Performance reviews
What to put in your performance review
Put in outcomes, scope changes, decisions, feedback and what you learned, with dates and numbers where you have them. Leave out task lists, adjectives and anything you cannot evidence if someone asks a follow-up question.
Written by the Look at you go team ยท Published 18 August 2026
The six things worth writing
- Outcomes: what changed, with a number or a clear before and after.
- Scope: what you own now that you did not own at the last review.
- Decisions: calls you made, including the ones that were uncomfortable.
- Feedback: written, specific, from people whose view carries weight.
- Learning: what you got wrong and what you changed as a result.
- Next year: two or three commitments that align with the level above.
Weak versus strong writing
Weak
I am a strong team player who always goes the extra mile.
Strong
I covered the on-call rota for six weeks during the vacancy, with no missed escalations.
Weak
I improved our processes.
Strong
I rewrote the intake process in April. Turnaround went from nine days to four and has held since.
Weak
I supported several important projects.
Strong
I owned two of the four programme workstreams, including the one that was behind when I picked it up.
Writing about what went badly
Include one, honestly, with what you changed. It buys credibility for everything else on the page and it pre-empts the version your manager was going to raise anyway. Keep it to what you controlled and what you did next.
Use the review to set up next year
Three lines at the end of the form
- "Next year I want to be measured on outcomes rather than delivery."
- "I would like ownership of X, which is the scope at the next level."
- "Can we agree now what evidence would make the promotion conversation straightforward in twelve months?"
Related questions
- How long should a self-assessment be?
- As long as the form demands and no longer. Three to five evidenced examples per section beats an exhaustive account nobody finishes reading.
- Should I rate myself highly?
- Rate yourself where the evidence puts you and show your working. An inflated rating with thin evidence costs you more credibility than a modest one with strong evidence.
Find out how much of the year you actually remember
Take the memory testRelated guides
- Self evaluation examples
- How to remember what you achieved this year
- Performance review memory test
- Evidence for a promotion: what actually counts
Back to performance reviews or all career guides.