Captify’s Global L&D Manager, Lucy Shutt-Vine Shares 6 Valuable Takeaways From The IAA’s ‘Boss Your Review’ Event

Lots of us nervously anticipate our annual reviews, seeing them only as an opportunity for our managers to give us feedback or analyse our sales targets, but a review shouldn’t be a one-sided conversation. Here are the key lessons I shared – and learned – in the recent IAA discussion on how to ‘Boss Your Review’. Follow these steps to have productive conversations with your boss about your performance and ambitions:

1. Chase feelings, not promotions

Our fulfillment in our jobs is based on what happens day-to-day. Promotions provide short-lived excitement before reality sets in and you realise that you have to fulfill new responsibilities and requirements. Is a promotion going to give you the satisfaction you crave on a day to day basis? If not, perhaps it’s time to realign with your passions, skills, and strengths to make a pivot in your career. 

Ask yourself these coaching questions:

• How do I want to feel at work?
• How can I define these feelings in my own words?
• What activities/tasks/projects would I be doing to make me feel like this?
• What support do I need to feel this way?

2. Be an advocate for yourself at all times

Being clear on how much value you bring to a project is essential when it comes to being a cheerleader for yourself. If you worked as part of a team, what specifically did you contribute to the project? If you lead the project, make that known and stop saying ‘we’ when you mean ‘I’. It is not bragging if it is fact. Talking about your value raises awareness of your contribution to the business, making it more likely that you’ll be remembered when future opportunities arise. 

Ask yourself these coaching questions:

• What did I do specifically?
• What results did I see from the work I did?
• How would this project have gone differently, if I wasn’t working on it?

3. Your unique diversity is your superpower

Your own experience in the world is what makes you unique. We all have different views of the world around us, based on our upbringings, heritage, and experiences. Stay true to yourself and remain authentic at all times when it comes to your career. For example, if one of your core values is gaining knowledge, be aware of how your organisation is supporting you to learn and build knowledge.

Ask yourself these coaching questions:

• What stories, experiences, or achievements make me unique? 
• What values do I live by?
  

4. Sew seeds for career pivots 

If you are looking to take a new direction in your career, try reframing the conversation in a way that highlights the value this could bring to the business and to you. For example, you can give examples of what skills and strengths you have developed and how you want to use them in the future, explaining why they would suit a position in a different team with a different focus. This helps to make clear what expectations you have for your career, and gives your manager an opportunity to support you.
Ask yourself these coaching questions:

• What skills and strengths do I enjoy using regularly?
• What skills and strengths would I like to use or develop further?
• How can these skills and strengths be developed in my current role?

5. Overworked or lack of prioritisation?

When you are feeling overworked but not sure how to approach your manager make sure you have clarity on what is taking up your time. First make a note of every task you have to do on a day to day level, almost like a time-sheet.
Try asking these coaching questions of yourself and your manager: 

• What on this list is both urgent and important? How could my tasks be prioritised more clearly?
• How else could I manage my time?
• Who could give me support?

6. Ask for more responsibility 

If you feel capable in your role, you may feel the need to challenge yourself and seek out new responsibilities. This is great for managers to hear so start by having an open and transparent conversation with them about how you are feeling. They might also be able to offer you some development feedback, which is all a part of growth.

• Ask your manager “What is a problem I can help you with?” to gain more responsibility and insight into what they work on every day.