What’s an end of year review meeting?
At the end of every yearly cycle, managers and employees discuss the latter's performance during the past year. These reviews are called End Of Year Review or Annual Performance Review meetings.
Why is the end of year review meeting important?
A good annual review meeting template helps identify growth opportunities for an employee that align with their career aspirations. Remember that this is not a performance review meeting. It’s about them and them alone.
How does the end of year review meeting work…
Step #1: Start with a quick catch up (10 mins)
Kick off your meetings by checking on how they are doing before diving into the agenda. Here are a few questions to try:
- How has the past week been for you?
- What expectations do you have from this meeting?
- Anything specific that you would like to cover that isn’t in the agenda?
Dive’s Pro Meeting Tip: Remember to set the meeting agenda in advance so they can come prepared. That’s half the work done!
Step #2: Reflect on the past year (20 mins)
Don’t forget to review the previous year. Learn from what’s happened in the past and use it to celebrate success and review failures. How was it for their team? How was it for the team member?
Here are a few insightful questions you could add to the shared agenda:
- What was the biggest challenge you faced this year?
- Which was your favourite project to work on?
- What was the top thing that the team did together?
- What is one skill you have now that you never thought you would be able to acquire before?
- How was our pace of work this year? Did you feel burnt out at any time?
- Was there any mistake that we kept repeating as a team?
Dive’s Pro Meeting Tip: You are not here to judge. Focus on the bigger picture instead.
Step #3: Talk about the next steps (20 mins)
Try not to make this discussion all about the company & team. Focus on asking about their personal goals, and see if they align with your larger company goals.
Some important questions to use as a starting point:
- Where do you see yourself five years from now?
- How far are you from that point?
- Are you clear about the team’s goals and vision?
- Would you like to take extra responsibilities this year?
Dive’s Pro Meeting Tip: Don’t dwell too much into the past. Talk about the future.
Step #4: Feedback as a leader (05 mins)
Put yourself in the hot seat and ask for feedback as a leader from them. Remember: this is about the team member, not about you.
Dive’s Pro Meeting Tip: Try these questions to get them to open up: How can you and I challenge each other better this year? What was the # 1 area I could have improved upon?
Step #5: Conclude with action items (05 mins)
Do a quick recap of the goals, make a list of pending action items, and account for necessary follow ups.
Dive’s Pro Meeting Tip: Use these as concluding questions: Are you clear on what we need to do next month? What are the action items on both of us?
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