group project self evaluation essay

How to Write a Self Evaluation (With Examples)

First step, be honest about your hits and misses.

Self evaluations are performance assessments that bring you and your manager together to rate your performance over a given time span (quarterly, semi-annually, annually) either using a scale (one to 10 or one to five) or by answering open-ended questions. You complete the evaluation and so does your manager. During the performance review , the two of you compare notes to arrive at a final evaluation.

What Is a Self Evaluation?

Self evaluations are performance assessments that both employees and managers complete. They can be done quarterly, semi-annually or annually, and range from open-ended questions discussed to ratings given on a numeric scale.

Writing about yourself, especially if those words are going to be part of your permanent work record, can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, self evaluations give you a voice in your performance review , and they’re opportunities to outline your career goals and get help in reaching them.

Below, we’ll examine self evaluation benefits, tips and examples, plus how both employees and managers can complete them successfully.

More on Self Evaluations Self-Evaluations Make Stronger Leaders. Here’s How to Write One.

Benefits of Self Evaluations 

1. help employees and managers prepare for performance reviews.

Completing a self evaluation can help guide the eventual performance-review conversation in a structured, but meaningful, way. It also helps both parties get an idea of what needs to be discussed during a performance review, so neither feels caught off guard by the conversation.

2. Give Employees an Opportunity to Reflect on Their Progress

Since self evaluations are inherently reflective, they allow employees to identify and examine their strengths and weaknesses. This helps employees both know their worth to an organization and what they still have left to learn. 

“Self evaluations enable employees to see their work in its entirety,” Jill Bowman, director of people at fintech company Octane , said. “They ensure that employees reflect on their high points throughout the entire year and to assess their progress towards achieving predetermined objectives and goals.”

3. Help Managers Track Employee Accomplishments

Employee self assessments help managers more accurately remember each employee’s accomplishments. “As many managers often have numerous direct reports, it provides a useful summary of the achievements of each member,” Bowman said.

4. Improve Employee Satisfaction

Academic literature indicates that employees are more satisfied with evaluations that involve two-way communication and encourage a conversation between manager and employee, according to Thomas Begley, professor of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute . 

The thing is, employees have to trust that the process is fair, Begley added. If they believe it is, and they’re treated fairly and respectfully during the process, employees react positively to self evaluations.

5. Can Decrease Employee Turnover

Some companies see tangible results from self evaluations. For example, Smarty , an address-verification company, enjoys low staff turnover, said Rob Green, chief revenue officer. The self-evaluation method, coupled with a strong focus on a communication-based corporate culture, has resulted in a 97 percent retention rate, Green told Built In.

Related 6 Ways to Be More Confident in Performance Reviews

How to Write a Self Evaluation

The ability to write a self evaluation is a critical career skill.

“Self evaluations give you a platform to influence your manager and in many cases, reframe the nature of the relationship with your manager,” Richard Hawkes, CEO and founder of Growth River , a leadership and management consulting company, said. “And all results in business happen in the context of relationships.”

Below are some tips on how to complete a self evaluation.

1. Track Your Work and Accomplishments

Daily or weekly tracking of your work can help you keep track of your progress and also prevent last-minute “what on earth did I do the last six months?” panic at performance evaluation time, said Peter Griscom, CEO at Tradefluence . “Strip down the questions to two or three, and just ask yourself, ‘How well did I communicate today?’ ‘How well did I solve problems today?’ ‘What have I achieved today?’” Griscom said. “Get in the habit of writing those things out and keeping track and over time.”

2. Answer Honestly  

For his first self evaluation, Griscom remembers wondering how to best answer the questions. After he asked his manager for guidance, Griscom answered the questions as accurately as he could. “What came out of it was really valuable, because it gave me a chance to reflect on my own achievements and think about where I can improve,” he said. “It forced me to do the thinking instead of just accepting feedback.”

3. Highlight Your Achievements

If your boss has a handful of direct reports, chances are good they haven’t noticed each of your shining moments during a review period. This is your chance to spotlight yourself. Quotas exceeded, projects finished ahead of schedule, fruitful mentoring relationships, processes streamlined — whatever you’ve done, share it, and don’t be shy about it, said Alexandra Phillips , a leadership and management coach. Women, especially, tend not to share achievements and accomplishments as loudly or often as they should. “Make sure your manager has a good sense of where you’ve had those wins, large and small, because sometimes they can fly under the radar,” Phillips added.

4. Admit Weaknesses and How You Have Grown 

If you’ve made a whopper mistake since your past review, mention it — and be sure to discuss what you’ve learned from it. Chances are good your manager knows you made a mistake, and bringing it up gives you the opportunity to provide more context to the situation.

5. Acknowledge Areas of Improvement

Be prepared for your manager to point out a few areas for improvement. This is where career growth happens. “If you want something,” whether it’s a promotion or move to another department, “you need to know how to get there,” said Phillips.

Related What Are Short-Term Career Goals? (With 12 Examples)

Self Evaluation Examples and Templates Answers

Still not sure what to do when you put pen to paper? Here are six open-ended self evaluation sample questions from the Society for Human Resource Management, as well as example answers you can use to prepare for your own self evaluation.

1. Job Performance Examples

List your most significant accomplishments or contributions since last year. How do these achievements align with the goals/objectives outlined in your last review?

How to answer with positive results: In the past year, I successfully led our team in finishing [project A]. I was instrumental in finding solutions to several project challenges, among them [X, Y and Z]. When Tom left the company unexpectedly, I was able to cover his basic tasks until a replacement was hired, thus keeping our team on track to meet KPIs. 

I feel the above accomplishments demonstrate that I have taken more of a leadership role in our department, a move that we discussed during my last performance review.

How to answer with ways to improve: Although I didn’t meet all of my goals in the last year, I am working on improving this by changing my workflow and holding myself accountable. I am currently working to meet my goals by doing [X, Y and Z] and I plan to have [project A] completed by [steps here]. I believe that I will be able to correct my performance through these actionable steps.  

Describe areas you feel require improvement in terms of your professional capabilities. List the steps you plan to take and/or the resources you need to accomplish this.

I feel I could do better at moving projects off my desk and on to the next person without overthinking them or sweating details that are not mine to sweat; in this regard I could trust my teammates more. I plan to enlist your help with this and ask for a weekly 15-minute one-on-one meeting to do so.  

Identify two career goals for the coming year and indicate how you plan to accomplish them.

One is a promotion to senior project manager, which I plan to reach by continuing to show leadership skills on the team. Another is that I’d like to be seen as a real resource for the organization, and plan to volunteer for the committee to update the standards and practices handbook.  

2. Leadership Examples

Since the last appraisal period, have you successfully performed any new tasks or additional duties outside the scope of your regular responsibilities? If so, please specify.

How to answer with positive results: Yes. I have established mentoring relationships with one of the younger members of our team, as well as with a more seasoned person in another department. I have also successfully taken over the monthly all-hands meeting in our team, trimming meeting time to 30 minutes from an hour and establishing clear agendas and expectations for each meeting. Again, I feel these align with my goal to become more of a leader.

How to answer with ways to improve: Since the last review period, I focused my efforts on improving my communication with our team, meeting my goals consistently and fostering relationships with leaders in other departments. Over the next six months, I plan on breaking out of my comfort zone by accomplishing [X, Y and Z].  

What activities have you initiated, or actively participated in, to encourage camaraderie and teamwork within your group and/or office? What was the result?

How to answer with positive results: I launched the “No More Panicked Mondays” program to help on-site and remote colleagues make Mondays more productive. The initiative includes segmenting the day into 25-minute parts to answer emails, get caught up on direct messages, sketch out to-do lists and otherwise plan for the week ahead. NMPM also includes a 15-minute “Weekend Update” around lunch time, during which staff shares weekend activities. Attendance was slow at first but has picked up to nearly 90 percent participation. The result overall for the initiative is more of the team signs on to direct messages earlier in the day, on average 9:15 a.m. instead of the previous 10 a.m., and anecdotally, the team seems more enthusiastic about the week. I plan to conduct a survey later this month to get team input on how we can change up the initiative.

How to answer with ways to improve: Although I haven’t had the chance to lead any new initiatives since I got hired, I recently had an idea for [A] and wanted to run it by you. Do you think this would be beneficial to our team? I would love to take charge of a program like this.  

3. Professional Development Examples

Describe your professional development activities since last year, such as offsite seminars/classes (specify if self-directed or required by your supervisor), onsite training, peer training, management coaching or mentoring, on-the-job experience, exposure to challenging projects, other—please describe.

How to answer with positive results: I completed a class on SEO best practices and shared what I learned from the seminar during a lunch-and-learn with my teammates. I took on a pro-bono website development project for a local nonprofit, which gave me a new look at website challenges for different types of organizations. I also, as mentioned above, started two new mentoring relationships.

How to answer with ways to improve: This is something I have been thinking about but would like a little guidance with. I would love to hear what others have done in the past to help me find my footing. I am eager to learn more about [A] and [B] and would like to hear your thoughts on which courses or seminars you might recommend. 

Related How to Find the Right Mentor — and How to Be One

Types of Self Evaluations

Self evaluations can include rating scale questions, open-ended questions or a hybrid of both. Each approach has its own set of pros and cons to consider.

1. Rating Self Evaluation

Rating scale self evaluations give a list of statements where employees are asked to rate themselves on a scale of one to five or one to ten (generally the higher the number, the more favorable the rating). 

For example, in Smarty’s self evaluations, it uses a tool called 3A+. This one calls for employees and managers to sit down and complete the evaluation together, at the same time. Employees rate themselves from 3, 2 or 1 (three being the best) on their capability in their role; A, B or C on their helpfulness to others, and plus or minus on their “diligence and focus” in their role. Managers rate the employees using the same scale. A “perfect” score would be 3A+, while an underperforming employee would rate 2B-.

At the performance evaluation meeting, managers and employees compare their ratings, and employees ask for feedback on how they can improve.

But rating systems can have their challenges that are often rooted in bias . For example, women are more likely to rate themselves lower than men. People from individualistic cultures, which emphasize individuals over community, will rate themselves higher than people from collectivist cultures, which place a premium on the group rather than the individual.

2. Open-Ended Question Self Evaluation

Open-ended questions ask employees to list their accomplishments, setbacks and goals in writing. The goal of open-ended questions is to get employees thinking deeply about their work and where they need to improve. 

Open-ended questions allow employees a true voice in the process, whereas “self ratings” can sometimes be unfair , Fresia Jackson, lead research people scientist at Culture Amp , said. 

With open-ended questions, employees tend to be more forgiving with themselves, which can be both good and bad. Whatever result open ended questions bring about, they typically offer more fodder for discussion between employees and managers.

3. Hybrid Self Evaluation

Hybrid self evaluations combine both rating questions and open-ended questions, where employees assess their skills and accomplishments by using a number scale and by answering in writing. This type of self evaluation lets employees provide quantitative and qualitative answers for a more holistic reflection. 

Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance Reviews

If you’ve never done a self evaluation, or if you just need a refresher before your next performance review, looking over some examples of self evaluation questions — like the ones below — can be a helpful starting point.

Common Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance Reviews

• What are you most proud of?
• What would you do differently?
• How have you carried out the company’s mission statement?
• Where would you like to be a year from now?
• List your skills and positive attributes.
• List your accomplishments, especially those that impacted others or moved you toward goals.
• Think about your mistakes and what you’ve learned from them.
• What are your opportunities to grow through advancement and/or learning?
• How do the above tie to your professional goals?

Self-Evaluation Questions for Career Planning and Growth

• What are you interested in working on?
• What are you working on now?
• What do you want to learn more about?
• How can I as your manager better support you?
• What can the company do to support your journey?
• How can the immediate team support you?
• What can you do to better support the team and the company? 

Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance and Career Goals

• How did you perform in relation to your goals?
• What level of positive impact did your performance have on the team?
• Did your performance have a positive impact on the business?
• What was your level of collaboration with other departments?
• What corporate value do you bring to life?
• What corporate value do you most struggle to align with?
• Summarize your strengths.
• Summarize your development areas.
• Summarize your performance/achievements during this year.
• How would you rate your overall performance this year? 

Related How to Set Professional Goals

How Should Managers Approach Self Evaluations?

It’s clear here that self evaluations, as a type of performance review, are more employee- than manager-driven. That said, managers are a key ingredient in this process, and the way managers handle self evaluations determines much about how useful they are and how well employees respond to them. To make sure they’re as effective as possible, consider these suggestions.

Train Managers on How to Use Evaluations

“If you don’t, there’s no point in doing them, because the manager is going to be the one driving the conversations,” Elisabeth Duncan, vice president of human resources at Evive, said. “Without training, the [evaluations] will be a checkbox and not meaningful.”

Don’t Use Ratings Formulaically

The results of self evaluations that employ a scale (say, one to five) can vary wildly, as one manager’s three is another manager’s five. Use the scale to identify and address discrepancies between the manager’s and employee’s answers, not to decide on raises or promotions across the company.

Hold Self Evaluations Often

They work best as career-development tools if they’re held semi-annually, quarterly or even more often. “It’s about an ongoing, consistent conversation,” Duncan said.

Tailor Them For Each Department

Competencies in sales very likely differ from competencies in tech, marketing and other departments. Competencies for junior-level employees probably differ wildly from those for senior managers. Self evaluations tailored to different employee populations will be more effective, and fairer.

Stress That the Rating Is Just the Start

The rating or the open-ended questions are the beginning of the evaluation process; they are not the process itself. “These are tools to trigger a conversation,” Duncan said.

Overall, think of self evaluations as a way to engage with your manager and your work in a way that furthers your career. Embrace the self evaluation and get good at writing them. In no time at all, you’ll find that they can be a productive way to reflect on yourself and your skillset.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a self evaluation.

A self evaluation is a personal assessment used for employees to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments and overall progress during an allotted time on the job.

Self evaluations are often completed quarterly, semi-annually or annually, and can include numbered rating questions or open-ended written questions.

How do you write a good self evaluation?

An effective self evaluation is one where you highlight your achievements and instances of growth as well as areas for improvement during your given period of time at work. Tracking specific accomplishments and metrics can be especially helpful for writing a good self evaluation.

Jessica Powers contributed reporting to this story.

Recent Career Development Articles

Group Work Evaluation Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

For the work on the project, our class was subdivided into groups. We needed to work in groups during the semester; therefore, the proper distribution of students into members was extremely important. I was lucky to appear in the group of my good friends. That is why, working in team with them was easy and interesting for me. I knew every member of my group before the project, and this made it easier for me to communicate with them. Knowing the personal qualities of every individual allowed us organize the work properly.

Specifically, we managed to distribute the tasks among the group members in a way that guaranteed the sufficiency and competency of every individual. Every member of the group was responsible for some task and its performance. All the members managed to do their tasks on time, and there were no disagreement with any of the members.

At the beginning of the work on the project, I expected the work to be rather complicated. Namely, I had assumed that it would be hard for several group members to cooperate. In fact, I had doubts about the team project to be successful.

I thought that it would have been better and more comfortable for me to work on the project on my own. It was also hard for me to trust the other members, and let them be responsible for some tasks. However, with the flow of the work my vision of the project changed. The team project appeared to be a very interesting and educational type of activity.

What is more, the group project contributed to my general understanding of the subject. As far as the responsibilities were distributed among the members of the team, it was easier for me to analyze every level of the subject.

Group project allowed me doing the research step by step, learning its separate parts, and then analyzing the project as a whole. In comparison with other activities group project proved to be harder to do, but in some cases it was even more helpful. Now I can confidently claim that the process of learning would have been incomplete without the group project.

One more advantage of the group project is that it involved interaction with the other group members. Such activity developed my communicative skills, teached me how to express myself clearly and understand others better.

Furthermore, work in team developed the sense of responsibility in every of the members, as the task of each individual was not only doing his or her own task, but also contributing to the group work. Failing to do the task on time meant not only personal failure, but also letting down of the whole team. I feel that the experience of doing a group project changed my attitude to doing tasks in general, and to the process of learning.

Working on team project was a new kind of activity for me. However, despite the fact that it proved to be very interesting and useful, it is hard for me to decide whether it is the best of the course activities.

I guess that team project is a good kind of work, but it cannot be used alone. Indeed, the textbooks are irreplaceable; they were also helpful in the project. The exercises that we did in the class were very interesting, and they helped to understand the material better.

In addition, while the flow of the project was managed by us, the exercises in class were controlled by the teacher, which guaranteed our adequacy. The films shown in class were also rather helpful, especially for those students, who have a good visual memory. I think that every kind of activity is extremely useful, and all of them need to be used in complex for maximal effect.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 9). Group Work Evaluation. https://ivypanda.com/essays/group-work-evaluation/

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How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Here are the exact steps you need to follow for a reflection on group work essay.

• Explain what Reflection Is
• Explore the benefits of group work
• Explore the challenges group
• Give examples of the benefits and challenges your group faced
• Discuss how your group handled your challenges
• Discuss what you will do differently next time

Do you have to reflect on how your group work project went?

This is a super common essay that teachers assign. So, let’s have a look at how you can go about writing a superb reflection on your group work project that should get great grades.

The essay structure I outline below takes the funnel approach to essay writing: it starts broad and general, then zooms in on your specific group’s situation.

Disclaimer: Make sure you check with your teacher to see if this is a good style to use for your essay. Take a draft to your teacher to get their feedback on whether it’s what they’re looking for!

This is a 6-step essay (the 7 th step is editing!). Here’s a general rule for how much depth to go into depending on your word count:

• 1500 word essay – one paragraph for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion ;
• 3000 word essay – two paragraphs for each step, plus a paragraph each for the introduction and conclusion;
• 300 – 500 word essay – one or two sentences for each step.

Adjust this essay plan depending on your teacher’s requirements and remember to always ask your teacher, a classmate or a professional tutor to review the piece before submitting.

Here’s the steps I’ll outline for you in this advice article:

Step 1. Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is

You might have heard that you need to define your terms in essays. Well, the most important term in this essay is ‘reflection’.

So, let’s have a look at what reflection is…

Reflection is the process of:

• Pausing and looking back at what has just happened; then
• Thinking about how you can get better next time.

Reflection is encouraged in most professions because it’s believed that reflection helps you to become better at your job – we could say ‘reflection makes you a better practitioner’.

Think about it: let’s say you did a speech in front of a crowd. Then, you looked at video footage of that speech and realised you said ‘um’ and ‘ah’ too many times. Next time, you’re going to focus on not saying ‘um’ so that you’ll do a better job next time, right?

Well, that’s reflection: thinking about what happened and how you can do better next time.

It’s really important that you do both of the above two points in your essay. You can’t just say what happened. You need to say how you will do better next time in order to get a top grade on this group work reflection essay.

Scholarly Sources to Cite for Step 1

Okay, so you have a good general idea of what reflection is. Now, what scholarly sources should you use when explaining reflection? Below, I’m going to give you two basic sources that would usually be enough for an undergraduate essay. I’ll also suggest two more sources for further reading if you really want to shine!

I recommend these two sources to cite when explaining what reflective practice is and how it occurs. They are two of the central sources on reflective practice:

• Describe what happened during the group work process
• Explain how you felt during the group work process
• Look at the good and bad aspects of the group work process
• What were some of the things that got in the way of success? What were some things that helped you succeed?
• What could you have done differently to improve the situation?
• Action plan. What are you going to do next time to make the group work process better?
• What? Explain what happened
• So What? Explain what you learned
• Now What? What can I do next time to make the group work process better?

Possible Sources:

Bassot, B. (2015).  The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection . Routledge.

Brock, A. (2014). What is reflection and reflective practice?. In  The Early Years Reflective Practice Handbook  (pp. 25-39). Routledge.

Gibbs, G. (1988)  Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods . Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Extension Sources for Top Students

Now, if you want to go deeper and really show off your knowledge, have a look at these two scholars:

• John Dewey – the first major scholar to come up with the idea of reflective practice
• Donald Schön – technical rationality, reflection in action vs. reflection on action

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Step 2. Explore the general benefits of group work for learning

Once you have given an explanation of what group work is (and hopefully cited Gibbs, Rolfe, Dewey or Schon), I recommend digging into the benefits of group work for your own learning.

The teacher gave you a group work task for a reason: what is that reason?

You’ll need to explain the reasons group work is beneficial for you. This will show your teacher that you understand what group work is supposed to achieve. Here’s some ideas:

• Multiple Perspectives. Group work helps you to see things from other people’s perspectives. If you did the task on your own, you might not have thought of some of the ideas that your team members contributed to the project.
• Contribution of Unique Skills. Each team member might have a different set of skills they can bring to the table. You can explain how groups can make the most of different team members’ strengths to make the final contribution as good as it can be. For example, one team member might be good at IT and might be able to put together a strong final presentation, while another member might be a pro at researching using google scholar so they got the task of doing the initial scholarly research.
• Improved Communication Skills. Group work projects help you to work on your communication skills. Communication skills required in group work projects include speaking in turn, speaking up when you have ideas, actively listening to other team members’ contributions, and crucially making compromises for the good of the team.
• Learn to Manage Workplace Conflict. Lastly, your teachers often assign you group work tasks so you can learn to manage conflict and disagreement. You’ll come across this a whole lot in the workplace, so your teachers want you to have some experience being professional while handling disagreements.

You might be able to add more ideas to this list, or you might just want to select one or two from that list to write about depending on the length requirements for the essay.

Scholarly Sources for Step 3

Make sure you provide citations for these points above. You might want to use google scholar or google books and type in ‘Benefits of group work’ to find some quality scholarly sources to cite.

Step 3. Explore the general challenges group work can cause

Step 3 is the mirror image of Step 2. For this step, explore the challenges posed by group work.

Students are usually pretty good at this step because you can usually think of some aspects of group work that made you anxious or frustrated. Here are a few common challenges that group work causes:

• Time Consuming. You need to organize meetups and often can’t move onto the next component of the project until everyone has agree to move on. When working on your own you can just crack on and get it done. So, team work often takes a lot of time and requires significant pre-planning so you don’t miss your submission deadlines!
• Learning Style Conflicts. Different people learn in different ways. Some of us like to get everything done at the last minute or are not very meticulous in our writing. Others of us are very organized and detailed and get anxious when things don’t go exactly how we expect. This leads to conflict and frustration in a group work setting.
• Free Loaders. Usually in a group work project there’s people who do more work than others. The issue of free loaders is always going to be a challenge in group work, and you can discuss in this section how ensuring individual accountability to the group is a common group work issue.
• Communication Breakdown. This is one especially for online students. It’s often the case that you email team members your ideas or to ask them to reply by a deadline and you don’t hear back from them. Regular communication is an important part of group work, yet sometimes your team members will let you down on this part.

As with Step 3, consider adding more points to this list if you need to, or selecting one or two if your essay is only a short one.

8 Pros And Cons Of Group Work At University

You’ll probably find you can cite the same scholarly sources for both steps 2 and 3 because if a source discusses the benefits of group work it’ll probably also discuss the challenges.

Step 4. Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced

Step 4 is where you zoom in on your group’s specific challenges. Have a think: what were the issues you really struggled with as a group?

• Was one team member absent for a few of the group meetings?
• Did the group have to change some deadlines due to lack of time?
• Were there any specific disagreements you had to work through?
• Did a group member drop out of the group part way through?
• Were there any communication break downs?

Feel free to also mention some things your group did really well. Have a think about these examples:

• Was one member of the group really good at organizing you all?
• Did you make some good professional relationships?
• Did a group member help you to see something from an entirely new perspective?
• Did working in a group help you to feel like you weren’t lost and alone in the process of completing the group work component of your course?

Here, because you’re talking about your own perspectives, it’s usually okay to use first person language (but check with your teacher). You are also talking about your own point of view so citations might not be quite as necessary, but it’s still a good idea to add in one or two citations – perhaps to the sources you cited in Steps 2 and 3?

Step 5. Discuss how your group managed your challenges

Step 5 is where you can explore how you worked to overcome some of the challenges you mentioned in Step 4.

So, have a think:

• Did your group make any changes part way through the project to address some challenges you faced?
• Did you set roles or delegate tasks to help ensure the group work process went smoothly?
• Did you contact your teacher at any point for advice on how to progress in the group work scenario?
• Did you use technology such as Google Docs or Facebook Messenger to help you to collaborate more effectively as a team?

In this step, you should be showing how your team was proactive in reflecting on your group work progress and making changes throughout the process to ensure it ran as smoothly as possible. This act of making little changes throughout the group work process is what’s called ‘Reflection in Action’ (Schön, 2017).

Scholarly Source for Step 5

Schön, D. A. (2017).  The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action . Routledge.

Step 6. Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

Step 6 is the most important step, and the one far too many students skip. For Step 6, you need to show how you not only reflected on what happened but also are able to use that reflection for personal growth into the future.

This is the heart and soul of your piece: here, you’re tying everything together and showing why reflection is so important!

This is the ‘action plan’ step in Gibbs’ cycle (you might want to cite Gibbs in this section!).

For Step 6, make some suggestions about how (based on your reflection) you now have some takeaway tips that you’ll bring forward to improve your group work skills next time. Here’s some ideas:

• Will you work harder next time to set deadlines in advance?
• Will you ensure you set clearer group roles next time to ensure the process runs more smoothly?
• Will you use a different type of technology (such as Google Docs) to ensure group communication goes more smoothly?
• Will you make sure you ask for help from your teacher earlier on in the process when you face challenges?
• Will you try harder to see things from everyone’s perspectives so there’s less conflict?

This step will be personalized based upon your own group work challenges and how you felt about the group work process. Even if you think your group worked really well together, I recommend you still come up with one or two ideas for continual improvement. Your teacher will want to see that you used reflection to strive for continual self-improvement.

Scholarly Source for Step 6

Step 7. edit.

Okay, you’ve got the nuts and bolts of the assessment put together now! Next, all you’ve got to do is write up the introduction and conclusion then edit the piece to make sure you keep growing your grades.

Here’s a few important suggestions for this last point:

• You should always write your introduction and conclusion last. They will be easier to write now that you’ve completed the main ‘body’ of the essay;
• Use my 5-step I.N.T.R.O method to write your introduction;
• Use my 5 C’s Conclusion method to write your conclusion;
• Use my 5 tips for editing an essay to edit it;
• Use the ProWritingAid app to get advice on how to improve your grammar and spelling. Make sure to also use the report on sentence length. It finds sentences that are too long and gives you advice on how to shorten them – such a good strategy for improving evaluative essay  quality!
• Make sure you contact your teacher and ask for a one-to-one tutorial to go through the piece before submitting. This article only gives general advice, and you might need to make changes based upon the specific essay requirements that your teacher has provided.

That’s it! 7 steps to writing a quality group work reflection essay. I hope you found it useful. If you liked this post and want more clear and specific advice on writing great essays, I recommend signing up to my personal tutor mailing list.

Let’s sum up with those 7 steps one last time:

• Explain what ‘Reflection’ Is
• Explore the benefits of group work for learning
• Explore the challenges of group work for learning
• Explore the specific benefits and challenges your group faced
• Discuss how your group managed your challenges
• Conclude by exploring what you will do differently next time

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 119 Bloom’s Taxonomy Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ All 6 Levels of Understanding (on Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Self-Actualization Examples (Maslow's Hierarchy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Forest Schools Philosophy & Curriculum, Explained!

2 thoughts on “How to write a Reflection on Group Work Essay”

Great instructions on writing a reflection essay. I would not change anything.

Thanks so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. – Chris.

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Evaluating group projects.

Do you want to assign group projects, but are unsure of how to grade them fairly?

Check out this information on how to assess students work and how to implement collaborative learning into the classroom.

• Tips for Planning a Group Project

Establishing Group Rules and Norms

Techniques for evaluating group projects, example forms, references and resources, tips for planning a group project.

• Give students clear directions and specific criteria for project.
• Form groups of three - five students.
• Ask students to establish group expectations and norms.
• Give students real problems to solve.
• Promote group cohesion by informing the students of a group and individual evaluations.
• Allow risks and mistakes.
• Set time frames to check progress.
• Hold individual members responsible for group sub tasks.

Myers (1992) suggests the following classroom rules:

• Each member of a group is responsible for his/her own work and behavior.
• Group members must help any other group members who ask for it.
• No member of the group can ask the teacher for help unless all members of the group have the same question.

Sometimes, it is helpful to ask group members to articulate their expectations for the learning team. See this  form  to help groups do that. Take 15 - 20 minutes to do the following. First ask EACH individual student to write down answers to the following questions: "When you work with a group what do you expect OTHERS to do/act?" and "What do you expect your TEAM will accomplish this semester?" ( form  for this) Then get the group members together to review the individual and group expectations and outline BOTH individual expectations for EACH member of the group and the expectations for the team as a group. The group should also consider and discuss any repercussions and/or consequences of NOT living up to team expectations? The last step is for the team members all sign off on expectations.

• Peer / Self Evaluation of Roles - Students rate themselves as well as other group members on specific criteria, such as responsibility, contributing ideas, finishing tasks, etc. This can be done through various grading forms or having students write a brief essay on the group/members strengths and weaknesses.
• Individual Journals - Students keep a journal of events that occur in each group meeting. These include who attended, what was discussed and plans for future meetings. These can be collected and periodically read by the instructor, who comments on progress. The instructor can provide guidance for the group without directing them.
• Minutes of Group Meetings - Similar to journals are minutes for each group meeting, which are periodically read by the instructor. These include who attended, tasks completed, task planned, and contributors to various task. This provides the instructor with a way of monitor individual contributions to the group.
• Group and Individual Contribution Grades - Instructors can divide the project grade into percentage of individual and group contribution. This is especially beneficial if peer and self evaluations are used.

These are some sample forms for evaluating group projects:

• Grading Form  - This tool is used for students evaluating other student's papers. This is a criteria-based form that has points assigned for various criteria.
• Grading Form for Technical Papers  - This tool can be used for students to evaluate other student's papers that follow a technical format, such as APA. This is a criteria-based form where points are assigned for each criteria.
• Group Grading Form  - This tool can be used for students grading all the other members of a group and their contributions. This is a Likert scale for each member.
• Peer Evaluation  - This tool can be used as a grading form for students who participated in a collaborative writing project to evaluate other members contribution to the final product.
• Group Presentation  - This is a grading form for group presentations. This is criteria-bases with students earning a number of points for various sections or criteria.
• Other forms:  Group/Team Evaluation ;  Student Peer Evaluation ;  Peer Assessment Inventory ;  Group Case Evaluation Sheet ;  Peer Evaluation ;  Peer Evaluation of Group Work ;  Group Process Evaluation ;  Grading Scenario for group work ;  Peer Evaluation Presentation form .

More information on this and other subjects is available from the Walker Teaching Resource Center at 401 Hunter Hall. The following list of articles will be beneficial for future study.

• Carter, J. H. (1995). Dealing with parasites in group projects. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Assoc. (81st, San Antonio TX, Nov. 18-21, 1995). ERIC # ED 392 100.
• O'Quin, K. (1996). Depth by doing: Cooperative research projects in social psychology. In Proceedings  of the Annual Conference on Undergraduate Teaching of Psychology. (10th, Ellenville NY, March 20-22, 1996) ERIC # ED 405 031
• Mason, E. (1972). Collaborative Learning. New York: Agathon Press, Inc.
• Dale, H. (1997). Co-authoring in the classroom: Creating and environment for collaboration. Theory and Research into Practice (TRIP) Series. National Counsel of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. ERIC # ED 402 625
• Keaten, J. A. & Richardson, M. E. (1992). A field investigation of peer assessment as part of the student group grading process. Paper presented at the Western Speech Communication Association convention. (Albuquerque NM, Feb. 14, 1992). ERIC # ED 361 753
• Strong, G. (1993). Teaching writing with small groups. In Thought Currents in English Literature, vol. LXVI, Dec. 1993. ERIC # ED 396 29

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Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, how can i assess group work.

All of the principles of assessment that apply to individual work apply to group work as well. Assessing group work has added challenges, however. 

First, depending on the objectives of the assignment, the instructor might want to assess the team’s final product (e.g., design, report, presentation), their group processes (e.g., ability to meet deadlines, contribute fairly, communicate effectively), or both. Second, group performance must be translated into individual grades – which raises issues of fairness and equity. Complicating both these issues is the fact that neither group processes nor individual contribution are necessarily apparent in the final product.

Thus, in addition to evaluating the group’s output, instructors may need to find ways to determine how groups functioned and the extent to which individuals contributed to the effort. This isn’t always easy, but these general principles can guide you, and the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence can help you find and implement the right approach for your goals and context.

Assess individual, as well as group, learning and performance.

Assess process as well as product..

• Make your assessment criteria and grading scheme clear .

Find samples of group project assessment tools here...

Diligent students can be profoundly demotivated by group projects if they feel that their own success is dependent on team members who don’t do their share. One way to counteract the motivational hazards of group projects is to assess individual students’ learning and performance in addition to the group’s output. This strategy gives diligent students a greater sense of fairness and control and discourages free ridership. 

Individual learning and performance can be assessed in any number of ways. Some instructors add an individual component to group projects (e.g., a short essay, journal entries); some combine a group project with an individual test or quiz. Both group and individual performance are then reflected in the total project grade (e.g., some faculty members make the group grade worth 50% and the individual grade worth 50%; others split it 80%/20%. There’s no perfect breakdown, but the grading scheme should (a) reflect your goals for student learning and (b) seek to motivate the kind of work you want to see.)

Professor Solomon asks student groups to research a famous anthropological controversy, and give an oral presentation analyzing the issues, positions, and people involved. She assigns a group grade for the presentation, but also requires all the team members to write a short, individual paper summarizing what they learned from the assignment and what they contributed to the team. If the individual piece demonstrates a poor understanding of the material or a low level of participation in the group, she reserves the right to lower the individual’s grade by a full letter grade. If it is particularly informed, thorough, or demonstrates an exceptionally high contribution to the team, she raises the individual’s grade by a full letter grade.

If developing teamwork skills is one of your learning objectives for the course, it’s important to assess students’ progress toward that goal. In other words, you should assess process (how students work) as well as product (the work they produce).

Process can be assessed according to a number of dimensions, such as the ability to generate a range of ideas, listen respectfully to disparate perspectives, distribute work fairly, resolve differences, and communicate effectively. Since instructors don’t always have a direct window into the dynamics of student groups, they often rely on teams to self-report via:

• team evaluations: each member of the team evaluates the dynamics of the team as a whole.
• peer evaluations: each team member evaluates the contributions of his/her teammates. 
• self-evaluations: each team member documents and evaluates his own contributions to the team.
• Find samples of evaluations here...

These assessments can be quantitative or qualitative. They can be done as reflective writing assignments or as questionnaires targeting specific dimensions of teamwork. Think about which tools suit your purpose and context. Also give some thought to when you’ll use them (in the middle of the semester? at the end? both?), who should see them (just you? other team members?), and whether or not they should be anonymous. The Eberly Center can help you find, adapt, or create the right tool and determine how to use it to best effect.

Remember, too, that process assessments are subjective and students are not always straightforward when evaluating one another or themselves. However, in combination with product assessments and individual assessments, they can offer valuable glimpses into how teams function and alert you to major problems (e.g., particularly problematic team members or serious conflict), which can help to inform your feedback and grading.

Professor Montoya assigns a multi-stage information systems project where students work together in teams over much of the semester. Over the course of the semester, he periodically asks students to evaluate both the dynamics of the team as a whole and their own contributions, and to reflect on ways to improve both as the project continues. At the end of the project, he asks students to complete a peer evaluation for every member of their team, indicating each member’s contribution to the group. Professor Montoya’s total grade for the project combines a group grade (75%) and an individual grade (25%). The individual grade is based, in equal parts, on how each student’s teammates evaluated his contribution to the group and on the quality of the feedback he provided to them.

Make your assessment criteria and grading scheme clear.

It’s always important to articulate your performance criteria so students understand your expectations and standards. This is especially true if you are emphasizing skills that are not usually assessed, such as the ability to resolve conflict, delegate tasks, etc. Criteria for evaluating both product and process can be communicated by giving students a group work rubric ( pdf ) before they begin their work and then using it to provide meaningful feedback during and at the end of the project. 

It’s also important to think about how you will weigh the various components of group projects in your grading scheme. Some questions to consider include:

• What percentage of the student’s total project grade will be based on the group’s performance vs. individual components? 
• What percentage will be based on assessments of product vs. assessments of process? 
• How much weight will you give to peer evaluations or self-evaluations? 
• Will feedback from external clients also be incorporated into your assessment of the group’s work? If so, what sorts of feedback will you solicit: feedback on product (e.g., Does it work? Is it a good solution/design?), feedback on process (e.g., Did the group communicate effectively with the client? Did it meet deadlines?), or both?

A number of dimensions of group work can factor, either formally or informally, into a student’s grade. What’s important is to think about what dimensions of student performance matter to you and how your grading criteria and the weighting of assessment components can help motivate the behaviors you want to see. Finally, it’s critical to clearly communicate your grading scheme to students.

Group and Self-Evaluation

About this printout

Students use this printout to evaluate both their own performance in a group as well as the actions of their group members.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Before beginning a project in which students evaluate each other and themselves, make students aware they will complete evaluation forms.  Explain to students that the purpose of this form is to make their project more enjoyable because group members will be accountable for their participation. Share with the students the printout to familiarize them with actions and attitudes they will observe in their group members.  Remind students that their group members will be looking for these same characteristics in their behavior.  Include specific examples that exhibit positive participation.  For example, model for the students statements that show respectful listening, such as “I understand what you are saying, but I believe we would have more successful trying _____.”   During the project encourage students to complete in either journals or group discussions reflective statements such as “Today I contributed ____.” or “Our interactions could be improved by _____.” At the end of the project prior to students completing the printout, express to students that their responses will be not be shared with group members so that peer pressure does not cause false evaluations.  Stress that you are expecting students to be honest and truthful in their evaluations.  Encourage students to recall their reflective statements completed during the project and to consider if they achieved the project’s goal, if they worked well as a group, and what changes they would make to increase their group’s effectiveness.  After reading the evaluations, determine what actions will be targeted next.

• Routinely ask students to self-evaluate through journals, evaluation forms, questioning, and conferring with individual students.  This gives them practice in learning to monitor their own behaviors and increases their self-awareness.
• Alter skills or add additional traits you want students to consider.  For example, if you have specific checkpoints for the group work, you could add these to the evaluation and ask if students met these deadlines successfully.
• After your students have used this assessment tool, ask them for suggestions to improve this evaluation.  For example, if students felt they already learned how to respect each other’s ideas, then ask what other skill they feel the class should work on when they undertake their next group project.
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Center for Teaching Innovation

How to evaluate group work.

Students working in small groups often learn more and demonstrate better retention than students taught in other instructional formats. When instructors incorporate group assignments and activities into their courses, they must make thoughtful decisions regarding how to organize the group, how to facilitate it, and how to evaluate the completed work.

Instructor Evaluations

• Create a rubric to set evaluation standards and share with students to communicate expectations.
• Assess the performance of the group and its individual members.
• Give regular feedback so group members can gauge their progress both as a group and individually.
• Decide what criteria to base final evaluations upon. For example, you might weigh the finished product, teamwork, and individual contributions differently.
• Consider adjusting grades based on peer evaluations.

Peer Evaluations

Consider providing a rubric to foster consistent peer evaluations of participation, quality, and quantity of work.

• This may reveal participation issues that the instructor might not otherwise know about.
• Students who know that their peers will evaluate them may contribute more to the group and have a greater stake in the project.
• Completing evaluations early in the project allows groups to assess how they can improve.

General Strategies for Evaluation

• Groups need to know who may be struggling to complete assignments, and members need to know they cannot sit back and let others do all the work. You can assess individual student progress by giving spot quizzes and evaluate group progress by setting up meetings with each group to review the project status.
• Once or twice during the group task, ask group members to fill out a group and/or peer evaluation to assess team effectiveness. Consider asking “What action has each member taken that was helpful for the group? What action could each member take to make the group more effective?”
• Help students reflect on what they have learned and how they have learned it. Consider asking students to complete a short survey that focuses on their individual contributions to the group, how the group interacted together, and what the individual student learned from the project in relation to the rest of the course.
• Explain your grading system to students before they begin their work. The system should encourage teamwork, positive interdependence, and individual accountability. If you are going to consider the group’s evaluation of each member’s work, it is best to have students evaluate each other independently and confidentially.

Example Group Work Assessment Rubric

Here is an example of a group work assessment rubric. Filling out a rubric for each member of the group can help instructors assess individual contributions to the group and the individual’s role as a team player.

This rubric can also be used by group members as a tool to guide a mid-semester or mid-project discussion on how each individual is contributing to the group.

Total Points ______

Notes and Comments:

Gueldenzoph, L. E., & May, G. L. (2002). Collaborative peer evaluation: Best practices for group member assessments.  Business Communication Quarterly, 65 (1), 9-20.

Johnston, L., & Miles, L. (2004). Assessing contributions to group assignments.  Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 29 (6), 751-768.

Oakley, B., Felder, F. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I, (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams.  Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2 (1) 9-34.

5 Exact Examples: How to Write a Strong Self-Evaluation

By Status.net Editorial Team on December 18, 2023 — 15 minutes to read

Self-evaluation, also known as self-assessment, is a process where you critically examine your own actions, behaviors, values, and achievements to determine your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development. This type of evaluation is commonly a part of performance reviews at companies, but you can also practice it independently to positively impact your career and personal growth. Writing an effective self-evaluation requires honesty, introspection, and clear communication.

Getting Started

Reflect on your achievements.

Before diving into a self-evaluation, take some time to reflect on your successes throughout the review period. Jot down a list of milestones, completed projects, and goals you’ve met. This exercise allows you to not only celebrate your accomplishments but also gives you a starting point for the evaluation. For example, “Launched a successful marketing campaign, resulting in an 8% increase in leads.”

Identify Areas for Growth

After reflecting on your achievements, Shift your focus to the areas where you can improve. This requires being honest with yourself about your weaknesses and challenges you’ve faced during the review period. Write down examples where you struggled and think about what could have been done differently. Here’s an example: “I struggled to meet deadlines on two major projects because I underestimated the time needed for completion.”

Gather Feedback

A self-evaluation is an opportunity to hear and incorporate feedback from your colleagues. Ask for constructive feedback from trusted coworkers and jot down their suggestions. Be sure to consider their perspectives when writing your self-evaluation. For example, a coworker might say, “You were a great team player during the project, but your communication could be more timely.”

Review Your Job Description

Finally, review your job description to ensure you have a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities. Use this as a reference point to measure your performance and ensure your evaluation covers all aspects of your job. This will help you to focus on key goals and responsibilities you should address in your self-evaluation. For instance, if your job description states, “Collaborate effectively with the sales team to generate new leads,” think about how you’ve fulfilled this responsibility and include specific examples in your evaluation.

Self-Evaluation Template

Introduction: – Begin by summarizing your role and the primary responsibilities you hold within the organization. – Highlight any overarching goals or objectives that were set for the evaluation period.

Key Accomplishments: – List your significant achievements since the last evaluation, providing specific examples. – Detail how these accomplishments have positively impacted the team or organization. – Use metrics and data where possible to quantify your success.

Strengths and Skills: – Identify the skills and strengths that have contributed to your achievements. – Provide examples of how you have demonstrated these strengths in your work.

Areas for Improvement: – Reflect on any challenges you faced and areas where you see opportunities for personal growth. – Outline your plan for addressing these areas and how you intend to implement changes.

Professional Development: – Discuss any new skills or knowledge you have acquired. – Explain how you have applied or plan to apply this new expertise to your current role.

Goals for the Next Period: – Set clear, achievable goals for the next evaluation period. – Explain how these goals align with the organization’s objectives and your professional development.

Conclusion: – Summarize your contributions and express your commitment to ongoing improvement and excellence. – Offer to discuss any feedback or support you may need from management to achieve your future goals.

[Your Name] Self-Evaluation

Introduction : My role as [Your Job Title] at [Company Name] involves [briefly describe your main responsibilities]. Over the past [timeframe], I have aimed to [state your overarching goals or objectives].

Key Accomplishments: 1. [Accomplishment 1]: [Description and impact]. 2. [Accomplishment 2]: [Description and impact]. 3. [Accomplishment 3]: [Description and impact].

Strengths and Skills: – [Strength/Skill 1]: [Example of how you demonstrated this]. – [Strength/Skill 2]: [Example of how you demonstrated this]. – [Strength/Skill 3]: [Example of how you demonstrated this].

Areas for Improvement: – [Area for Improvement 1]: [Your plan to improve]. – [Area for Improvement 2]: [Your plan to improve].

Professional Development: – [New Skill/Knowledge]: [How you have applied or plan to apply it].

Goals for the Next Period: – [Goal 1]: [How it aligns with organizational/professional objectives]. – [Goal 2]: [How it aligns with organizational/professional objectives].

Conclusion: I am proud of what I have accomplished in [timeframe] and am eager to continue contributing to [Company Name]. I am committed to [specific actions for improvement and goals], and I look forward to any feedback that can help me grow further in my role. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss any additional support needed from management to succeed in my endeavors.

[Optional: Request for meeting or discussion with supervisor]

Example of a Strong Self-Evaluation

Jane Smith Self-Evaluation

Introduction: As a Senior Graphic Designer at Creative Solutions Inc., my role involves conceptualizing and designing visual content that effectively communicates our clients’ branding and marketing objectives. Over the past year, I have aimed to enhance the creativity and efficiency of our design output, ensuring client satisfaction and team growth.

Key Accomplishments: 1. Brand Campaign Launch: Led the design team in creating a comprehensive visual campaign for our key client, Luxe Cosmetics, which resulted in a 40% increase in their social media engagement within two months. 2. Workflow Optimization: Implemented a new design workflow using Agile methodologies that reduced project turnaround time by 25%, allowing us to take on 15% more client work without compromising quality. 3. Design Award: Received the “Innovative Design of the Year” award for my work on the EcoGreen initiative, which raised awareness about sustainable living practices through compelling visual storytelling.

Strengths and Skills: – Creativity and Innovation: Consistently pushed the boundaries of traditional design to create fresh and engaging content, as evidenced by the Luxe Cosmetics campaign. – Team Leadership: Fostered a collaborative team environment that encouraged the sharing of ideas and techniques, leading to a more versatile and skilled design team. – Efficiency: Streamlined design processes by introducing new software and collaboration tools, significantly improving project delivery times.

Areas for Improvement: – Public Speaking: While I am confident in my design skills, I aim to improve my public speaking abilities to more effectively present and pitch our design concepts to clients. – Advanced Animation Techniques: To stay ahead in the industry, I plan to enhance my knowledge of animation software to expand our service offerings.

Professional Development: – Advanced Adobe After Effects Course: Completed a course to refine my animation skills, which I plan to leverage in upcoming projects to add dynamic elements to our designs.

Goals for the Next Period: – Client Retention: Aim to increase client retention by 20% by delivering consistently high-quality designs and improving client communication strategies. – Mentoring: Establish a mentoring program within the design team to nurture the development of junior designers, ensuring a pipeline of talent and leadership for the future.

Conclusion: I am proud of the contributions I have made to Creative Solutions Inc. this year, particularly in enhancing our design quality and team capabilities. I am committed to further developing my public speaking skills and expanding our animation services, and I look forward to any feedback that can help me progress in these areas. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss additional resources or support from management that could facilitate achieving these goals.

Best regards, Jane Smith

Writing Your Self-Evaluation

Follow the company format.

Before you begin writing your self-evaluation, make sure to check with your organization’s guidelines and format. Adhering to the provided template will ensure that you include all relevant information, making it easier for your supervisors to review. You may also find examples and tips within the company resources that can help you present your achievements and goals in a concise and effective manner.

Start with Your Successes

When writing a self-evaluation, it’s essential to highlight your accomplishments and contributions positively. List your achievements and victories, focusing on those that align with the organization’s goals and values. Back up your claims with specific examples and statistics, if available. This not only showcases your hard work but also reinforces your value to the company.

For instance, if you surpassed a sales target, mention the exact percentage you exceeded and describe how you achieved this. Or if you successfully led a team project, outline the steps you took to manage and motivate your colleagues.

Discuss Your Challenges

While it’s important to discuss your successes, acknowledging your challenges and areas of improvement demonstrates self-awareness and commitment to personal growth. Don’t shy away from admitting where you struggled—instead, be honest and identify these obstacles as opportunities for development. Explain what actions you’re taking to improve, like attending workshops, seeking feedback, or collaborating with colleagues.

For example, if you faced difficulties managing your time, discuss the strategies you’ve implemented to stay organized and prioritize tasks more effectively.

Set Goals for Yourself

Setting achievable and realistic goals is a crucial part of any self-evaluation. By outlining your ambitions, you communicate to your supervisors that you’re eager to progress and contribute to the organization’s success. Break down your goals into actionable steps and consider including timelines to make them more concrete and measurable.

If one of your goals is to improve your public speaking skills, you might include steps such as participating in meetings, volunteering for presentations, or attending workshops, with specific deadlines and milestones attached. This level of detail demonstrates your dedication to achieving your goals while providing a clear roadmap for your growth.

Strong Self-Evaluation: Providing Examples

Use specific instances.

When writing a self-evaluation, try to provide clear and specific examples from your work experience. By offering concrete instances, you help paint a more accurate picture of your achievements and progress. For instance, instead of saying, “I improved my communication skills,” you could say, “I successfully trained three new team members and presented our quarterly report to the management team.” Using detailed examples will make it easier for your supervisors to understand your accomplishments and appreciate your efforts.

Quantify Your Accomplishments

Wherever possible, try to quantify your achievements by using numbers, percentages, or any other measurable indicators. This can help make your successes more tangible and easier to understand. For example, you might mention that you increased sales by 20% in your department or that you completed a project two weeks ahead of schedule. Always aim to back up your statements with quantifiable information to support your claims and show your effectiveness in your role.

Highlight Your Progress

It’s important to focus on the progress you’ve made and the growth you’ve experienced in your role. Use the self-evaluation as an opportunity to reflect on your personal and professional development. For example, you could discuss how you learned a new software program that boosted your team’s productivity, or how you overcame struggles with time management by implementing new strategies. Emphasize not just your accomplishments but also the positive changes you’ve made for yourself and your team throughout the evaluation period. This will help demonstrate your dedication to growth and continuous improvement.

1. Project Management Skills: – Strong Self-Evaluation Example: “In my role as a project manager, I successfully led a team of 10 to deliver a complex software development project three weeks ahead of schedule. I attribute this accomplishment to my rigorous approach to project planning, where I meticulously outlined project phases, set realistic milestones, and conducted weekly check-ins with team members to gauge progress and address any roadblocks. My proactive communication strategy prevented delays and ensured that all team members were aligned with the project objectives.”

2. Customer Service Excellence: – Strong Self-Evaluation Example: “I have consistently maintained a customer satisfaction rating above 95% over the past year by employing an empathetic and solution-oriented approach to customer interactions. For instance, when a customer was frustrated with a delayed order, I took the initiative to not only expedite the shipping but also provided a discount on their next purchase. This resulted in a positive review and repeat business, demonstrating my commitment to going above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.”

3. Innovative Problem Solving: – Strong Self-Evaluation Example: “I identified a recurring bottleneck in our inventory management process that was causing shipment delays. By analyzing the workflow and collaborating with the logistics team, I designed a new inventory tracking system using a Kanban board that increased our efficiency by 30%. This initiative reduced average shipment times from 5 days to 3 days, significantly improving our order fulfillment rates.”

4. Effective Team Leadership: – Strong Self-Evaluation Example: “As the head of the marketing team, I led a campaign that resulted in a 20% increase in brand engagement. I achieved this by fostering a collaborative environment where each team member’s ideas were valued and incorporated. I organized brainstorming sessions that encouraged creative problem-solving and ensured that the team’s goals were aligned with the company’s vision. My leadership directly influenced the campaign’s success and the team’s high morale.”

5. Adaptability and Learning Agility: – Strong Self-Evaluation Example: “When our company transitioned to a new CRM system, I took the initiative to master the software ahead of the formal training. I then shared my knowledge with my colleagues through a series of workshops, which facilitated a smoother transition for the entire department. My ability to quickly adapt to new technology and willingness to assist others in their learning process demonstrates my dedication to continuous improvement and team success.”

Self-Evaluation Dos and Don’ts

Stay honest and constructive.

When writing a self-evaluation, it’s vital to be honest and realistic about your performance. Reflect on the achievements and challenges you’ve faced, and consider areas where you can improve. For example, if you struggled to complete a project on time, mention the obstacles you faced and the lessons you learned. This will show that you’re committed to personal growth and self-improvement.

I successfully completed seven out of eight projects within the given time frame. However, there were difficulties in delivering the last project on time due to a lack of resources. Moving forward, I plan to improve on allocating resources more effectively to ensure timely delivery.

Avoid Undermining Your Efforts

While it’s essential to view your performance objectively, don’t downplay your achievements or accomplishments. Acknowledge your efforts and reflect on your contributions to the team. For instance, if you’ve improved your sales numbers, highlight your success and outline the strategies you implemented to achieve this.

This quarter, my sales numbers increased by 15%, surpassing the target of 10%. I was persistent in following up on leads and implemented new techniques, such as personalized presentations, to connect with potential clients better.

Keep a Positive Outlook

Maintaining a positive attitude when discussing your performance is crucial in a self-evaluation. Focus on the progress you’ve made and show your willingness to learn from mistakes and challenges. Don’t dwell on the negatives; instead, frame them as opportunities for growth and learning, and share your plans for improvement.

While I encountered challenges in team communication earlier in the year, I have since taken steps to improve. I enrolled in a communication skills workshop, and the techniques I learned have helped me collaborate more effectively with my colleagues. I look forward to applying these skills to future projects.

Finalizing Your Self-Evaluation

Edit for clarity and concision.

After you’ve written your self-evaluation, take some time to review and edit it for clarity and concision. This means making sure that your points are expressed clearly, without ambiguity, and that you’ve removed any unnecessary or repetitive information. Here are some tips to help you do this:

• Use short sentences and active voice to make your points clear.
• Break up long paragraphs into smaller ones for easier reading.
• Double-check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Make sure that your points are stated in a logical and organized manner.

Request Peer Review

Once you’re satisfied with your self-evaluation, consider asking a trusted colleague or manager to review it. This can provide you with valuable feedback and help ensure that your evaluation is well-rounded, accurate, and unbiased. Keep these points in mind when requesting a peer review:

• Choose someone who knows your work well and has a clear understanding of your job responsibilities.
• Ask them to review your evaluation for clarity, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.
• Be open to constructive feedback, and make any necessary revisions based on their input.

By following these steps for finalizing your self-evaluation, you’ll have a stronger, more polished document that effectively highlights your accomplishments, areas for improvement, and goals for the future. This will provide a solid foundation for discussing your performance with your manager and creating a clear roadmap for professional growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some helpful tips for writing an impactful self-evaluation.

When writing a self-evaluation, always be honest and specific about your accomplishments and goals. Provide examples and use metrics to quantify your achievements whenever possible. Reflect on areas where you can improve and create a plan for personal development. Use positive language, keep it concise and focused, and don’t forget to mention any feedback you’ve received from coworkers, clients, or managers.

Can you give examples of strong points to highlight in a self-evaluation?

Some powerful points you can emphasize in a self-evaluation include successful project management, exceeding targets or goals, implementing new processes that improve efficiency, demonstrating strong teamwork, and receiving positive client or coworker feedback. Tailor your examples to highlight your unique strengths and align with your role and company goals.

How would one describe their personal achievements in a self-assessment for a performance review?

To describe personal achievements effectively in a self-assessment, be results-oriented, and show the impact of your accomplishments. Use specific examples to illustrate your success and demonstrate how these achievements contributed to your team or company goals. If possible, quantify your results through metrics or figures to give a clear picture of your performance.

Could you provide a sample paragraph of a self-evaluation for a senior management position?

“Over the past year, as the Senior Manager of the (…) team, I have successfully launched three major projects that resulted in a 25% increase in revenue. My leadership style has fostered a collaborative environment, with my team consistently achieving all targets on time. I have also implemented training initiatives to develop team members’ skillsets, and our client satisfaction rate has increased by 15%. I plan to focus on further expanding our project portfolio and mentoring junior managers to strengthen the team’s leadership capabilities.”

What could be good sentence starters for framing self-evaluation points?

• During my time in this role, I have accomplished…
• One area I have excelled in is…
• An example of a significant contribution is…
• I demonstrated strong problem-solving skills when I…
• My collaboration with coworkers has led to…
• In terms of improvement, I plan to focus on…
• Over the past year, my growth has been evident in…
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• 40 Competency Self-Evaluation Comments Examples
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Reflection of Group Project, Essay Example

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Summary of Peer Feedback

Peer feedback has been one of the most valuable learning experience in this project because it has helped our group understand our strengths and weaknesses we were unaware of and has provided valuable suggestions regarding improvement in the future.The peer feedback gives us a good summary of our presentation. First of all, the presentation was more focused on oral presentation. The presenters also made sure to involve the audience in the discussion. The presenters also succeeded in relaying the central message of their presentation.

Group Strengths

The project strength noted by most of the audience members was the presenters’ attempt to involve the audience whether through class activity or discussion. This ensured that the audience is engaged with the discussion and better grasp the concepts being relayed by the presenters. This approach also ensured that audience do not get bored and stay engaged. The presenters also appeared knowledgeable about their material which helped them build credibility with the audience.

Groups Weaknesses

Some of the audience members felt the presentation could use more multi-media and visual materials. This feedback made us realized that people have different learning styles and oral delivery of information may not be suited to everyone. Similarly, some pointed out that presentation slides could have used more information which once again confirm that we made the error of assuming oral delivery of information will be sufficient to help audience understand the message.In fact, some peers pointed out we could have used less talking because it becomes challenging to retain information. Another weakness of the presentation was lack of simple examples. We mistakenly assumed that the audience member will already have reasonable understanding of the material we may be presenting, thus, we chose the examples our group understood. This feedback make us realized that the best strategy is to use the simplest examples so that even those with poor understanding of theories can grasp the message.

Strategy for Improvement in the Future

Tips for Writing a Strong Self-Evaluation (With Examples)

It’s no secret that nobody really loves the self-assessment performance review process. Singing our own praises may make our toes curl — and acknowledging where we’ve made mistakes in the past can feel uncomfortable or embarrassing.

So it seems like little wonder, then, that according to 2019 research by Gallup , 86% of employees say that they don’t find performance reviews helpful for driving improvement. Getting this part of the performance review right requires introspection, a non-judgmental attitude, and asking yourself the right questions to guide self-evaluation. 

To get things started, use our tips in this article to help guide your reflection process. Then, follow up with our Self-Evaluation Template to help you structure your written evaluation.

Key Takeaways:

• Your self-assessment is a chance to be your own advocate.
• Track achievements year round to make the process easier.
• Include specific examples of any skills learned or goals met.
• If you’re stuck on what to write, consult manager and peer feedback.

What is a Self-Assessment Performance Review?

The self-assessment performance review is a key part of the performance management process. It’s a chance for self-reflection on your job performance, including your core strengths and areas for improvement. It also paints a picture for your manager of how you view yourself in relation to your team and the company as a whole, and surfaces any career aspirations or growth needs.

Self-assessment performance appraisals help employees see how their work contributes to the organization and their overall career aspirations, making them far more motivated to do their best work. They’re linked to increased employee performance, higher levels of job satisfaction, and improved employee engagement.

Benefits of employee self-evaluation include:

• Set goals more effectively: A 2020 study on managerial feedback found that focusing on future actions, rather than dwelling on past events, leads to better performance. When we evaluate our overall performance in the context of our professional development and progression, it helps us pinpoint the skill sets we need in the future.
• Eliminate performance review bias: A 2019 study on 30 years of performance management research found that when employees participate in the performance management process, it leads to greater satisfaction in the outcome. Employees were more likely to say the process felt fair and unbiased, because their participation created a two-way, collaborative process.
• Improve employee confidence: Our self-efficacy — or beliefs about how likely we are to succeed in a particular topic or learning opportunity — play an important role in how we perform. A 2021 study based on classroom learning found that when students reviewed their own performance, it boosted their confidence.
• Increase team alignment: Viewing your own performance in the context of how it contributes to your team’s overall goals helps highlight areas of misalignment in terms of processes or communication — meaning you can improve how your team works together. 

What to Reflect On Before Writing an Employee Self-Assessment

Jumping into a self-evaluation might feel a little daunting. Taking a moment to do an informal review of your performance, progress, and goals can help you collect your thoughts when it’s time to write the real thing.

In the spirit of continuous feedback and the performance review process , consider your metrics of success for your own performance — whether that’s a quantitative measure like KPIs and OKRs, or more qualitative, such as your emotions and feelings about the last year.

Make sure you write down specific examples of any skills learned, goals met, or targets hit, so that you’re well-prepared for the next performance review cycle.

Here are our five best practices to get this process right.

1. Identify how you really feel. 

Start by figuring out how you actually feel about your overall performance without the pressure of presenting these thoughts in a professional context. 

Try taking some notes or consulting a trusted friend or peer about how you feel you’ve performed over the last quarter or year. Acknowledge the full spectrum of your experiences, including any specific examples you might feel hesitant to highlight in your formal performance review.

Coming up with an unfiltered version will help you understand how your perspective comes across, and you can always make edits once you start writing.‍

2. Review your goals.

Setting goals — and feeling motivated to achieve them — is the cornerstone of doing your best work. Review how you performed against your most recent goals. Did you meet, exceed, or struggle to meet expectations?

For each goal, evaluate yourself based on the following questions:

• Why did you meet — or struggle to meet — this goal?
• When you didn’t meet a goal, what blockers made progress difficult?
• Was this goal clear, specific, and challenging enough? Why?
• Thinking about the goals you struggled to meet, what could you improve on to meet goals like this in future?
• Thinking about the goals you achieved, how can you build on this success to set a new goal?

As you reflect on goal progress, use your objectives and key results (OKRs) to provide a framework for your self-assessment, adding details and examples from the past year that contextualize your progress or challenges.

3. Review your manager’s feedback. 

Your performance review is an opportunity to check in with your manager about your progress and have a dialogue on what’s next. But it’s also an opportunity for you to provide additional context on anything that might have improved or hindered your performance and goal accomplishment. 

Look at recent one-on-ones or manager feedback from previous check-ins for guidance. What did your manager highlight or praise? Was there any constructive feedback on your performance?

Make sure you reference your accomplishments in your review and highlight what you did well. For areas that need improvement, provide additional context for any questions you think your manager might ask, and share any details about how you approached a project or situation that shed light on its outcome. Reflect on how you grew, and your plans to continue improving. 

4. ‍ Review notes from peers and coworkers. 

Peer feedback isn’t just great for professional development and surfacing new performance perspectives — it’s also vital for fostering the environment needed for great teamwork. In fact, one 2015 study on employee recognition found that praise from team members can have twice the impact on your wellbeing at work compared with manager feedback.

Evaluating feedback from peers can help you see how you’ve supported your team’s overall goals, as well as highlighting your progress on any non-technical skills — like problem-solving or communication — that build a more complete picture of your progress in the last year. Look through any past performance reviews, emails, personal messages, team meeting slide decks, or your company’s Praise Wall to collate a balanced view of how your peers see you.

Evaluate your progress by considering the following questions:

• How have you helped team members and peers deliver on their goals?
• Were there any specific instances or projects where team members praised your contributions?
• How have you followed through on team expectations?
• How would you rate your teamwork and collaboration skills?

Find more question examples in our Peer Review Template .

Writing Your Performance Review Self-Assessment

Once you’re ready to write your self-appraisal, you’ll want to collate everything you’ve noted during the reflection process, and start crafting your highlight reel that outlines all of your accomplishments since your last review.

To get started, use your job description as a guide. Evaluate how you meet each of the core competencies and skill sets, pointing to specific examples when you demonstrated each. While you write, work through the following topics:

• Role in the wider team: How does your work connect to the bigger picture? What kind of teammate are you?
• Unique selling point: What do you contribute that sets you apart? How is your team unable to function without you?
• Key results: Review any OKRs. What key results did or didn’t you achieve? Why or why not?
• Areas for improvement: Things can change for the better after a performance evaluation. What does that look like for you?

Examples of How to Talk about Your Accomplishments in Your Self-Assessment

Many folks worry about sounding braggy in a self-review. And while it might feel uncomfortable to sing your own praises, try writing it like you’re advocating for someone else to show what you’re capable of.

Talk about the cause and effect of your actions on projects, and make sure to reference praise you’ve gotten from others. Include business outcomes, quotes from happy customers, and any tangible data. Talk assertively about your accomplishments like they’re facts.

Try using these self-evaluation examples to help you guide your review.

‍Goal Accomplishment

• “I set an OKR this year to grow our social channels 20%, but I exceeded that goal by growing them 40%.” 
• “My contribution to project X has helped increase customer NPS 10x.” 
• “Project Y has streamlined our process and saved time across teams.” 
• “Project Z will bring in more and better-qualified leads.” 
• “I accomplished a personal developmental goal to learn a new skill by working alongside peers in a different department.”

Project Management

• “I demonstrate strong time management skills when hitting project deadlines.”
• “I communicate project updates with all team members and relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.”
• “When running project X, I was effective at delegating tasks and following up on work to make sure our team stayed on deadline.”
• “I am effective at taking ownership of new projects and managing their successful completion.”

Team Support and Enablement

• “I always review my team member’s work within 24 hours of being asked.” 
• “Because of my feedback on this project, XYZ was completed faster.” 
• “I supported the success of our customer conference by being a speaker, and received praise from our VP of Marketing.”
• “I go above and beyond to make sure our team operates at its best, and I regularly provide help and support to team members when working on a collective goal.”

Non-Technical Skills

• “My problem-solving skills helped overcome a key strategic challenge in a recent project.”
• “Because of my effective decision-making skills, we were able to complete project XYZ in a timely manner.”
• “I regularly contribute my ideas and perspectives in team meetings to help boost our team’s output and goal accomplishment.”
• “I’m successful at staying on top of my to-do list, and regularly communicate progress with team members on shared projects.”

Ongoing Contributions

• “I maintain and moderate a critical daily community discussion channel.” 
• “I reach out to prospects early in the morning, since they’re in a different time zone than I am.”
• “I send out a weekly update to the entire organization about my project or function.”
• “I helped launch and manage a new Employee Resource Group that supports our LGBTQ+ employees.”

Examples of How to Talk About Areas of Improvement

It can be hard to talk about your mistakes or recognize room for improvement in aspects of your work. For this reason, tone is particularly important when it comes to this portion of your self-assessment.

When talking about any areas for improvement, focus on honesty, and try not to be defensive, minimize errors, or blame others in your self-evaluation. Remember that everything you say is from your own perspective, so it’s a good practice to phrase things accordingly, such as “I found out I benefit from x”, or “I found I work best in x conditions”. 

Reflecting on where you need to improve can also be a perfect opportunity to talk about how you want to grow in your career or improve in your job. When talking about mistakes or known problems during the review period, stay positive and emphasize the solution and next steps. You want to position yourself as a problem-solver with self-awareness.

For example, perhaps you weren’t prepared to take on a task because you weren’t trained. Propose enrolling in a class to help you step up your career development and take on more responsibilities.

When reflecting on your areas for improvement, try emulating the following examples:

• “I can sometimes struggle to take the lead in project management scenarios. I’d really like to take on some leadership skills classes to help me develop.”
• “I find it hard to share my ideas with team members on how to approach a project or piece of work, because I get overwhelmed when talking in a larger group. This year, I’d really like to learn how to develop my confidence with some mentoring.”
• “I made a scheduling mistake that contributed to a delay on our team’s recent project. I learned better time management skills as a result and have a plan to manage these situations better in future.”
• “I struggle with my presentation skills in front of a large audience. Is there someone in our wider team I can learn from?”

Crafting a Roadmap for Future Progression

Your self-assessment is a chance to be your own biggest advocate. As you work through the review process, try not to look at it as exposing your weaknesses, past failures, or mistakes. Instead, look at it as an opportunity, with your manager’s help, to take ownership of your career path, celebrate your wins, and unravel any niggling issues.

Working through this collaborative process should feel like a conversation with your manager that gives you a roadmap to help you perform at your very best in the future. For more support, download our Self-Evaluation Template . 

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How The Performance Review Impacts Your Bottom Line (and How to Make Them Better)

5 Best Practices to Increase Your Performance Review Participation Rates

How to Write More Effective Performance Review Comments

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Last updated April 11, 2023

Writing a self-evaluation: How to make the most of the process

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Kat Boogaard

Writer, Culture Amp

Traditionally, the performance review process was a chance for managers to evaluate employees and provide feedback about their work and conduct.

But performance reviews have come a long way from that top-down approach. Today, holistic review processes incorporate feedback and insights from other leaders, team members, and even employees through self-evaluations. Below, we share an overview of the self-evaluation process and five tips for getting the most out of it.

What is a self-evaluation?

A self-evaluation is a formal way for an employee to provide their perspective as part of the performance review process. In most cases, this involves a detailed questionnaire that the employee uses to reflect on their own performance and answer the prompts.

Self-evaluation questions will touch on performance, development, behavior, and the company’s overarching values . For example:

• What three words would you use to describe your performance since your last review?
• What are the primary goals of your role and how do you feel you’ve achieved them over the course of [time period]?
• What are your three biggest wins from the past [time period]? What about your three biggest challenges?
• What company values did you best embody in the last [time period]?
• What career goals are top of mind for you for the next year?

You might also hear this exercise called a self-assessment or a self-reflection , but all of the terms mean the same thing: an opportunity for the employee to evaluate their behaviors and contributions.

Why are self-evaluations important?

Self-evaluations add another step to performance reviews, but they’re well worth it in exchange for the benefits – for both employees and managers.

How employees benefit from self-evaluations

While some employees might groan at being asked to fill out a detailed assessment, this self-evaluation is an opportunity for them to:

• Think critically about their performance
• Revisit their career goals and how they’re progressing toward them
• Call attention to responsibilities, accomplishments, or challenges their leader might not be aware of

How managers benefit from self-evaluations

Leaders will need to spend some time reviewing self-evaluations (ideally prior to the one-on-one performance review conversations ). In doing so, managers are able to:

• Get a more in-depth understanding of the employee’s most recent work
• Increase employee engagement in the review process and its outcomes, as employees will perceive the approach as fairer
• Uncover employee successes, challenges, or career goals they might not have known about

How to write a solid self-evaluation

Completing a self-evaluation can be nerve-wracking. If you’ve been asked to do one, you may feel as if you need to structure a defense or justify the importance of your job. Instead, remind yourself that self-evaluations aren’t about worth – they’re about development .

Here are five tips for writing a self-evaluation that fuels positive growth and a productive conversation with your manager.

1. Commit to taking regular notes

As you stare at the menacing, blinking cursor in that questionnaire, it can be challenging to rack your brain for the highs and lows you’ve experienced at work in the past six months or so. You might recall a few big projects, but at the moment, it’s easy to forget important details and contributions.

Save yourself the stress (and the blank stares) by keeping notes regularly. Start a simple document where you can continuously drop relevant tidbits – whether that’s praise you received, results you achieved, sticking points that frustrated you, or anything related to your performance.

When it comes time to complete your self-evaluation, you’ll be ready with a resource that’s chock-full of real examples and feedback that you can use as you answer the questions.

2. Comb through other data sources

If you haven’t started taking notes yet, there are other ways to jog your memory and find tangible information to include in your self-review. Take some time to look through things like your:

• Slack messages
• Task management software
• Past performance reviews
• Project management platform notifications

These will help you recall some noteworthy projects, wins, goals, and lessons from the past few months.

3. Provide examples

Be as specific as possible to get the most out of the self-evaluation process (and impress your manager).

That means providing real examples in your responses to questions. Don’t just say that you embody the company value of ingenuity – describe a recent scenario when you had to think outside the box.

For help coming up with solid examples, consider the STAR method . It’s a framework typically used for answering behavioral questions in job interviews, but it can also be a valuable resource during self-reviews. STAR is an acronym that stands for:

• S ituation: What was happening?
• T ask: What were you responsible for?
• A ction: What did you do to fulfill your responsibilities?
• R esult: What did your efforts achieve?

For example, if you’re asked about one of your proudest accomplishments from the past six months, you could use this framework to answer with something like:

Our marketing team was tasked with creating a webinar series to support the broader company goal of establishing the brand as a thought leader in the industry (that’s the situation ). I was responsible for lining up at least three prominent industry experts to participate in upcoming webinars (that’s the task ). I created a compelling one-sheet to describe the webinar series and its benefits. I drafted personalized emails to eight industry leaders and included the one-sheet with my message (that’s the action ). All eight responded positively to my outreach and booked webinar slots, far exceeding our goal of three expert participants (that’s the result ).

You don’t need to be super rigid about using the STAR method, but this structure can help ensure you provide enough context with your answers – without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

60 phrases for performance review feedback

Giving feedback is hard. That's why we compiled 60 performance review phrases to use when you're evaluating yourself, your direct reports, or your peers.

4. Keep it concise

Think of your self-evaluation as a highlight reel – an overview of your wins, challenges, future ambitions, and overall feelings about your role. You don’t need to give a rundown of everything you’ve been responsible for over the designated time frame.

Keep your answers focused and concise. You can do this by dedicating the most time and attention to these two pieces of the STAR acronym:

• Action: What specific role you played in a situation
• Result: What you achieved through those actions

The situation and task portions help set the scene, but ultimately, your manager will care more about your contributions and the impact you made.

5. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable

When you know your self-evaluation plays a role in your overall performance review, of course, you want to call attention to your successes. However, a self-review that’s overly glowing will feel disingenuous and do you a disservice in the long run.

Summon your courage and be open and candid about blockers or challenges you faced and what you learned from those situations.

This demonstrates your accountability and resilience and highlights areas or processes your manager can work to improve so you can avoid similar sticking points moving forward.

Using self-evaluations for success, not shame

Nobody’s perfect. It can be hard to honestly look back at your performance, but it’s worth doing. A self-evaluation provides an opportunity for personal reflection, an alternative perspective to help shape your overall review and a launch pad for a productive conversation with your supervisor.

At the end of the day, your self-evaluation isn’t about pinpointing what you could’ve done better – it’s about identifying how your manager can support your growth and development in the most meaningful ways.

Unlock the potential of self-evaluations

Help your employees reach their full potential with a 360-degree performance process.

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Performance and Evaluation Office (PEO) - Program Evaluation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Framework for program evaluation in public health. MMWR 1999;48 (No. RR-11)

This Public Health Reports  article highlights the path CDC has taken to foster the use of evaluation. Access this valuable resource to learn more about using evaluation to inform program improvements.

What is program evaluation?

Evaluation: A systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using data to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and, as importantly, to contribute to continuous program improvement.

Program: Any set of related activities undertaken to achieve an intended outcome; any organized public health action. At CDC, program is defined broadly to include policies; interventions; environmental, systems, and media initiatives; and other efforts. It also encompasses preparedness efforts as well as research, capacity, and infrastructure efforts.

At CDC, effective program evaluation is a systematic way to improve and account for public health actions.

Why evaluate?

• CDC has a deep and long-standing commitment to the use of data for decision making, as well as the responsibility to describe the outcomes achieved with its public health dollars.
• Strong program evaluation can help us identify our best investments as well as determine how to establish and sustain them as optimal practice.
• The goal is to increase the use of evaluation data for continuous program improvement Agency-wide.

We have to have a healthy obsession with impact. To always be asking ourselves what is the real impact of our work on improving health? Dr. Frieden, January 21, 2014

What's the difference between evaluation, research, and monitoring?

• Evaluation: Purpose is to determine effectiveness of a specific program or model and understand why a program may or may not be working. Goal is to improve programs.
• Research: Purpose is theory testing and to produce generalizable knowledge. Goal is to contribute to knowledge base.
• Monitoring: Purpose is to track implementation progress through periodic data collection. Goal is to provide early indications of progress (or lack thereof).
• Data collection methods and analyses are often similar between research and evaluation.
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) measure and assess performance to help improve performance and achieve results.

Research seeks to prove, evaluation seeks to improve. Michael Quinn Patton, Founder and Director of Utilization-Focused Evaluation

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