Walk into your review with the receipts
A tight self-review with quantified wins, plus a raise case if you want one, assembled from your own scattered notes.
The problem
Review season arrives and a year of work has evaporated into "kept things running".
What you get
A working system with the steps, tools, checkpoints, and expected return made explicit.
- Setup
- 45 minutes
- Back each week
- 0.5 hours
- Difficulty
- starter
Expected return
The working case
A planning estimate, not a guaranteed result. Measure the first four weeks against your own baseline.
24
hours returned per year
At 0.5 hours/week across 48 working weeks.
2
weeks to earn back setup
Compare the setup estimate with the weekly time returned.
Operating contract
Input
The source material, constraints, and examples a human would need to do this work well.
Checkpoint
A person reviews judgment calls, sensitive content, unfamiliar tools, and irreversible actions.
Success signal
Track time returned, corrections required, and exceptions. Keep it only if the measured result compounds.
The steps
- 01
Gather raw material for 15 minutes: sent-mail highlights, closed tickets, shipped things, praise messages. Rough is fine.
- 02
Have it assemble the case.
Copy this prompt
From these rough notes of my year, write: 1) a self-review with 4-5 achievement bullets, each quantified where possible, 2) two growth areas framed constructively, 3) if the evidence supports it, a one-paragraph raise case anchored to impact. Do not inflate; flag where I need a real number. Notes: [paste]
- 03
Fill the flagged gaps with real numbers, then rehearse the raise conversation with it playing your skeptical manager.
What it runs on
- Claude
One long session covers the whole workflow.
Where this goes wrong
- Company review portals are not confidential drafting space; draft outside, paste in final text only.
- Quantified claims get checked; every number in the final version must be one you can defend.
Definition of done
Run it for four weeks. Then make it earn its place.
- □ Baseline the manual time before launch.
- □ Keep a human approval step for consequential output.
- □ Record corrections and exceptions, not just successes.
- □ Expand, revise, or retire it after the first review.
Build the system around it
Related workflows
If this one stops working, tell us. Three reports in a month and it leaves the library until a person has looked at it again.