Self-Evaluation Examples to Prepare for Your Next Performance Review

As the saying goes, everyone is their own worst critic, but reviewing some self-evaluation examples before your next performance review can set you up to write a self-evaluation you feel good about turning over to your supervisor. While performance reviews can be intimidating, they’re the sign of a healthy organization that wants to maintain regular communication between managers and employees and foster an environment in which workplace feedback is readily exchanged.

Self-Evaluations Explained

While other forms of performance reviews typically involve the managers reviewing subordinates or vice versa, or even same-level coworkers reviewing each other, a self-evaluation is an opportunity for an employee to critique his or her own job performance. It’s a process that can take many employees out of their comfort zone, as it involves taking a look in a professional mirror and attempting to evaluate oneself without too much bias.

Topics to Cover in a Self-Evaluation Examples

A self-evaluation examples are a chance for employees to analyze what they bring to the table as a team members and put it into their own words. It’s also a chance to take inventory of any performance areas or skills that could use improvement and offer solutions to those shortcomings. Some self-evaluation examples to cover would include:

• Accomplishments

Starting by highlighting some achievements can provide a little ego boost at the beginning of the self-evaluation process. Listing out goals that were met, clients that were satisfied, improvements that were made, or anything else you are particularly proud of and deserve to take some credit for, can remind yourself and your management of the hard work you’ve accomplished for the benefit of the organization. If you’re in a place where you aren’t as confident with your recent performance, it can be refreshing to itemize accomplishments you are proud of.

• Communication

The most effective teams have good communication. In terms of self-evaluation examples, could you think of instances in which you have actively participated or initiated good communication practices while on the job? Could you tell me what the circumstances and who you were communicating? What do you think about that interaction could be considered effective communication on your part?

• Creative Contributions

Progressive companies rely on the creativity of their team members to think outside of the box to keep up with market trends and client demands and even to stay ahead of competitors. Your self-evaluation is a good time to mention any time you’ve been an asset to the organization. What new ideas have you contributed to projects or presented to teammates that were implemented and resulted in process improvements within your company?

• Delegating Abilities

While each employee usually has a consistent workload they are responsible for; sometimes projects come up that may increase responsibility. Some employees might try and shoulder this extra work without complaint, but that’s not always necessary. Suppose you have delegated some tasks to other team members in the best interest of the team’s overall goals. In that case, it highlights your humility in asking for help when you need it, your openness to working with others, as well as how much trust you place in your colleagues. Some people might be too proud to ask for additional help if they don’t realize they don’t look bad for doing so. There is always a time and a place for delegating.

• Your Productivity

How is your productivity quantified at work? Do you work with deadlines, or are your tasks more open-ended? Are your objectives given to you, or do you have to articulate them yourself? In your self-evaluation, you can write about what you do to stay on task, meet deadlines, and help others on your team work productively and motivate yourself.

• How Well You Manage Your Time

You might be handling multiple responsibilities at work, which requires proper time management to ensure tasks aren’t left to fall through the cracks. For your self-evaluation, write about how you approach time management in your position, prioritize tasks, and delegate your work time for specific activities. Are you prone to procrastination? If so, what are you doing to improve on that?

• Your Affinity for Teamwork

Do you work well with your coworkers and enjoy collaborating to complete projects? How open are you to receiving advice from other team members? How do you contribute to the group?

If teamwork is a struggle for you, please try and check in with yourself and figure out whether the issue is something you have control over, and write in your self-evaluation about what you are doing to improve your teamwork efforts.

• Problem-Solving & Your Performance Under Pressure

Problem-solving is a normal part of every job and is consequently something every employee faces. While keeping good communication with managers creates an accessible resource for working through workplace problems, there isn’t always someone there to hold your hand and help you find your next steps in a challenging situation. Sometimes, you must call the shots yourself, even if it’s difficult.

In your self-evaluation, you can write about instances you’ve had to make tough choices at work, what the results were, and how that felt for you as an employee. Some examples might be dealing with unhappy customers, running out of supplies for a project, or even coworker conflict resolution. Your ability to take the initiative in solving problems independently is a great thing to talk about in your self-evaluation.

Solving high-stakes problems or resolving issues on a timed deadline could also be considered performing under pressure. Most work environments aren’t always smooth-sailing, and sometimes problems come up that raise the stakes of completing a project on time. How do you handle these instances? Do you thrive when working under pressure? Describe some occasions when you felt you performed well or not under pressure.

Benefits of Self-Evaluations for Employees

Regular self-check-ins can be beneficial to all employees. Self-evaluations can provide confidence boosts to employees who may need it, as well as be humbling to those who perhaps don’t spend enough time critiquing themselves. It’s an opportunity for the employee to consider their contribution as a team member and an employee in an organization. Sometimes, self-evaluations prompt a necessary internal dialogue in which an employee can self-assess and hopefully come up with solutions for any problems or areas that need improvement.

Considering one’s weaknesses can be difficult, but people are generally more receptive to constructive criticism from someone familiar, even themselves. It is up to the individual to find the motivation to make improvements and actively work towards them effectively, but this may result in developing some positive character attributes such as humility and patience.

Self-evaluations are not meant to be complicated; they are simply an employee’s feedback about his or her performance, but eventually. The employee’s self-evaluation is discussed with their manager to either back up their self-praise or assist in brainstorming how to navigate any areas requiring growth.

When regular self-evaluations are gathered, the employee will also be able to look back and compare current to past feedback and then quantify any growth or progress on improvements they have made.

Benefits of Self-Evaluations to the Employer

The main benefit to employers of implementing self-evaluations is that managers and supervisors can better get to know their employees while gaining a better understanding of their perspective on their position. It’s an excellent way to get feedback on their biggest workplace motivators and what they believe inhibits their performance.

Team leaders can identify patterns when comparing one employee’s self-evaluation examples to another. And even track a single employee’s growth and improvement progress from one self-evaluation to the next.

Self-evaluations highlight an employee’s strengths and weaknesses so that managers can determine whether an employee’s skills are being put to good use. Adjustments can then be made to improve workflow and fortify the work team.

Self-evaluations allow managers to hear directly from the employee exactly what areas they need help in so that suggestions can be made. And assistance given accordingly. While criticism in other performance reviews can be difficult to present to the employee without sounding discouraging, in self-evaluations, the employee has already itemized their own criticism.

The manager’s role is to provide solutions and encouragement to motivate the employee to make improvements where necessary. Self-evaluations also provide team leaders the opportunity to give an employee some recognition when it is deserved to ensure the focus isn’t completely on the employee’s shortcomings.

In Summary, The Main Goal of Self-Evaluation Examples

All of the employee and employer benefits of self-evaluations combine to help companies as a whole reach one of their biggest goals. And that is to create confident, productive, and satisfied employees.

These employees feel as though they belong in their role at work and feel valued by their team and have the confidence to tackle any challenges that come their way, including branching out for self-improvement. For any company that conducts performance reviews, self-evaluations should be on their list of assessments.

If you’ve recently learned that your workplace has scheduled a self-evaluation performance review for you. Know that it’s nothing to be nervous about, and it’s a good sign you’re working for a company that cares about you as an employee and how you feel about your job. Preparing by reviewing some self-evaluation examples can help you get ready to have a successful and productive performance review.