And how to make your mid-year review work for you!

It’s the middle of the year (how did that happen?!) and, in any business worth its salt, it won’t be long until your line manager says, “Let’s diarise your mid-year review”. For some, that might instil a sense of dread, uncertainty or an eye-roll because, really, what’s the point?
Well firstly, let me reassure you, there is every point. A mid-year review (or any development conversation) is critical in:
- Understanding where you’re at currently– it’s a time to reassess your progress v your goals and work out what it is you’re going to focus on next. This will help you know what is expected of you, which gives you a framework to ensure you can excel in the year to go.
- Acknowledging the great work, input and results you have delivered this year already- we can be so busy and constantly onto the next thing that it is rare that we take the time to take stock and give ourselves the appreciation we deserve for a job well done.
- Understanding where the gaps are in your skillset that can be worked on to develop you further. There is always learning to be done. You’ll have learned loads this year already, but if you’ve got your sights on the next step (whether that’s a sideways move, a promotion or because you want to feel even more competent in your current role), you’ll have some learning to do. And what’s more motivating than expanding your skillset?
- Creating a plan to develop you further. Once you know what you want to work on, it’s important to make a clear plan on how you’re going to achieve that. Read on to find out more about how to do this in a way that will help you.
- Asking for the help, support and input you need to deliver your goals. A great development conversation (particularly at mid-year and end of year) is a two-way discussion- one where you ask for what you need from your business, your line manager and those around you to help you to deliver your goals and ambitions. Remember, you’re not in this alone and those people who are most successful often ask for what they need.
And if your organisation hasn’t suggested diarising your mid-year review, I encourage you to take the bull by the horns and push the agenda on it- ask your line manager for the time, get the date booked in and let’s get ready for a great mid-year review conversation.
To make sure that this important conversation goes as well as possible, here are my top 5 tips for a great mid year review:
1. Practicalities

Firstly, let’s get the practicalities sorted. It’s important that you and your line manager are in a good place to have a great conversation (and I mean that in the physical, emotional and mental sense).
Diarising the conversation ahead of time with plenty of time to prepare is important. Make sure that the time is suitable for both of you. By having the time in locked in the diary with plenty of notice, it shows an intent to prioritise this conversation (and for your line manager to meet you in this space with the same level of commitment).
Consider if there is a day of the week or a time of day (or both!) that is better for you both. Are you, for example, more likely to get called into other meetings or distracted by the day job on a Monday-Wednesday, but Fridays are normally a bit quieter, which means you have a clearer head to be in the zone for your review? If this is the case, for both you and your manager, it could be that Fridays are a better choice for you to make, but maybe not at 4pm on a Friday when the weekend is within touching distance because its unlikely either of you will be fully focused on the task in hand!
Consider how you can protect the time before and after the review: time before to make sure you’re not arriving flustered, late or with your head in a previous conversation. And time afterwards to reflect and capture your thoughts and next steps.
2. Prepare
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” (Benjamin Franklin)
Never a truer phrase was shared. It is so important to prepare properly for a mid year review (as with anything in life). Things to consider preparing are:
- Your results v the goals you defined at the beginning of the year. For this, try to be as specific as possible. What results can you quantify with a data point or insight?
- What you are most proud of and what are your high points. This can be the outputs you’ve delivered (as per the above), but it can also be the ‘inputs’ that you have used. For example, what behavioural style did you change to get a better result? What have you done that’s different or challenged the status quo (even if the results haven’t come through as expected?)
- Where you have come across challenges. For this, consider what the challenges have been, how you have overcome them (if you have) and what learnings you have taken from this challenge.
- What you are committing to achieving in the 2nd half of the year (in line with your overarching goals for the year). Based on the progress you’ve made in the year to date, what are you committing to in the second half of the year? Can you stretch your goals even further?
- Collate feedback from your peers, customer, colleagues, leaders in the organisation and, within this feedback, what themes do you notice?
3. Consider what do YOU want next
A review is a great opportunity to take stock and to zoom out of your day-to-day work life. It’s a chance to look at the bigger picture: where are you at in your career, what your ambitions look like, how ready are you for a different challenge or opportunity? The answers to these questions are individual to each of us, but they are important to reflect on so that you can lead the agenda on your development.
One of the best bits of advice I got when I was junior in my career was that nobody cares about your career and development as much as you do. That’s not to say that people don’t care, but that it will always matter most to YOU. It’s your life, your career, your opportunities at the end of the day!
Bearing that in mind, consider what is it that’s important to you? What opportunities do you want to be considered for next? It could be a promotion or a sideways move to build your breadth of skillset. It could be a training opportunity or a project you would like to work on that will open your network wider. I recommend thinking as broadly as you can on this- opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. So what is it that’s right for you?
A small side note (which may seem like a contradiction to what you’ve just read but roll with me…) is to be open to understanding what other people (particularly those with more experience) consider could be a good learning opportunity for you. Whilst it is absolutely up to you to drive your career and development agenda, try to keep an open mind on what could be possible. There are, after all, several different routes to getting to an end goal… For example, when I was more junior in my career, all I wanted to do was progress through the sales organisation, whilst constantly being customer facing. When I went into a conversation with my line manager who suggested a category management role (think data, analysis and insight) would be a good opportunity for me, I was less than impressed. I took their perspective on board, and it really helped me in the long run. It gave me a breath to my skillset that made me better at being customer facing and set me apart from others who had followed a ‘traditional’ sales path. Whilst, admittedly, it wasn’t my favourite role over the 15 years, it gave me loads and stood me in good stead moving forwards. You can’t argue with that, can you?
4. Ask for what you need to help you deliver

As a line manager, I was often faced with team members who would come into their review with a mindset of wanting to ‘prove’ themselves, as if it was some form of test. Let me tell you, a review is not a test or an interview. It is a two-way conversation to try to get the best from you, to support you in your development and to engage you to deliver the goals you have been set, in service of delivering the overall organisation’s goals.
The conversation you have in a review (at any time of year) shouldn’t include any surprises. You should know if you’re considered to be doing a good job, what skillsets are your strengths and where your areas of development might be.
If we accept this premise as being true, work out ahead of time what support you need from your line manager, your peers and the organisation to help you to deliver your goals (functional and developmental goals).
For example, it could be that you have a skillset gap that needs a formal training programme, or it might be that you would benefit from a buddy- someone in the team who is a bit more experienced than you to help you navigate some of the challenges you are facing. It might be that you would benefit from more time with your line manager to ask for advice and support. It might be that you would love a side project to help broaden your skillset. It might be that you have a passion and would love to lead a project to bring that passion to life at work, for the benefit of the team.
The best conversations I had as a line manager of teams over my corporate career were those when a team member asked me for something. It is empowering, it demonstrates a commitment to your personal development and it helps you to drive your agenda. Worst case scenario? Your boss says no. Or you collectively come up with an alternative approach that works even better!
5. Create a coherent plan
Whatever the outcome of your conversation and whatever commitments you and your line manager make to each other, I strongly recommend creating a coherent plan. A coherent plan includes specifics on:
- WHAT is it that you are committing to deliver or develop. What is the specific goal that you are aligned to?
- HOW are you going to do that? Is it training programmes, a sideline project or a buddy scheme?
- WHAT is the measure of success? How will you know that you have delivered the goal you have set yourself?
- WHO is going to help you? What support do you need from others to help you deliver this goal?
WHEN are you going to have achieved it by? Setting time sensitive deadlines will ensure that you hold yourself to account on delivering what you say you will, particularly when what you are delivering is your own personal development, which can often be pushed to the bottom of the priority pile!
So they are my top tips for a brilliant mid-year review- I hope you’ve found them helpful! Clearly, you can use these to help you at your year end review too!! If you take one thing away from reading this today, please take away that your mid-year and end of year review are two critical conversations in service of developing YOU. They are for your benefit and, done right, can add significant value to you and your progression.
If you feel that you’d benefit from a conversation about your development, what’s next for you or support in creating a plan to build a life that is fulfilling on your terms, do get in touch to arrange a complimentary 30min discovery call to decide if coaching with me could help you get the clarity and confidence that you crave.
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