Navigating the Annual Review

With many companies doing annual reviews this time of year, we go through some guidance, tips and tricks and strategies for navigating reviews with your manager, and reviews with your teams. 

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SHOW NOTES:

HOW TO MANAGE THE PROCESS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

• The annual review is a year-long project, but most people only focus on the 3-4 weeks around it.
• It’s about what you do, but it’s also about what you do that’s visible beyond your team.
• Know how your company measures success and structures rewards/promotions/recognition.

THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY OF THE ANNUAL REVIEW

• HR controls the process, and your manager generally doesn’t want to deal with it.
• Most companies allocate a strict budget, which is top-down. 
• Most companies grade on a broad bell curve; most people end up in the middle. 
• It’s good to understand concepts like grade levels and mid-points of compensation.
• “Pay transparency” is probably not what you think.
• Some (not all) bosses aren’t thinking about your career, so you need to own it
• Promotions usually take a few cycles to happen. Ask around to understand that process. 
• For example, don’t expect the startup CEO to give you the best advice for your career, their interests may diverge from yours, asking more experience people how they do X may result in outdated advice.

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