Performance reviews can be tough. Myself, my friends and my colleagues often experience anxiety prior to going into quarterly or annual reviews. So when I came across a blog post titled “How to Sail Through Your Performance Review,” I just had to share some of the advice here:

1. Know what you’ve done well. Before you go into your review, make sure you know your strengths, accomplishments and be ready to articulate them. I have outlined all my goals and objectives for the next six months and keep a running tally of my accomplishments. Additionally, it’s a good idea to make a list of any additional things you’ve accomplished if you go above and beyond.
2. Acknowledge your areas of weakness. Excuses don’t fly, especially if your weaknesses are obvious. Take constructive criticism like a champ– with maturity and humility.
3. Commit yourself to improving or fixing the problem. It’s not enough to sit there and acknowledge your weaknesses. You have to demonstrate a “meaningful understanding of what went wrong.” Actions speak louder than words; show what you’re doing, or planning to do, to improve.

I am definitely going to be following these three steps for my next review and think it will alleviate the anxiety going in. If you have any additional tips, please feel free to share in the comments.