The 90-Day Self-Improvement Blueprint: A Quarterly Review Process

Today is the first day of the new quarter. That means it is a good time to review the previous quarter.

I do this with several of our clients. And I used to do reviews in my corporate job for my team.

Perhaps you already do employee reviews annually if you have a team. That’s good — but I think it could be better.

Why Quarterly Reviews

I think you should do a personnel performance review at least once per quarter leading up to the annual review. This way, you have regular opportunities to give feedback to your staff on how they are doing and what they should be doing to improve themselves and their work. As Mike and I like to say, “The results of the annual review should never be a surprise.”

A good employee review should ask for their feedback on how they are doing in their role. You should want to hear how they believe they are doing on their job and what might be obstacles or barriers to them being successful.

The personnel review time should also give you the platform to share what you see as growth or success as well as new opportunities for growth. It should be a time where you work with your team member to create a development plan and to track their progress.

Personnel vs Personal Review

So you’re doing personnel reviews, but how about personal reviews?

If reviews are good for our team, then what about for ourselves?

If you were to review yourself today at the end of a quarter, what feedback would you give yourself?

If you want to succeed in your current role, I believe you need regular periods to review yourself and your work. I do this periodically to monitor my own progress, to identify gaps, to create new habits, and to make short-term plans for my life.

I find this is a good practice so that I can continue to grow in my own self-awareness. As we learn about ourselves, we can start to make personal changes, and we can fuel our own growth.

You will be able to have better focus on what you do and how you do it. You’ll be more intentional in how you approach your work and your life.  And when you look back and see how much you’ve grown, you’ll feel a sense of personal reward.

In short, you’ll start to find more happiness and fulfillment in your life when you start taking time to review yourself and to make short-term plans for yourself. Investing in yourself will pay dividends for many years to come!

How To Do a Personal Review

There are 3 sections I recommend for the Personal Review: Performance against your goals; Barriers & Obstacles; and Your Action Plan.

1. Review Accomplishments

Achievements. How did you do in achieving your goals for this quarter?

• Did you even have clear goals for yourself?
• What did you accomplish? Make a list of what you accomplished (personal and professional), and celebrate what you were able to do in this first quarter.

Priorities. Were there goals that you gave up on, or let slide for some other priority?

• Did you finish the projects that you said you were going to finish?
• How well did you prioritize the important things — and not just the urgent?
• What are your goals for this next quarter?
• What will it take for you keep your commitments and achieve your goals this next quarter?

2. Identify Barriers and Obstacles

• What really held you back from achieving your goals this quarter?
• Was it lack of clarity?
• Was it lack of priority?
• Did you allow someone else to dictate your priorities and how you spent your time?
• Were most of your obstacles external to yourself or were they internal?

Take time to really think about that last one.

Many times we blame our lack of accomplishment on something outside of ourselves, but that’s just an excuse. As the old saying goes, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Over the last 90 days, did you have the mindset that you were committed, and that you were going to do whatever it took regardless of the situation or obstacles? Or did you give in too easily to the demands that others put on your time and energy?

Be honest, and write down your results.

3. Create a 90-Day Action Plan

A 90-day action plan is just enough time to get your mind around all that needs to be done. It’s not too short-term but also not too long-term.

• Write a couple of priority projects or larger tasks that you need to accomplish in the next 90 days. Something important that perhaps you have been putting off or haven’t prioritized.
• Write 1 thing you will commit to doing for your own personal development. It could be some mindset work, a new skill (soft or technical), new knowledge around a topic that would benefit you and your career.
• Write a new habit or practice that you need to adopt over the next 90 days. Think of something you could do that would help you with your mindset, your time management or your ability to set and keep priorities.

Now that you have conducted your own personal review, and created an action plan, put a date on your calendar for 90 days from today. That will be your next personal review.

Good Habits Can Lead to More Fulfillment

Having regular reviews is not only good for your team, they are a good habit for yourself. Schedule time to regularly review your progress, and to make plans for your own priorities and development plans.

A year from now, when you look back, you’ll be amazed at how much you have accomplished.

I’d love to hear about how your personal review goes, what you learn about yourself, and the plans you’re making for your own growth. Leave me a comment or send me a message, and I’ll do my best to help hold you accountable to your plans.

Here’s to a great 90 days!

 

Micah Ray