Ace Your Performance Agreement!
Whether you’re a new individual contributor, have a few more years around the sun to showcase, are a specialist or have made the move into management. Imagine looking back a year from now and seeing undeniable positive gains, growth and career development that is intentional by way of your own design - sound good?
In this blog I’m sharing some tips and thoughts that might just help, so read on!
Thinking about all the possibilities for the year ahead can present us with a paradox; as the number of possibilities (read: choices) can be both empowering and overwhelming, so #before any agreement conversations I recommend to take a moment, catch your breath and do a little #self-reflection on the previous year. Personally, I find that this can be truly helpful. Check out a few prompts below to try out:
- What am I excited for in 2025? What possibilities exist? Is my career where I want it to be? Were do I want to be in my life?
- What were the pain points from last year? What slowed me down? What skills or knowledge do I need to develop?
- What am I still getting to grips with? What is pushing/pulling me? Am I on the right track, does it make sense to push on with this? What feedback can I use to help?
- What do I do best? Is there something I am passionate about? What difference could this make?
- What do I know/think is on my line manager’s mind and how might I be able support?
When I think about preparing for my own initial performance agreement conversation I review my reflections against the sight lines of the #strategicgoals; then my unit, andthen I start to scribble some objectives, goals, thoughts and questions. If I get myself really overwhelmed then I start an informal conversation with my line manager to feel out 3-4 areas they recommend I focus my attention on.
What about #SMART? To be candid, half the battle here is just accepting that SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) is a proven formula and way to sense-check your ambitions.
Imagine ordering a pizza, you wouldn’t just call and say I want pizza. You’d specify “I want a large pepperoni pizza with a stuffed cheese crust”. You’d want to know how long it’ll take to arrive and how much it’ll cost (in total). That’s SMART in action right there!
SMART helps us avoid setting ourselves up failure through overly ambitious ideas (read:unachievable), lofty projects (read: unclear and not timebound), or vague goals (read: confusion over expectations). While the SMART formula makes sense, that doesn’t mean it is easy. To simplify:
- What would you be doing by X date to achieve Y and insert a metric/measure. (Then use the SMART criteria to sense check!)
Here’s a few ideas to get you thinking!
1. Improve Service Efficiency - By November 2025, reduce the average processing time for citizen service requests for permits and licenses to ‘X’ by implementing a digital tracking system.
2. Enhance Community Engagement - By Q3 conduct two town hall meetings, ensuring attendance increases by 10% per meeting by implementing targeted outreach campaigns that leverage social media platforms.
3. Promote Sustainability - By July 2025 reduce paper usage in the department by 50% by transitioning to digital workflows and implementing monthly audits to track progress.
4. Boost Customer Satisfaction - Increase positive customer satisfaction scores for wait times from 75% to 90% by October 2025, by adopting streamlined service procedures and responding to feedback points.
I try to attempt a SMART #draft - remember it doesn’t need to be perfect, but the draft is enough that I feel prepared for the conversation with my line manager.
What’s next? The agreement #conversation itself. This should be a collaborative discussion between you and your line manager. Your line manager matters when it comes to performance agreements because our individual contributions impact the lives of citizens (and are the metrics by which government will be measured). One of the numerous benefits of collaboration with your line manager (read: accountability buddy) is their ability to #listen, #sense-check you to ensure expectations are SMART therefore,#doable. Your collaborative conversation together bridges the gap between #intention, #action and #impact - not to mention your manager wants to create opportunities for success not vice-versa!
Then what? Getting it on the #record in my-Vista is really important. “Why?”
If most of us are being honest, we don’t struggle with thinking of objectives or expectations; we struggle with clarity. Without clarity, we face a significant problem because misunderstood expectations become assumptions and assumptions set us up for confusion - misplaced time and energy and ultimately discord. Therefore, getting the agreement typed into my-V is when we lock in or sign-off our #agreed, #mutually#understood actionable objectives for which we are accountable.
Whether you're striving to; achieve a career milestone, complete a major project, personally develop or just want to ensure all your efforts are purposeful, focused, and impactful for the Cayman Islands, the performance agreement will help get you there. I mean, imagine a game of football or netball without goal posts? We’d all just be running around!
The really big win for me is I’m better set up to face challenges, achieve work-life balance, deliver against expectations and have paved the way to future opportunities and achievements!
#2025bestyearyet #makingadifference #SMART #collaboration #intelligentaccountability #ace
You got this!
