I'm going to go against the grain here. Yes, I believe self-reviews are stupid. Frankly they indeed serve as a cheat-sheet for your manager, which is a sign that they are so disengaged that they don't even know what you're doing.<p>Don't fight the game though, play it to win. Throughout the year, I keep a single note open "Accomplishments 2022". I simply add my accomplishments to it, typically as a weekly summary. Plus anything notable, process improvements, innovations, overtime, compliments from peers, the like.<p>All of this adds up into a war chest. During the actual performance review meeting I come armed to the teeth. This is how you flip the script. I don't need to explain that I deserve a great review, my manager needs to explain the opposite in the face of a mountain of evidence.<p>The individual accomplishments don't even have to be earth shattering, just document them consistently. The total amount of them will be so overwhelming that nobody is going to bother taking them apart.<p>Learn to write corporate speak: "Improved automated test coverage by 40% to support our <i>do more with less</i> corporate goal, freeing up resources to work on value-adding services". Whilst this was just me editing a file for 20 minutes.<p>You want red tape? I'll bury you in it.<p>Mix it with psychology. Act modest and humble despite the boat load of evidence of good performance. As if it "was the least you could do", radiating supreme loyalty. A minority of eager managers might still throw in a point of critique, feeling they need to do their job in providing some balance to this review.<p>As the critique hit, look down and pause for a few seconds, make it awkwardly long as if the air is sucked out of the room. In this period, the manager is going to feel awful, thinking they just deeply hurt a great worker. Then, respond with "I hadn't though of that. That's very insightful and something I surely will integrate into my work to do EVEN better, going forward". The word "even" is important here, as well as "going forward". Managers love going forward.<p>The manager is now relieved that the air is cleared, plus feels very smart. Be sure to already open a new note "accomplishments 2023" and at the top, in bold and red write the critique. Then, in next year's review start the session with "Really loved the suggestion made last year and here's how...blah blah".<p>It wasn't even a serious remark, they just wanted to say something. They forgot all about it. But here you are fully remembering it and acting upon it, which is somebody nobody does.<p>And this is how you corner your manager.