22-Jan-2025 by Allison McMillan

Read Time: Approx. 3 minutes

Beyond 'Keep Doing What You're Doing': Writing Reviews That Matter

You want to do the best you can for your direct reports, but performance reviews are A LOT. You’ve got peer reviews and reviews of each of your direct reports, on top of all the usual duties and coaching other individuals on writing reviews. Within the mix of folks you’re writing reviews for, you’ll frequently have individuals in a few different spots… some that you need to provide more critical feedback for, some that are up for promotion and you’re looking to make the case, and others that are strong and steady where they’re at. Regardless, what almost no one ever wants to hear is “just keep doing what you’re doing.”

  1. Think about the individual’s impact. Sometimes it can be easy to overly focus on code shipped (either by that individual or by a manager’s team) but what was the impact of what was shipped. Additionally, hopefully you company assess performance on more than just code shipped. Code shipped shouldn’t overshadow teamwork because one person shipping a lot of code doesn’t set a team or company up for success, so beyond shipped code, where else did the individual have an impact? Or where could they have more impact? This line of thinking is important for both individual contributors and managers at any level of a managerial role.
  2. For reviewing people in management roles in particular, it’s important to look at multiple inputs. What is their team saying about them? What are their peers saying about them? Where and how is their impact felt multiple levels “below” and “above” them (putting in quotes because I hate the terms above and below, but it’s the easiest way to describe things if you’re picturing an org. chart). AND how can you contextualize that information with what you know is happening on a team. For example, a department lead or VP of Engineering looking at turning a team around may not have excellent reviews from the individuals in their reporting line but knowing what challenges they are facing and how they are overcoming those is critical.
  3. Recognize your role in their success or failure. As an individual’s direct or indirect manager, frequently you have a role in what opportunities are offered to those folks. If you’re writing a review (or reviewing ones from your department) and it feels lackluster and when you go to provide constructive feedback to the individual but it feels inactionable, the correct next step is to look in the mirror. What can you delegate, what opportunities can you provide, or what opportunities should you be advocating for them to receive based on their opportunities for growth.

One hot tip (that might not help you now but will help you in the future!)... take 1:1 notes! Holding effective 1:1s regularly and taking notes during them is the most effective way to make writing performance reviews a whole lot easier than trying to remember all of the incredible things your direct reports have done over the past number of months.


Looking to up your management game this year and become the leader everyone looks to? Book 1:1 time with me to help to help you get there.

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