The year is winding down. Even as we turn our attention to holiday festivities, the end of the year for any company, any professional, and any leader is busy. We’ve got a lot of work to do before the new year begins! And, like many, part of that work will involve a year-end review.
As an individual, you may get a review, while the work of the whole company will, too. Ideally, these reviews are designed to vision-cast the future. We move forward, having learned from triumphs and failures alike.
Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with the information they receive in a review. You may see lots of numbers and metrics. You’ll know if benchmarks were met. You may even know what worked and what didn’t.
But once you have that information, what do you do with it? This is how you ensure your year-end review is meaningful, actionable, and useful to your professional and personal growth in the new year.
4 Steps that Ensure a Useful Year-End Review
Step #1 – Focus on the process, not just the results.
When looking at a spreadsheet of results, it’s easy to lose a grasp of the context. All data needs context to be processed and understood, lest we draw the wrong conclusions. As you look at revenue and analytics, don’t just take it at face value.
Explore the why. What factors could you control, and which were out of your hands? How did your approach impact the results? You might not draw the right conclusions, but exploring these questions creates room to explore and chart a course to improve systems or replicate results.
Step #2 – Transform how you see failure.
When failure is viewed as an end state, we’re unable to move forward effectively. Discussing failure in the right way is essential for a productive year-end review! You want to approach it in a way that isn’t about shame. Acknowledge the impact of the failure, but there’s no use in dwelling upon it apart from a utilitarian context.
Failure creates opportunity. We see what works and what doesn’t, factors that we might not have considered, and the chance to troubleshoot. Failure is all about learning – about yourself, your abilities, and the systems that support your business. Identifying these weak points allows you to plan for reinforcement and growth in the new year.
While failure can be a discouragement, it is best viewed as part of the process of growth, success, and lifelong learning.
Step #3 – Give new solutions a fair shot.
When you’re developing new strategies to employ in the new year, whether to course-correct or increase revenue after a successful year, we’ve got to remember that new strategies take time to work. On one hand, worthwhile systems, workplace culture, and procedures demand weeks, months, or even years of implementation before you see the results you’re looking for. It’s tempting to jump from strategy to strategy when things don’t work out immediately.
But we need time to evaluate the effectiveness of any given strategy!
On the other hand, it’s also easy for individuals to default back to their old ways. New systems and strategies are foreign. We may not understand them, feel comfortable with them, or be efficient – at least in the beginning. Beware of sliding back into the old ways of doing things just because the new plan is challenging. Give it time to take root, even if there’s a learning curve.
Step #4 – Follow up with continuous feedback.
Year-end reviews are only so helpful by themselves. Truthfully, this feedback is only useful if it’s been part of a series of monthly or quarterly evaluations. Not only do these allow you to gain valuable feedback along the way – maximizing results and steering away from disaster – but it avoids unpleasant surprises.
Continuous feedback is necessary because it shows us what’s working, what’s not, and where we need to focus our time and attention. There should be an ongoing discussion about new challenges, triumphs, and results as the year progresses.
This makes implementing changes timelier and more effective than waiting a whole year to change everything up again.
What’s been your experience with helpful, actionable feedback and bad feedback? Share what makes the difference to you in the comments.