Ways of Underperformance - and how to avoid them (Part 1)

Hey guys,
below some thoughts from a guy I received recently - thought it is worth sharing.
Happy for any comments...and let me know if you're interested in Part 2 ;)

As a [still] young professional in the financial services / banking industry, I know well the hazard that is created in one´s mind coming to think of performance reviews and firing days (i.e. the day at an investment bank that pops up every other quarter or so when, to some people's surprise and for some others well expected, individuals are asked into an office which will lead them straight to the reception where they are politely asked to hand in their access card). But no matter whether it concerns your annual bonus compensation or your continuation at your employer, the all-encumbracing concept of "performance" remains a mystery to many of us.
But no matter whether you find your grading "fair" or "well deserved", two things remain throughout your career:
1. Performance reviews will be the one lasting element.
2. Your performance reviews will be the key determining factor of your human wealth, along with the performance of your employers.
Those things are for sure. The only way to escape them is to become an employer oneself. Therefore, lets try to decompose the mystery, look at categories by which your performance will always be measured, and practical ways to protect yourself from underperforming in those categories. Importantly, I will avoid to go into the category of being intelligent and rather focus on being smart. Lets face it, you probably graduated a well-respected university with an at least "good" grade. Your intelligence is unquestionned - and you should NEVER question it yourself, even if others do!

**1. Being on time for meetings [and being there at all]
**Having worked in Switzerland for two years and being a German oneself, I can tell that being even two minutes can get you into serious trouble. Especially when starting fresh at a company and/or coming from a nation as one of the two above-mentioned, I know that expectations in this category can be high (i.e., even not being at the meeting place 3 minutes before the agreed time is already late - your superiors' watches may not be Swiss even when they are) and this is usually a hit/miss grading (you will only be penalized if you're late and there's no price when you're on time while someone else is late because it took the reception desk longer to grant him visitor access to the meeting offices). So, here are my practical tips:
- Maintain a clean calendar: Yep, aim to only keep actual meetings in your calendar that you will be attending. General company calls that you do not participate in should belong somewhere else. If they can't be avoided, maintain a separate calendar that you "take seriously". For this, although this is for your job, you can use a personal device such as an Iphone.
- Check your day as a routing every morning: This is a very easy and for most people obvious one. No need to explore further.
- Have an effective alert: I myself have only gone too many times through a day noticing that I was late for a call and subsequently noticing that a little reminder window had secretly popped up on my desktop whilst I was on the men´s room and quietly disappeared in the lower bar of it. This feels like shit. It feels even more like shit overlsleeping a morning event you should have attended. But there´s good news: It is literally SUPER EASY to avoid both of these things. Firstly, as per my advise above to use your Iphone for actual meetings, set buzzer alerts for your meetings with a 5-15 mins alert and keep the Iphone in our pants (I know, for men it is slightly discerning given the possibly adverse effect this may have on your potency. Keeping it a bit away from your crotch is the way to go). Secondly, set yourself two alarms for the morning (at least when it is an early wakeup and/or an especially important event).
- Be conservatively realistic about timing: As per my example above where it took someone too long to receive visitor´s access at an office building, plan carefully the several steps it may take to arrive at meetings. Eventually, you will anyway have your phone (and possibly tablet/laptop) with you so it will not be time wasted even if you are twenty minutes early.
- Communicate and shift: Sometimes, as a matter of reality, even despite all of the above tips, it is unavoidable that you cannot make it on time, or even at all, to a meeting. This is just a fact that everyone has to face who gets into a role of responsibility as we work in an environment of high workloads, overcrowded calendars, and ad-hoc meetings. In those instances, be sure to communicate as early as foreseeable and, if necessary, shift meetings according to priority. In my experience, the vast majority of professionals know themselves how uncomfortable if first feels to have to be late or shift a meeting. Hence, most people haven't reacted angry when I let them know. The only instances in which this was not the case were when either: the meeting was unshiftable -> in these cases they will be sure to let you know, on the basis of which you can re-check your priorities; you were late in letting them know -> obviously, you should anticipate the shifting earlier than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time. But if there is a reason why you couldn´t, be sure to communicate that well to "the shifted one"; the other person took it personally -> that is not your problem and the person should be professional about it.

**2. Being prepared and efficient
**First, why bringing these two up in the same context? When thinking about it first, being prepared for a meeting is a very obvious one, right? Also, so is efficieny. However, in my experience these two are strongly interlinked: When you are not prepared for meetings it will be very difficult to be efficient as you have to deal with more follow-ups following the meetings. In addition to follow-ups, you may even feel angry about the fact that you were not as prepared for it as you should have been, or haven´t presented your work wonderfully as you had prepared it (especially the latter one hurts very much, based on my own experience). Likewise, when you are not efficient in your work it will be difficult to spend the time on the necessary preparations for all the meetings that come up your day. As a consequence, not being prepared or efficient can easily cause a chain reaction and eventually limbo of underperformance that is hard to come out of. Once you´re in the limbo, you can quickly become an "underperformer" and the other categories in this overview are affected as well by it. So, what are practical ways to work around that and protect yourself from getting into it:
- Check your calendar ahead of the week: Similarly to the above-raised point re: being on time, not only checking the day but even the whole week ahead will put your eyes on the ball and let your mind know what to focus on. As you scroll through the week, make sure to look at it again and don´t get lost by other things that come up (i.e., unless meetings get cancelled people will expect from you to be well prepared for a meeting you already knew would be happening at the beginning of it).
- Go and ask: As a friend once told me, rather overcommunicate. As long as you´re not working at Google or Amazon, you will likely know that there indeed are stupid questions and people get annoyed by getting them asked. However, as you plan a meeting with someone or get it put into your calendar, you should always be sure to know what people expect from you. Is it something concrete or do people want to see a concept from your with your ideas and recommendations? Will they want to receive anything in advance and if so, within what time period? "By when do you want to see a draft?" should be a reflex to getting a task, not something you have to think about.
- Keep a "to-do list": Unlike the top priorities that you should have in your calendar (for which I recommended above to use a personal, effective, device such as an Iphone calendar with a buzzer in your pants), keep a list for the small things that come up. You can work that off when you have time to relax or need a break from the bigger goals.
- Give realistic timelines + a cushion: When people ask you how long you will need something, either start with a relaxed timeline when you know the person will push back or give a timeline that you feel comfortable with an add some cushion. The latter will help you to stay on time even as other things come up (which you can be sure there will).
- Do little things immediately: Some things, such as filings, are rightfully expected to be done in minutes. Also, a delay in doing them can lead to forgetting about them at all, or other people awaiting to see them somewhere (such as on an organization-wide platform system / Salesforce etc.). As a rule of thumb, if it fits in your calendar (i.e. you´re not just rushing towards the end of a deadline / coming close to the meeting you are preparing your presentation for) do a thing that only takes 5-10 minutes immediately. Saying "thanks" as a response to emails and briefly screening over them should always belong to that category, although maintaining a routine of e.g. only checking your email account every 15 minutes or so while you are working on a task can help to keep you efficient while you are working off a bigger task.
- Stay organized: As much as this is a basic rule that we learn from our parents as we grow up, it is still a significant challenge to many of us. Moreover, different concepts of how to be organized can give us a wrong sense of what we should do. Find out for yourself what organization way helps you be on top. Then, oblige to it.

**3. Coming across as sovereign
**Being prepared will already help you to come across as sovereign. However, there is more to it.
- Dress according to the role you want to represent: Kind of stigma for investment bankers and consultants, but still an easy way to not fall under the radar. Be sharp.
- Never lose your cool: It is normal to make mistakes, but it is poor to let others detect them. It is normal to get angry or offended sometimes, but it is poor to let others know you are. It is normal to be impressed and sometimes doubt your own strengths/performances, but it is poor to give others the impression you have lost your self confidence (then how should they be confident in you).
- Communicate clearly and stick to the main points: Remember, you will always be a salesman. Even if you are in an analytical role, you have to sell your analysis to your counterpart. It is good to know the details, but keep them in your check in case someone trys to challenge your analysis. Highlight the key points. For those who are, like myself, nonnatives in the English language, choose simple words and don´t try to use English metaphors or comparisons to the sports world, unless you are really comfortable with them.

**4. Not making mistakes with numbers and formulas
**In a world of numbers and in a role which involves a lot of analytics and calculations, it is easy to put together a complex spreadsheet which may be fabulous by its design and thoughts but imperfect by one or two typos with numbers, inconsistencies, or dollar signs not used in excel formulas / dragged to the wrong cell. These things simply have to be done quickly and are not the cornerstone of what makes your work great you think. But you are wrong, as these seemingly little imperfections put doubt on your whole work and will make your great analysis shine imperfect. Even worse, they may let others doubt the quality of your work, and your superiors lose faith in your role as a strong officer in charge. Eventually, they rely on you. So, lets tackle those points.
- Make use of your sums and averages: Having sums at the bottom of your table are good summaries, right? However, in addition, they are also great as a way of detecting inconsistencies and errors. On top, looking at the sums more clearly may more easily trigger the thought "can this really be right?". Once you consider this, you are in 99% of the cases not the only one who would look more closely at that sum. Remember above, it is normal to make mistakes and your responsibility to clean yours´ up. So make use of it. In case the sum is actually right, you will have a better understanding of your work / recall points you had already forgotten (potentially not highlighted enough), or figure out that your presentation in the model is actually not the ideal way. After all, it shouldn´t be your goal to confuse your superiors with the model you build, but to give them a tool in decision making.
- Use checks: Often, there are easy comparisons you can pull to check if your numbers are indeed right. As the most obvious example, your balance sheet should always balance. Your sources will always have to equal your uses. But also in many other cases, two numbers have to add up.
- Don´t overexpose yourself: Well, after all, at the end of the day few things are perfect. This is especially true when you have to build a model quickly with too little input. In these cases, rather use a little less sums and averages. Maybe make your analysis less extensive and focus only on a few key indicators. These limtations will in many cases be justified because of limited input or time to finish something (be careful, you shouldn´t limit something although it was explicitly asked for). They will also give the viewers less chances to spot potential mistakes (i.e., you may get away with some mistakes that are less harmful to the output of your analysis). As a positive, you may shine in your reputation as an "efficient" analyst - something that will put you into the spot of a senior person.

5. Writing good emails
   An email, often underestimated as a "means of communication". However, also quite frequently [wrongly] used as a form of expressing one´s comprehensive thoughts of a topic and put together in an essay form. In my experience, most professionals like to read in an email key points listed about a topic (that is, with the exception of emails which indeed are essay attachments copied into outlook as it is easier to just read the essay in the mail rather than having to open the attachments). As per above, time is precious and must be used resourcefully. After all, an email is a distraction from what you are actually working on, unless you are reading it from a train or whilst you are waiting for a delayed flight (in both of which circumstances it may indeed be a welcome entertainment). Therefore, a long email can annoy people. Especially when the reader knows it is about an important topic. As a consequence, an email which is either too long, not to the point, or doesn´t get to the points that the readers / your superiors actually care about, can piss people off. In fact, an email can be a "means of annoyance". But, people will most likely not hold it against the programmers of Outlook. Thus, through the email you can piss people off. Pissing off / annoying superiors via emails is an easy way to underperform. You will have to accept that your emails will reflect yourself in many ways. They will reflect your ability to understand, communicate, and your work efficiency. With that being said, lets look at some practical tools to make emails your friend.

- Short and sweet: Quite simple as an idea, emails that are short and to the point take less time. Moreover, they leave less room for potential spelling or grammar mistakes. In many cases, people also don´t care about whole sentences. However, I advise you to think of who is the recipient and what their view is on that issue. In my experience, there is no generalization possible. Some people will haunt you for incomplete sentences, blame your lack of English skills, others won´t care but appreciate that you kept the email short.
- Use bullet points: As a generalization, I have not found one senior manager in my professional experience who didn´t like the use of bullet points, particularly at the beginning of an email or after a short introduction. Since this form also saves the writer time from elaboration (you can save that for your in-person presentation, if there is note), it is advisable to use the extra form to order the bullet points in a structured form which makes all of them easy to comprehend. Also, headers above bullet points are usually appreciated in case the bullet points relate to several topics.
- Highlight key messages, underline times and dates, put seperate questions in separate rows, use the "@" to address individuals: All of the previous ones are useful to make sure (i) key messages are delivered even to the person who won´t take the time to read your email, (ii) follow up meetings and other timeline-relevant events are addressed, (iii) each question is in fact addressed (in my experience two questions in one row are rather frequently answered with one response only), (iv) each individual actually knows there is something addressed to him/her.
- Respect spelling and grammar: Despite the custom by many of cutting sentences short and not necessarily including articles ahead of every noun, general grammar rules should still be adhered to. Even more importantly, spelling should be correct. I have seen emails by senior professionals with a footnote that said "Please excuse any typos, this email was written on a mobile phone". As someone who has less than 25 years experience and doesn´t run a Private Equity business, you are unlikely to be given credit for such.
- Send the email to yourself first: In case you have enough time and it is a rather long email, I found it useful to first send the email to myself and read it on a mobile device. As a reader, I find myself to be a good spotter for typos. Maybe you have it in yourself as well.
- Double-read the list of recipients: Unless you are simply replying to an email, I have found it more than helpful to double-check whether I have included the right recipients. Especially if you are sending and receiving a lot of emails from internal and external parties, autocomplete can cause you a lot of harm. Once an email is out, it is out. If it included confidential information and you sent it to the wrong recipients, this may imply a lot of harm. Trust me, you do not want to pray for the recall function to save your ass. You just don´t.