Self Performance Appraisal
8 key questions
Self Performance Appraisal
8 key questions
Arguably, performance management is as much about self performance appraisal as it is about your manager’s view or perspective. In this article we suggest some questions to ask yourself when reviewing your own performance.
A well-conducted performance review should be a two-way process but this can only really be possible if the individuals being reviewed have given some prior thought to their own performance.
Being able to review your own performance is a crucial skill to develop, even beyond the performance appraisal process. It prompts you to recognise what you have already achieved, what might have been done better, and where you might want to focus development for the future.
Making the most of self performance appraisal
Self-appraisal gives you an opportunity to:
- Let your manager know how well you have been doing
- Recognize what contributions you have made
- Identify what you are good at
- Explore how you want to develop
If you haven’t been doing as well as you’d like, self-appraisal can also be an ideal opportunity to recognize and deal with any issues. Use the appraisal process to ask for help or to address any factors that may have affected your performance.
Self Performance Appraisal Questions
Here are some useful questions to ask yourself as part of your self performance appraisal:
- What were your main achievements last year (or during the review period)?
- What areas of work have given you most satisfaction (and why)?
- What do you enjoy most about your job?
- Are there areas of your work with which you’re dissatisfied (and why)?
- What do you think are your particular strengths and skills?
- What areas of your expertise need further development?
- What do you think your goals should be for the next period?
- How would you like to see your career develop?
Some Deeper Questions
Whilst self-appraisal is normally an activity you do before meeting your manager for an appraisal, it has other possibilities. You can also use self-appraisal to ask yourself some deeper questions. For example, from time to time it’s valuable to sit back and ask yourself what you want from life. Try asking some specific questions such as: what are your aspirations, and what might be needed to enable you to fulfil these aspirations?
Such questions are not normally those posed as part of a performance appraisal process. Nevertheless, self performance appraisal in preparation for a review can be a good time to think more broadly about your work and your life. Specifically perhaps, how your current role and performance are taking you towards what you really aspire to do. Or not!
For more on this topic, you might be interested in reading our definition of performance appraisal. This underpins our wider discussion of the process in our article: “What is Performance Appraisal?”. There is more on our take on performance management in our article How to Motivate Employees to Perform.
Applying our principles of performance management
If you’re interested in applying our principles of performance management turn to our fantastic e-guide bundle. Including a colossal 253 pages and 95 tools, it contains 8 key guides we recommend to help you manage better performance, at half price!
It’s All About Performance (24 pages, 4 diagnostic tools)
Managing Performance and Potential (26 pages, 4 tools)
Conducting a Performance Review (33 pages, 8 tools)
Manage Your Own Performance (28 pages, 6 tools)
Motivating Performance (37 pages, 10 tools)
Performance Management Skills (19 pages, 7 tools)
15 Performance Management Tips (20 pages, 15 tips)
Performance Management Toolkit (66 pages, 41 tools – divided into the seven steps of a performance management process).
