I use brag documents as part of tracking growth over time. I tie this into an overall growth process where about every four weeks we run through new entries in the brag doc, grab the engineering progression framework and then bucket items against levels of the progression framework in a growth tracker. Over a 6-12 month period this can build up a complete picture of performance, giving you an idea of where the report is having an impact and where they can grow. This makes sure that feedback and discussion around growth is continuous, rather than it being deliver as part of a one off process like an end of year performance review. Another practice picked up from peer engineering managers at Bulb, the template I use here is massively influenced by Julia Evans.

Brag Document

For a bit of background, Julia Evans has a nice write up on brag documents here. The idea is that this is a quick space for you to jot down your achievements on a week to week basis. We can work through the list together to find themes, work out the big picture of what you’re working on and celebrate your accomplishments. When we come to do a performance review, we don’t need to rely on our probably fuzzy memories - we’ll have a written record of your achievements.

What should go in this document?

Write down the achievements that you are most proud of. It’s doesn’t need to be an exhaustive list of every piece of work that you’ve done, but if it’s something that your think is worth sharing - big or small - get it down. It’s better to over than under share, consider this a space where you can show off.

Goals for this year

List your major goals for the next 12 months here:

Goals for next year

If it’s getting towards the end of the year, maybe start writing down what you think your goals for next year might be.

Projects

For each project highlight your contributions (did you come up with the design?) and the impact of the work - what numbers can you attach to it?

Collaboration & mentorship

Helping others in an area you’re an expert, onboarding new joiners, mentoring, improving on call dashboards, writing foundational code, leading learning sessions for others.

Design & documentation

List design docs & documentation that you worked on.

Company building

A list of things that have an impact outside of your role, for example contributions to hiring or Bother’s culture.

What you learned

Some examples of skills you might be learning or improving, how to profile code, internals of important software like DynamoDB, how to use a library like React or Apollo GraphQL, new tools like Chrome dev tools.

Outside of work

It’s can be useful to track accomplishments outside of work, like blog posts, talks/panels, open source work or Industry recognition.

# Brag Document

For a bit of background, Julia Evans has a nice write up on brag documents [here](https://jvns.ca/blog/brag-documents/). The idea is that this is a quick space for you to jot down your achievements on a week to week basis. We can work through the list together to find themes, work out the big picture of what you’re working on and celebrate your accomplishments. When we come to do a performance review, we don’t need to rely on our probably fuzzy memories - we’ll have a written record of your achievements.

## What should go in this document?
Write down the achievements that you are most proud of. It's doesn't need to be an exhaustive list of every piece of work that you've done, but if it's something that your think is worth sharing - big or small - get it down. It's better to over than under share, consider this a space where you can show off.

### **Goals for this year**

List your major goals for the next 12 months here:

- 

### **Goals for next year**

If it’s getting towards the end of the year, maybe start writing down what you think your goals for next year might be.

- 

### **Projects**

For each project highlight your contributions (did you come up with the design?) and the impact of the work - what numbers can you attach to it?

- 

### **Collaboration & mentorship**

Helping others in an area you’re an expert, onboarding new joiners, mentoring, improving on call dashboards, writing foundational code, leading learning sessions for others.

- 

### **Design & documentation**

List design docs & documentation that you worked on.

- 

### **Company building**

A list of things that have an impact outside of your role, for example contributions to hiring or Bother’s culture.

- 

### **What you learned**

Some examples of skills you might be learning or improving, how to profile code, internals of important software like DynamoDB, how to use a library like React or Apollo GraphQL, new tools like Chrome dev tools.

- 

### **Outside of work**

It’s can be useful to track accomplishments outside of work, like blog posts, talks/panels, open source work or Industry recognition.

-