In the frenzy of daily tasks, employees often prioritise performance conversations with their managers. One might falsely believe that their performance will speak for itself. In reality, giving visibility of your work to your manager is a job in itself, and failing to do so may have unexpected repercussions such as a lower performance rating than what you anticipated. Don't let "crucial tasks" that perpetually pop-up take precedence over your self-growth and follow the below tips on having conversations that truly matter.  

Schedule ahead

To avoid putting off conversations to a later date when the "time is right", agree on a frequency with your line manager and block invites for an entire year. Even if your team changes, it's a good way to maintain a relationship with a former manager who may become a mentor. While you can always reschedule for urgent business priorities or if your manager is having a horrible day, it's important to have it on your calendars so they act as periodic reminders to prioritise yourself.  

Prepare exhaustively

There is not a thing that we do that lacks a strong correlation between preparation and likelihood of success. Before you attend the meeting, make sure you've compiled everything you've done between two performance conversations. I use Microsoft Planner to keep track of my work and the "Completed" section is very useful for me to recollect my key achievements. Reflect on instances of team collaboration and leadership demonstration. I like to keep a live excel sheet with rolling feedback from these meetings so I can refer to them and share the progress I've made. This assures managers that you value and act on their feedback. Conduct a thorough self-assessment of your weak areas. Consider any short-term problems you're facing to reach your long-term development goals. Think about aspects that your manager can guide you on, be it your job, your career trajectory, or your team.

Deliver your pitch

During the meeting, focus on your tone and structure. Sound approachable and open to feedback. When presenting evidence of your work, speak in a Situation-Behaviour-Impact format, where you first specify the context, then describe your behaviour or action, and finally elaborate on its impact on the business or team.  Non-verbal communication is also crucial for a good outcome. Demonstrate curiosity through sitting upright, leaning slightly forward, smiling, and maintaining good eye contact, or whatever feels right for you. The idea here is to engage your counterpart, listen and be listened to. Give your manager the time and space to digest the information you're imparting. 

Metabolising feedback

Ask for your manager's perspective on your work and listen to their feedback with poise and composure. Take notes. Both immediate acceptance and over-deliberation of feedback are problematic as they hinder your ability to process and apply it. This may lead to a decay in the usefulness of the feedback or even end up in you handling it begrudgingly. If you don't agree with something, address your concerns respectfully and seek further clarification. Make sure you have a complete picture of how your manager views your strength and development areas before you leave the meeting. Express your intentions to work on the feedback assertively and with focused clarity. 

Create a forward focus

After the meeting, organise your notes and reflect. If you've spent some time in corporate, you are very aware that people may have varying motives for saying what they say. If you trust your manager's motive behind the feedback, and if the feedback aligns with your goals, go ahead and craft an action plan to work on it. If it doesn't align, continue conversations with your manager to reach better sync. If you don't trust their motive, discuss with your mentors to decide if you want to accept or discard the feedback. It is highly recommended to engage your mentors and people important for your career in separate conversations about your performance, so you can have a 360 view on how you're perceived. 

On having a good number of these conversations, you will be able to trace similar areas of strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, consistent performance conversations help shape your career in a way that aligns with personal and organisational goals.

Performance conversations can be a crucial tool in an employee's lifecycle. When done right, it can go a long way to inspire positive change in careers. To best leverage this, stop treating them as a mere end-of-year exercise. Recognise the substantial impact it can have on your professional development. Remember, you are probably not your manager's only reportee, but they are your only manager for now. Accept the onus and take charge of your career. 

Syeda Adiba Arif is an HR Manager at BAT Bangladesh and a corporate columnist for The Daily Star. Having completed her Bachelor's from IBA, University of Dhaka, she is currently pursuing a Master's in Data Science & Analytics at East West University.