More often than not, a self-assessment is where you perform a self-appraisal of your recent achievements, career progress, self-achievements and more.
Generally, a self-assessment is a crucial personality skill that enables you to address the strengths and, in retrospect, the flaws in your character. And when it comes to the million-dollar query, “How to do a self-assessment for work?” you need to continue reading the rest of the op-ed.
When it comes to the question of “how to do a self-assessment for work?” – the one thing you need to remember is that you are not carrying out one for a self-appraisal. But instead, you are evaluating your performance at a company or organization.
And this will naturally include you listing your skills, strengths and achievements at the workplace. A self-assessment can come in handy, enabling the management to review your performance. When carrying out a self-assessment for work, you should review some of the steps and procedures listed below.
Window dressing the review:
One of the reasons most middle-level managers discard self-appraisal reports from their other employees is often because it needs to include the required elements. Always ensure your self-assessment or evaluation report includes your name and current designation at the organization – right near the top of the document.
One of the key reasons you should prepare a self-evaluation report is to list your contributions and achievements here, at the workplace. Chances are the management may have forgotten to take note, and you now have a chance to remind them of the same again.
With the self-assessment report, you are letting the management know about your current strengths, weaknesses, and your plan or course of action to overcome the same.
It would help if you were frank and concise, and this does not mean that you get to list pages of “John did great work” without listing empirical evidence to back up these wild claims. Remember, the management will review the document, which is why you need to be professional.
Maintain a Diary:
When it comes to a self-assessment or self-evaluation at your workplace, you often need to maintain a timeline, be it weekly, monthly or yearly. Like most professionals, chances are that you will need help remembering the events of the last week or month. And that’s why you must maintain a work diary.
A work diary is a simple diary where you record the events at work, from the start to completion dates for any project. After referring to your diary, you can quote these dates later on in your assessment report.
This can enable the management to track your progress at work, enabling them to determine if reports of your successes are backed up by actual evidence.
Provide the management with valuable insight:
A self-assessment report often provides management insight into your various successes. It would be a good idea for you to list the various projects you worked on during the required timeframe.
You may also want to list your current skills and responsibilities and mention any new ones you have taken during the project. All of these should be listed in the report so that the management can appraise and evaluate the report,
Moreover, if you had collaborated with others, as a team, to wrap up a project ahead of schedule – you will need to nightlight the same to the management.
As a result of the self-assessment report, the management should have a better idea of who you are as an employee and your current responsibilities. With the report, the management should decide your promotion and whether you deserve one.
List out your strengths and weaknesses:
One of the most common mistakes you can make when preparing a self-evaluation is not being honest and frank or taking the opportunity to list your weaknesses. Everyone expects you to list your strengths, but they also expect you to list your weaknesses. And this is especially true when it comes to developing a self-assessment report.
Make sure you list both in your report and what you think helped you to complete the project successfully. Sure, the management can assess your strengths and weaknesses independently.
But when doing a self-assessment, they expect all employees to be brutally frank. So it might be time to hit ‘the shredder’ if your report does nothing but praise your work and performance to date.
Willingness to improve:
One of the essential items that most, if not all, employers expect their employees to include in their self-assessment report is a willingness to grow and a willingness to improve.
It would help if you made it clear to the management that you are more than willing to work on and improve any shortcomings that you may have. This will signal your intent and often go a long way to impressing the management.
These are but a few essential steps you must undertake when writing a self-assessment report for the management at your workplace. Remember, at the end of the day, your self-assessment must be based on actual self-appraisal, not the mere invention of your imagination. Good luck!
