A few weeks ago, we discussed the best (and most motivating) ways to evaluate employees from a leader’s perspective.

This week: how to be evaluated as an employee. Or rather, how to make your own performance-review experience as positive as possible.

A more productive conversation

Some of this week’s advice comes from Kellogg professor of management and organizations Leigh Thompson, who wrote a thoughtful column on the topic in The Wall Street Journal.

Her first suggestion? Aim to have the conversation in person or via video call. “People are more open when they can see others; for example, face-to-face negotiations are less hostile than email-based ones,” she writes.

She also suggests scheduling the meeting for a time when your boss is likely to be refreshed: “Research has found that after making a high volume of decisions, people start to rely on faulty information, the result of decision fatigue,” she warns.

Another piece of advice that resonated with us is to keep the conversation forward-looking. Rather than dissecting past mistakes, shift the conversation to the future wherever possible. “So help your boss envision a positive future with you as a pivotal player by discussing future goals,” she says.

You can read the rest of her advice here.

Be a stronger negotiator

Of course, maybe it’s not the performance review itself that has you nervous. Maybe it’s what you plan to ask for during the review: A raise? A promotion? More responsibility?

In that case, let us direct you to some great advice from Vicky Medvec, who spoke about negotiating with your boss during a previous The Insightful Leader webinar. I highly recommend watching the entire thing, but her biggest point is about the importance of framing the entire conversation in terms of what your manager and organization need.

“As I go into the negotiation, I have to have a compelling message and that message needs to focus on the company, not me,” Medvec says. “This is one of the hardest things for people to do when they’re negotiating for themselves. … Why? Because what I want is so salient to me.”

One way to translate your own wants into something that is salient to the other side is to think about your differentiators—what are the skills, qualities, and experiences that set you apart? Crucially, your differentiators need to be valuable to the person with whom you’re negotiating. If you’re fluent in Mandarin, but your company isn’t looking to do business in China, that’s not a differentiator in that context.

Maybe your differentiator is that you’ve worked with a particular client for a long time and have a great relationship with them. Or you came from a competitor and therefore have unique business insights.

Then, turn your differentiators into issues you can negotiate on—while keeping your employer’s needs front and center.

“It’s not about me being burned out,” she says. “It’s about the company having this challenge that needs more of my attention. And I don’t have the ability to focus on it right now because of this, this, and this. And we need to reorient so that I can give this an effective amount of time.”

You can read more, and watch the webinar, here.