What this is
A running log you update all year so you have real numbers and dates ready when review season or a promotion case comes around.
When to use it
Start it the week you land a new role or the week performance review season ends, not the week before your next review is due.
Common mistake
Waiting until review week to reconstruct eight months of work from memory, so everything that made it in sounds vague instead of specific.
How to use this
- Download the Word doc
- Add a row the same week something actually happens
- Before your next review, sort for the entries with the clearest before-and-after
You did good work. The problem is you can't remember all of it eight months later, when review season actually asks for it. This fixes that: a running document you update in the moment, not at review time.
Start it now, not at review time
Create the document today, title it clearly, and keep it somewhere you'll actually open, not buried three folders deep.
Add an entry the same week it happens
Memory fades fast. Wait a month and you'll lose the specifics that make an accomplishment credible instead of vague.
Write the impact, not just the task
"Automated the report" is a task. "Automated the report, saving about two minutes per ticket across 1,000 tickets a month" is an accomplishment.
Quantify wherever you honestly can
A real number is more convincing than an adjective, but only use one you can actually stand behind if someone asks how you got it.
For your top entries, use STAR
Situation: what the challenge was, and why it mattered.
Task: what you owned.
Action: what you did.
Result: what changed, include a number if possible.
Business impact: how it helped the business, framed like a business owner would, not just a task list.
Task: what you owned.
Action: what you did.
Result: what changed, include a number if possible.
Business impact: how it helped the business, framed like a business owner would, not just a task list.
Add proof if it helps
Metric: a number that shows the impact.
Who it impacted: team, client, or group.
Evidence: a link, email, or piece of feedback that backs it up.
Who it impacted: team, client, or group.
Evidence: a link, email, or piece of feedback that backs it up.
| Date | What you did | The impact |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 3 | Automated the handoff between two systems that used to require manual entry | Saves about 2 minutes per ticket, roughly 1,000 tickets a month |
| [date] | [specific action you took] | [what changed as a result] |
| [date] | [specific action you took] | [what changed as a result] |
| [date] | [specific action you took] | [what changed as a result] |
| [date] | [specific action you took] | [what changed as a result] |
Keep adding rows through the year. Before a review, sort for the ones that show the clearest before-and-after.