I just ran across a great blog entry by John Porcaro, a Microsoft Group Marketing Manager. He has some great ideas about writing your performance review - specifically the self-review. His key points and advice should make anyone who participates in a formal review process want to click on over and get his recommendations.

His article contains the details, but the outline of his advice is:

Take time to reflect
Think of your review as a living resume
Be thorough
Go with metrics
Make it about YOU
Don’t worry too much about missing an agreed-upon deadline
Don’t forget the “extra credit”
If there’s something negative to say, bring it up yourself
Sometimes mistakes can be the best thing
Realize that half the equation is perception
Don’t sweat the review
Ask your manager to edit some of their negative comments

  • Don’t put it off until the last minute

Employee reviews can be (and when done well, are) a very useful tool, and present a real and valuable structured opportunity to learn what the next stage of growth is in our careers. It's important to place a level of import on your part of the review process that shows how important your career is to you, especially if you want others to take your career as seriously as you do.