Making the Most of a Professional Review

Learning to navigate and profit from professional performance reviews is a key growth skill for any software professional. The greater mastery you can demonstrate not only of the technical details of your work but the strategic environment into which it fits, the greater the likelihood you will acquire more responsibility and influence.

This course module, adapted from expertise shared by senior Microsoft managers, is designed to help you prepare and excel.

 

Ten questions you should be ready to answer

Before walking into a review meeting, be ready to:

1. Tell what the product you are working on will do for your organization.

2. Show you are conversant with customer scenarios that show how users will benefit from your work.

3. Describe how your team is working and why you have chosen that working model.

4. Discuss the business category your product fits into and issues and goals in relation to the overall goals of this organization.

5. Review what key competitors are doing and why. It's also important to point out how your product may address competitor strategies.

6. Explain not only what features you are including, but why they are there. (For instance, we're doing "x" so that in six months, we'll have the building blocks to develop "y" and "z.")

7. Explain what you're not doing; identify the features you've specifically chosen to exclude and show you understand the reasons and ramifications behind these decisions.

8. Identify and volunteer issues you need help with, if they cannot be resolved without executive intervention. It is good to think about your work so hard, you develop questions you can’t solve.

9. Know the resources you are consuming to develop or deliver a product. Be able to discuss the costs versus the returns. 

10. Discuss other groups you may be working with within your organization, and how your resources needs and decisions may affect the plans of other groups. The executives reviewing you will likely know what is happening elsewhere, at least in general terms, and you should be able to show how your strategy complements theirs and the organization’s overall.

 

The best things you can do before, during, and after a review

 

Before

Microsoft experts who help managers prepare for review meetings will Bill Gates agree: planning is critical, but presenters should not "beat themselves up" if they don't think of everything.

Do your homework. Ask yourself the hard questions. "Know your stuff in great detail. Leave no stone unturned, no market opportunity unexplored, no technical option unexplored, no possible risk undefended," says Chris Williams, a Microsoft HR vice president.

Gather feedback. Pull in experienced people from other groups to look for the holes in your presentation. Project managers should spend a lot of time talking with other groups. You should also send a quick advance email to your reviewers to determine what they already know and what they are especially interested in learning. This can help you focus on the issues they're not aware of, but that are critical to the success of your project.

Check numbers. Double- and triple-check numbers and data you plan to present. Know what data means as it relates to your product and other groups throughout the company. Above all, the experts say, make sure your explanation is both credible and reasonable.

 

During

Listen carefully to feedback. Arguing only leads to frustration; it's better to stop talking and understand what they're saying and why.

It always helps to summarize reviewers' comments back to them to ensure their views or instructions have been communicated fully and accurately, for example: "Here's what I heard from you, and here's what I’m going to do." This is recommended no matter how clear the comments seem to be at first blush.

Keep things moving. Distribute an agenda to let everyone know what needs to be covered. This will help keep your presentation on track. "Don't dwell on or let anyone else dwell on minutiae.

Provide handouts. Most of our experts agreed that handouts can save time. If you are presenting numbers make sure they add up—you can waste valuable time (and suffer some embarrassment) being corrected by reviewers with highly developed math skills.

Be honest. "No matter what, if you don't know an answer, say, 'I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you,'" says one veteran of high-level Microsoft executive reviews. Potential responses to difficult questions: "I'll research it and figure it out" and "I don't know because that's a hard issue; I'd love to hear what you think about that." And let the executive know when something in your project is wrong, not working, or not progressing the way you planned.

 

After

Take action. Although your reviewers have knowledge and experience, remember that you're a smart person with a long professional history of your own and a deep understanding of your particular areas. Consider the feedback you received and combine it with your initial plans, data, and intuition to determine what changes you should make to your work style or approach.

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What types of visual aids should you use?

 

Presentation slides. PowerPoint slides are good because you can consolidate your ideas into key points. They help keep the review on track and invite comments. Worry less about making them glossy and slick and more about making them accurate.

Demos: You may want to show what you’re working on. Show prototype features your reviewers may not have seen. Keep it crisp and fast-moving, however.

 

If the audience doesn't understand everything you're presenting, things are bound to go poorly. Williams suggests going through your presentation slides and asking yourself the following questions:

        How might this be misunderstood?

        Do I understand everything about this point?

        What questions does this slide raise that I cannot address?

 

If you disagree with feedback

Listen to your reviewers’ point of view and if you still disagree, make your case. Don't argue points unless you have facts to back it up. But remember – you have the most information about yourself and your work. It is your job to communicate it.