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A few months ago we wrote about annual reviews, and how to make them more meaningful, useful, and less stressful.

One of the tools we discussed for the reviewer, was keeping a journal or logbook on the good points and the “needs coaching” aspects of the reviewee.

 

Today we’re going to talk about journaling for the reviewee, and journaling in general. I have found it to be a game changer in my career, both as a worker bee, as a manager… and as a regular ole living, breathing human person!

 

I keep three different journals:

 

Journal # 1:

… is motivational.

 

I start my day with a personal journal. I write down what I plan to accomplish at work and in my personal life. I also do some daily affirmation things. Daily affirmation exercises are often considered a bit cheesy, and yes, Saturday Night Live did some hilarious sketches poking fun at the daily affirmation stuff. Stuart Smiley always closed the bit with, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”

 

When I was first coached on this, I didn’t take it very seriously. But, as part of the training, we had accountability partners and whether I liked it or not, journaling was a requirement. We checked that each of us was journaling and what we were journaling (although we were allowed to keep portions of our journals private). We discussed its effects, and how this daily activity evolved over time. This was an ongoing training for management, sales, & operations personnel. With few exceptions in the group I worked with, we grew to embrace that morning journal exercise.

 

Journal # 1 is an everyday thing for me, it has become a habit. I keep it short; I keep it positive; I refuse to make it redundant, with one exception. Here is what I wrote this morning, June 19, 2024:

 

Keep moving… get up and walk around. Look outside!! I’m excited to see the team at A.C.M.E. Flour & Feed (fake name!!) today. Airplanes are the bane of my existence, but they are a tool of my trade… get over it and get on with it. 54 families*. I’m glad to be here.

 

*Note: There are 55 employees in my division. 54 of them are not me. They make their living at this company, and they need to be considered in my daily decisions.

 

“Glad to be here,” is something I write down every day. I first heard it at a keynote speech from Blue Angels Pilot, John “Gucci” Foley. Gucci is one of my all-time favorite speakers. “Glad to be here,” is something all Blue Angel pilots close their dialog with when debriefing a mission. I found that simple tag line inspirational. “You’ve gotta be ‘Glad to be here!’ And, if you’re not… you’ve gotta work on being somewhere else! If you start your day expecting things to be great and believe that you’ll be glad to be wherever you are, your chances of that becoming your reality increase exponentially.

 

Journal #2:

… is biographical.

 

I usually put entries in this journal at the end of a day. When related to our workday, I believe in documenting successes and challenges. Spending most of my career in sales, this is sort of like a call report, but about yourself, not your customers. It can be effective in any vocation.

Capturing milestones, accomplishments, challenges, & cool stuff, and how you navigated these events, is something everyone should consider. It is especially important if you’re starting out or starting anew.

 

If you did something great, write it down… and how you did it. If you did something dumb, write it down… and what you learned from it. If you experienced a policy enforcement, or had a conversation that you disagreed with, but were afraid to speak up in the moment… write it down! Because you might forget.

 

Work life and personal life get busy, a lot of us spenda lot of our day just wading through the mud and the mire just trying to get through it all. Have you ever gone through a challenging stage in your career or personal life, and looked back and wondered how you got through it? Do you think it might be important to remember how you overcame the obstacle? Journaling helps! The simple act of writing it down helps commit it to memory. I rarely go back and look at these journals from a research standpoint, because if you write it down, it sticks with you.

 

This recap isn’t necessarily an everyday exercise, but it can be. Where I find it most important is in documenting success, wins, and cool stuff. Our memory banks only hold so much information, and for most people, our memories can be kinda mean to us. So many successful athletes and coaches will tell you that they remember their losses and heartbreaks much more vividly than their championships. A good way to rewire that memory bank is to write those wins down. You got a project done ahead of time; write it down! You brought up an idea that everyone loved, you made a presentation in front of a large group, no one fell asleep, and everyone applauded when you were finished… write it down!! You got married, and you really like this person… write it down! Alright, that might be extreme, someone will probably have photos.

 

And that leads us to…

 

Journal #3:

… is a performance management timeline.

 

I started doing this a few years after I became a people manager. Early in this management role, there was a lot of disfunction on some of the teams I worked with. I spent as much time with our Human Resources department and writing letters of reprimand, as I did performing my day-to-day job. Performance reviews were all about “where you need to improve” vs. “what you are doing well.” There needed to be a change, and one of my mentors gave me the idea of a performance management timeline. A simple Excel spreadsheet that documents events, milestones, and yes, cool stuff. (You MUST write down the cool stuff!)

 

Nobody is perfect, but I also believe no one is all bad either. As a manager, I focused on documenting coaching opportunities, and slaps on the back and “way to goes!”

 

Currently, I have the good fortune of working with a true team, a group of people who are fantastic, passionate, self-starting, professionals. They require very little coaching, and almost no supervision. When review time came, I had limited data to discuss, so I told them to keep their own timeline journal. Writing down their wins, issues, concerns, and ideas is a requirement and needs to be presented and discussed twice a year. It has worked very well.

 

As a reviewee, it might be helpful to your supervisor to remind them of the good work you’ve done, your accomplishments, your areas that needed improvement (in your opinion), and how you addressed them. Your manager might be doing it already, or they might not. If they are, a second data source based on your personal experience is still going to be helpful. If this exercise feels like you’re just giving yourself a pat on the back, good.

 

A final note:

… it’s not bragging.

 

It's journaling. It’s a good way to start your day and a record of good things you do. It also helps you remember what you’re capable of when things aren’t going so great. Write it down!!