Far be it from me to question the wisdom of scheduling EER due dates at the same time as your tax returns; at least you’re combining as much pain and suffering into as short a time as possible. I’ve just finished my EER and each year I try to tell myself I’ll be more organized for next year. Here are some of the things I’m doing:

 

1. Keep an email file of what you’ve done: This is a rehash of the old advice to keep a paper file to pull out. I’ve found that a bit unwieldy as most kudos are now coming in digitally. I have very few folders in my Outlook (as previously discussed), but one of them is EER. Those things get dropped straight in there for safe-keeping. If you’re really planning ahead you’ll forward the message to yourself for an aide memoire – add on your commentary and what precepts apply so you can fit things in easily come EER time.

 

2. Do a quarterly assessment: Part of what makes EER time tough is that you’re having to reach back a year on to think what was important some time ago. Try to do a one-hour quarterly assessment, mocking up a quick EER based on your accomplishments from that quarter alone. Doing this has helped me remember key reporting cables that I otherwise would have overlooked and provide unclassified context for them that would have been much more difficult if not fresh. Bonus tip for reporting officers: if your cables are SIPDIS, you can keep permanent links to them on the excellent Net-Centric Diplomacy site. Just email the URL to yourself and keep it until your yearly assessments – it beats scribbling MRNs on little scraps of paper and losing them in a folder.

 

3. Write a good EER/counseling memo: Your mileage will vary depending on your boss, but I’ve gotten in the habit of writing self-assessment memos that I keep up-to-date (using the quarterly assessment) for counseling sessions and the EER. I always include my last Area for Improvement verbatim, as well as bullets of top accomplishments that are keyed to tenets for promotion.  Then, at EER time, I make another for my reviewer that saves some of the quotes and accomplishments for that tick-box. My most recent boss found it very useful, and it’s a good way to quickly get agreed language for those of us at the 03 or below level.

 

4. Know the tenets and forms: This is overlooked but so important. Keep a copy of the tenets on hand so you can quickly describe how what you’re doing fits into one of those boxes. Write it up in an email and then forget about it for awhile. But pull out the form you’ll use AND the tenets during your periodic reviews. If you’re not on OpenNet, here are downloadable, Microsoft Word versions of the EER forms:

Remember: the forms do not/not format in the same way (and, indeed, will show up differently from computer to computer). In my experience, you get slightly more space on the eForm version, but expect to tinker. Remember to use CG Times Win 12-point font (and know that when you cut and paste it CAN change the font size, so be careful)!

5. Pass it around and then keep the official version:  I did a poor job this year alerting my “trusted advisors” that I’d be sending an EER their way. It turned out okay – mostly because I was lucky enough to have a very good boss who can write well. I try to keep it small: 3-5 folks at the peer (or slightly higher) level, 1-2 that are 7-10 years further along. Then, after everything’s submitted and you get the notification that it’s in your OPF, DOWNLOAD the document as a PDF and keep it for your personal records. Like all important documents, I keep copies of all my reports on my website so I can access them while traveling.

If you ARE on OpenNet, it’s worth checking out the Diplopedia version of the annual “Playing by EER” document for Department-sponsored tips on how to do the filing and some of the substantive issues.

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