Best-self review: how to process feedback in an actionable way

Every six months at Hotjar, employees have their best-self review, which consists of a self and peer review. The review forces us all to reflect on two things: how well were living up to Hotjars core values and how were performing against our seniority criteria. Were required to give examples of things weve accomplished during the period, and also think about how we can improve and continue to grow. Our peers are also given an opportunity to share their thoughts and feedback. Finally, we discuss these results at a performance review meeting with our lead.

Although this time can feel tense and high-pressure, ultimately, it helps us grow and develop our skills. To that end, its every Hotjarians responsibility to find ways of processing all the information given to us in a way that translates to concrete actions or steps we can take to achieve our goals. Of course, this is easier said than done.

I want to share my personal process and experience, and what works for me. Each person is different, so my method may not necessarily be beneficial for everyonebut its something to consider if you, like many others, dread the review cycle and find it difficult to comprehend and respond to feedback received in the moment.

Changing my approach to reviews

Im a nervous and anxious person. The anticipation of my lead sharing feedback with me is inevitably very stressful. In the past, Ive been guilty of joining the meeting, sitting there, and partially listeningwhile at the same time trying to read the feedback cards and managing my anxiety. Because Im receiving the info at that moment, I dont have much to say or comment on because I dont have the capacity to process it on the spot effectively.

This is not a very useful way to spend my and my leads time. So we decided to try something different: in my last review, my lead shared the feedback with me a few days before we met, giving me the time to process this information in my own way.

It worked.

For the first time, I was the one doing the majority of the talking in my review. I was the one presenting the feedback and ideas for changes I could make to achieve my goals to my leadnot the other way around.

I felt more proactive, and the time was more productive: I could ask about specific aspects that were unclear to me, or focus on things I wanted to improve but needed more guidance on how.

I organized all the information on a Miro board, developing this template:

A breakdown of my Miro

My board consists of five sections:

1. To improve

Here, I organized the big topics or themesthings that I repeatedly mentionedon bigger green cards, and placed the specifics around them on smaller yellow cards.

For example: a green card might say impact the company. In turn, its yellow cards might say lead a Chapter Week initiative or share more learnings in common channels.

I used arrows to help me correlate between them and added a few notes where necessary.

2. To discuss with peers

Sometimes, feedback can be unexpected or unclear. Its crucial to clarify exactly what my peers are trying to say so I can actually do something about it. I added those cards so I could meet with my colleagues and have these discussions directly.

3. To continue

The good stuff! Even though we tend to focus on what we need to improve, its good to reflect on the things were good at so we can keep doing them. Its also something that makes us feel good, so we shouldnt ignore our strengths!

4. Goals

This is a big one: if we dont know what we want to achieve, its harder to come up with concrete action items. Its important to work towards a goal, even if that goal changes in time (which is both natural and expected, especially with long-term goals).

It helps to select the most important aspects from the review and focus on these. So I added two sections: one for the short-term goal (for example, promotion to level X in 6 months) and another for long-term, looking two or three years into the future.

5. Actions

This is where I added concrete actions to take based on the green and yellow cards from the To improve section.

I kept the green ones (the themes) and added blue cards for each action I wanted to take. For example, related to the impact the company example I mentioned earlier, I could add lead the next Chapter Week initiative on [this date]. As you can see, this is similar to the yellow cards, but its more concrete. Its also filtered because not all the things mentioned in the yellow cards resulted in actions for this specific time.

While populating these sections, I left comments on things I wasnt sure of or wanted to discuss with my lead, and we focused on these during our meeting time. I found this approach incredibly helpful. Unlike previous meetings, which were often spent on things I already knew how to address, or werent that relevant for what I wanted to achieve, this meeting ended with my questions answered and a clear set of actions to take or ideas to refine. And thats exactly how it should beafter all, the purpose of the review is to help me grow.

Making my review work for me

Since my last review, Ive bookmarked the Miro board, and Im marking progress on my action items. Every now and then, I revisit it to see what Ive already achieved and what I can still work on before my next review. I also find this helps me organize my personal development time, and I can keep this information in mind when I write my next self-review.

The feeling that Im directly addressing the feedback I receive during the review instead of taking random actions has been a game-changer. I have a completely different attitude towards my review. While the nerves and anxiety havent completely dissipated, I feel much more comfortableand even confident. Maybe this approach could have the same impact on someone else.