Every 3 months (Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1) each of us picks at least one other member of the team to be your reviewer. Don’t just pick your buddies, it has to be someone who can provide a useful feedback. It can be someone you look up to and want to learn from, or an intern who is learning from you and can tell you how good you are at explaining things to others.

To start, you set up a 30 min call with this person and have a chat about what you are doing and the difficulties you are having. At the end of the call, together you identify at least 3 specific things that can be improved and the ways to improve them. The reviewer needs to be honest and give examples of both problems and solutions. For example, saying “you need to communicate more” is not helpful, you need to bring up the times the person was too quiet and show alternative ways of engaging with the team.

Over the next 3 months track your progress improving the 3+ things you discussed during the first call. Schedule at least one additional review of your progress with your original reviewer. It is important to be open to feedback, as your colleague is volunteering their honesty and trust that you will listen and collaborate towards improvements, just as you have for them.

At the end of 3 months, pick another reviewer and repeat the same process (can’t be the same person you had for the last review).

You don’t need to share the details of your conversation or notes with anyone if you don’t want to. The review process is there to help you grow, not to keep tabs on you.