Get the paperwork out now
Don’t leave your preparation until the night before your appraisal. Dig out the objectives you set at the start of the year and your personal development plan and start to do some proper preparation. Your appraisal doesn’t need to be a tick box exercise; you can make it into an invaluable tool to help your career progress.
Be specific with the development you want
Your career and personal development is yours. Your manager wants to help you get where you want to be in the future and find your day to day work fulfilling in the mean time, but you’ve got to help them out. Come up with some specific areas you are looking to develop and have some tangible ideas around the support you need to be there. Take responsibility – don’t leave your future in the hands of your line manager.
How does your manager like to be communicated with?
To get the best from your relationship with your manager, think about their style and preference and adapt how you communicate. If you’ve completed the Insights Discovery profile, think about your colour energies and theirs and work on some strategies. If they need lots of detail, make sure you give them this in advance. Equally if they prefer a fast pace and high level key facts, don’t overload them with methodical details and paperwork. If you’d like to know more about communication strategies to help improve your working relationships, get in touch via LinkedIn.
Be balanced
Identify both the areas you are keen to improve on but also celebrate successes you’ve had since Christmas. Chances are there are more than you think. Equally, none of us are perfect, so be objective about where you could improve.
Diarise your personal development
Make sure you have some time booked into your diary at least monthly between now and Christmas to focus on your development, reflecting on what is going well and where more support is still required, considering how you are getting on against your objectives and dedicating some time to follow up those good intentions you had. It will make your full year appraisal much easier.
