End-of-Year Review & 4 Questions to Help you Reflect on Your Year
It’s the most wonderful time of the year with Christmas lights everywhere that put you in the holiday mood. In business, however, it’s time for the end-of-year review! As the end of the year rapidly approaches, many business leaders and companies, start to evaluate the past year and plan for the year ahead.
A year-end review is important for everyone, not only companies, entrepreneurs, and professionals. It’s a way to take note of things that worked and things that didn't in the previous year. Team leaders gather their team at the end of the calendar year to discuss together where things are now and where improvements can be made in the new year. Managers go through the performances of their employees and ask for their feedback and reviews. Leaders evaluate the effectiveness of strategies, products, marketing campaigns, etc.
For professionals, a career year-end review is a perfect time to look at where you are in your career, highlight your achievements, recognise your weaknesses, evaluate growth opportunities, identify areas and skills you can improve, and come up with plans and strategies for advancing your career in the upcoming year
If you haven't done an end-of-year review before, here are 4 questions that can help you reflect on your 2022!
First, you need to look all the way back to January to what you were doing and what your goals were for this year. Review your plans and goals for this year and see how you’ve done. Keep in mind that goals can be modified or updated throughout the year, and that’s totally fine.
Did you reach the goals you set?
Did your career progression go as planned?
Did something happen this year that changed things around and forced you to make changes to your initial plans?
Did you just not carry things out the way you wanted to or should have?
Celebrate your wins, recognise your accomplishments and learn from your mistakes. Some things you can’t control and some things you can. Be flexible when needed, and give yourself some grace at times. Going forward it’s important to take note of what went right, what went wrong, and what you can do to improve.
What are the results you’ve achieved this year? Are they repeatable? How much luck was involved?
Are there areas you can improve? Are there areas where your company can improve? The answer is likely to be a "Yes!". This is the perfect time to think about ways that you can develop and improve.
Constructive feedback at work is also very valuable as it can help you to focus on what to change rather than feeling overwhelmed. However, many people find it really challenging to give any kind of feedback that is not positive. Be proactive and ask for feedback on which areas you can develop more.
Check the career trends in your field. Understand what types of skills are in demand. What is the news in your industry?
Make a list of all the skills your career can benefit from if you learn them. What are the areas you can improve next year that can help you advance in your career?
Now that you’ve dived into the areas that you can develop further and perform on, it’s time to talk about your strengths.
The end of the year is the perfect opportunity to understand what your strong suit is to motivate you to keep up the good work and apply these skills to even more aspects of your job and life. Did you pick up a new skill this year? Did you develop a skill further? Think about what you can do, that makes you different from your other colleagues.
Sometimes your strength could be the combination of your multiple skills and could be transferable to other areas of your life. Recognise and value them! They are precious when you plan your next career move!
What are your priorities in your personal and professional life? When you want to set goals for next year, you should keep the priorities of both sides, and find a balance between private life and work that empowers you instead of being overwhelmed.
During the year, you will have to shift goals at times in an attempt to orient yourself towards your goals. Having clear priorities to stick to can be helpful in such moments. When underlying conditions change, you might also need to shift the way similar to what a business does, in order to keep up with all of those changes. As such, it is a good idea to check in with other people involved to ensure that they understand what the most important targets are for you at this time.
