Goal by goal. Evidence, not adjectives.

No document can guarantee that — bonuses and promotions also depend on company results, budgets and how managers calibrate across teams. What a strong self-assessment does is make your contribution clear, specific and easy for your manager to repeat when they argue your case. That gives you the best chance the evidence allows.

Around the goals set at the start of the year, because that's what reviewers read against. For each: status (exceeded, met, partly met or not met), the evidence, and the impact. Then add contributions beyond your goals, an honest account of any misses, one or two development areas, and your goals for next year.

Address it — silence usually reads worse. State the outcome plainly, give context without blaming others, say what you learned and what you'd do differently. Separate factors outside your control, like changed priorities, from things you could have handled better. A missed goal explained well can actually build trust.

To match the evidence. Consistently underrating can anchor the conversation lower, and overrating can undermine your credibility. If you tend to downplay your work, the tool points out where your evidence supports a higher rating; if you tend to oversell, it points out where it doesn't.

Yes — real ones. Figures make entries concrete, but only use numbers you can verify, since your manager can often check them. Where a number would help but you don't have it, the tool marks the spot so you can find it in dashboards, reports or emails.