Document Quantify Communicate: Write Your Own Report Card
This is a very good time to think about your accomplishments during the year. For those who started the year with written goals, determine progress for each goal. If you do not have written goals, still summarize your accomplishments – in writing.
Why is this important? The answer is simple. IF YOU DO NOT TELL THE STORY OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, THE STORY MAY NOT BE TOLD. Do not expect your boss to keep up with the great job you did on a special project back in March or how you volunteered to work overtime to meet a team deadline. Sure, the boss may have a general sense that you are a good employee, but the story of how you deliver results is your story to tell. THE BOSS IS TRYING TO TELL HIS OR HER OWN STORY looking for a pay raise or promotion.
When documenting your results, USE NUMBERS OR QUANTIFIABLE MEASURES whenever possible. Did anything you do save or make money for the company? How much? Were customers satisfied with your service? What percentage of them? Were projects completed on schedule or under budget? How many and how much under? Did you perform tasks without error? How frequently? Did other people, either customers or co-workers, send thank you notes or commendations? Attach them. THE RULE: DOCUMENT QUANTIFY COMMUNICATE.
USE PRESIDENT OBAMA AS A MODEL. He made very sure the American people knew his record, mostly in quantifiable terms. Examples are: 32 straight months of job growth and 5.2 million jobs; rescued auto industry saving over 1 million jobs; cut taxes by $3,600 for average middle class family making $50,000; Lillie Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; and ending the war in Iraq. President Obama did not simply say “I have been working hard and doing good”. He took the time to document, quantify and communicate results. Some even thought he should have bragged earlier and more loudly. Results laid the foundation for his re-election.
It is sometimes difficult to toot your own horn. No one wants to be seen as braggadocios or arrogant. Even so, you must tell the important chapters of your story. Write them down if only for yourself. In doing so, you will feel good about what you have done and gain perspective on what you want to do in the coming year. CARE ENOUGH ABOUT THE WORK YOU DO TO REFLECT ON WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE GOOD OR YOUR DEPARTMENT AND YOUR COMPANY.
While your boss may never ask for it, each year, prepare a simple one-page report of your accomplishments. Send it to your boss as a brief update and thank him or her for the opportunity to work with the team.
THE LESSONS:
It is your job to document, quantify and communicate your accomplishments.
Toot your horn with confidence not cockiness.