated as fact
- “We did it as a team.” Always add the part that was yours
- “Nothing in particular.” Always come back with a question or a goal
7. Always Ask in the Review
- What is missing before I move up a level
- Which of my actions this term you rated highest
- Is there work you want to hand me next term
Task board contents
Set as a goal 18 items
Set the term's goals
The groundwork, done in the first week of the half. Leave it vague and nothing you do turns into evidence.
Name what's expected
Copy the bar for your level straight from the review form into Goal on board 1, and put your current numbers under Reality.
Narrow to 3 goals
Pick the three you will chase this half and post them as cards in the set as a goal column. Four or more is unmanageable.
Set numeric targets
Rewrite each goal as a count, a time, or a date instead of an effort, so someone else can judge whether you hit it.
Align with your boss
Goals are not yours alone to set. Agree them at the start and you avoid the ratings gap at the end of the half.
Show the draft goals
Take the three drafts to your first one-on-one of the term and check on the spot that the ranking and the difficulty look right.
Ask what earns an A
Ask for concrete examples of what a top rating looks like, and keep the agreed wording in the description field of the card.
Log evidence monthly
Nothing surfaces if you try to remember it the night before. Ten minutes at month end gives you a half-year of material.
Add a row each month
Each month add one row to the log on board 2 with the goal it maps to, what you did, the result, and where the proof sits.
Save thank-you notes
Move every email or chat that thanks you into a dedicated folder. Words from a third party are strong evidence.
Add numbers to wins
Do not stop at responsible for. Rewrite it as what you changed and by how much, and include the before number to compare against.
Do your self-review
Start a week before it is due. If it comes down to picking rows from the log, there is no panic the night before.
Pick your top 3 wins
Place your wins on the matrix on board 3 and take three from the top right, where impact and contribution are both high.
Fill the review form
For each goal write the result, the numbers, then the proof. Finish the draft three days before the deadline and reread it.
Order what you say
Reorder so the conclusion comes first, then read it aloud and shorten anything you stumble over.
Set next-term goals
The review is not where you hear your rating, it is where you set what comes next. Turn it into goals the same day.
Note the gaps
Right after the review, write down where your own rating differed from your boss's, in the words they used.
Draft the next goals
Turn one flagged weakness and one strength you want to build into goals, and show them at your first one-on-one next term.
