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When you look at someone’s resume or LinkedIn profile, you’re only seeing the polished version and the highlights. Behind every person is a career roller coaster that led them to where they are.

As more companies continue to make cuts (Meta just did another round yesterday), it’s important for people to be equipped to handle tough career situations. That’s why I decided to write a little more about the “dark side” of careers today and share the lowest point of mine.

What is a PIP?

A performance improvement plan, or PIP, is a statement indicating that an employee is falling short of expectations and identifies what needs to be done to improve (and stay employed). Essentially, it’s a notice to an employee that they need to change something in order to continue at the company.

This usually happens when the manager’s expectations of you do not align with the manager’s perception of you. It doesn’t have to be about the reality of the situation; it’s about expectation versus perception.

I 100% do not advocate for a PIP especially when it’s run by an inexperienced manager, but it’s a practice that still continues today. Marc Randolph (Co-founder at Netflix) wrote a great piece about why it sucks:

For many, a PIP feels like rock bottom but they aren't always death sentences. Let’s dive into my situation to understand where I’m coming from.

2017: The year of shit

In an ideal world, PIPs shouldn’t come out of nowhere. There should be some buildup where the PIP feels like a last resort. In the moment, it might not feel like it, but over time you’ll see that there were signs.

While I often write positively about my experience at Uber, it wasn’t always perfect. 2017 was a particularly challenging year:

1. I had been living in DC for almost 8 months, but I really missed my friends who mainly lived in New York. Even though it was my second time in DC, it didn’t feel the same because of the community I had built in New York.

2. Uber was going through a difficult year. We were always in the news, and it was just a tough environment to be in because of the constant negativity from people outside the company.

3. I had been let down in a part of my contract. It had to do with the timing of equity and some other factors, but it just felt like one unfair thing on top of another.

On reflection, it was too much for me to handle, but I wasn’t in the position to know that I needed to go to therapy. Regardless, I didn’t, and it all spiraled into how I performed at work. I’d miss deadlines, be defensive, and produce lower quality work than I had before. Not to mention, I had 4 different managers in 6 months. The final kicker is that the manager who put me on the PIP only managed me for a few weeks. I snapped.

However, once I got through my PIP, my career took off. I was promoted twice in two years and have gone on to build an excellent Data Science career. I haven’t looked back, and if I hadn’t pushed through the PIP, I wouldn’t have continued at Uber, and in hindsight, that would have been unfortunate.

But, enough about me. This is a tactical guide about how to survive a PIP, so here we go..

The first 48 Hours

In police investigations, the first 48 hours are the most crucial, and even more specifically for homicide detectives, the first 48 hours are everything. Once you get past 48 hours without a lead, the odds of solving a case are cut in half.

While this is not as dramatic, the first 48 hours on a PIP are similarly crucial. My first 48 hours felt like a shock. Many of us take pride in our work, and it is painful to be told we’re not meeting expectations. The sadness of disappointing someone feels primal, and it creates a sense of rage.

Here’s what I recommend doing:

• Share with your closest work friends. It’s impossible to do alone.

• Share with your outside circle and get it off your chest.

• Close your laptop and step away.

Do not respond to your manager or engage with them in a meaningful way. It won’t be objective and can hurt you. The PIP usually takes a few months, so you’re going to need to be refreshed.

The strategy

Surviving a PIP is a game and now that you’ve got past the first 48 hours, you’ll want to create a strategy. The strategy falls into 4 key buckets:

• Suck-up-ification

• Communication

• Documentation

• Evaluation

Suck-up-ification

This part feels the most artificial but humans are humans and you can use that to your advantage. Your manager will likely not enjoy the fact that they had to put you on a PIP. It’s awkward for everyone involved, so the first thing to do is make it “easier” for them.

I wrote an email to my manager on the first day after the weekend that went something like this:

I was seething with anger when I wrote it and it took a lot to swallow my pride, but it humanizes you and the situation. It also refocuses your attentions into realizing that you’re going to get through this and that sometimes you may have to do things that are not easy.

Communication

One of the biggest reasons that there’s a gap between expectation and perception is communication. There is something lacking in way your manager is receiving information and so you have to attack the challenge holistically.

1. Align on a frequency of meetings with your manager

2. Align on what you’d like to discuss in those meetings

3. Check in with your manager before deliverables

4. Set up a monthly meeting with HR and your manager

More tactically here’s what you can do:

1. Create a meeting template to ensure everything is covered

2. Create a overall tracker identifying the improvements required and the rubric your manager is using to grade your progress

3. Create a weekly recap of your activities and progress

By focusing on more effective communication, you begin to close the gap between perception and expectation because the feedback loop is tighter.

“Hey, did this deck meet your expectations”

“No, I’d change XYZ”

“Okay, done”

When you continuously close the gap on an individual project, it closes the gap in the aggregate.

Documentation

Most of my career has been with American companies and so my experience is with that in mind. American companies have always been petrified of being sued, because America is a very litigious place. So, the best way to take advantage of that is document EVERYTHING. I mean literally everything.

Here’s what that looks like:

1. Conversations must be held in slack or email. This leaves a paper trail

2. Ask for feedback through comments in documents again leaving a paper trail

3. Put feelings and emotions in a separate private doc . Include quotes, actions by your manager, and other observations

Another reason for this over documentation is because you should never trust HR. I’m sorry if you’re an HR person reading this but the reality is HR represents the business and is there for it’s protection. I have yet to see a concrete example of where HR has sided with employees. Documentation allows you to objectively navigate that maze.

Again, this begins to close the gap between expectation and perception but in a different way. When you know what your manager expects (through strong documentation) you can predict that and build your work around meeting their expectation. It’s all about playing the game and ensuring they are happy because your fate is in their hands.

Evaluation

While you’re surviving your PIP, there’s a separate work stream that I recommend. You need to evaluate whether the situation you’re in is the right one for you.

Is this the right company?

Is this the right industry?

Is this the right function?

Is this the right role?

You should take a true self reflective view and identify if you truly even want to do this. In my case, the answer was that it was the right company just wrong role.

I had to survive my PIP but I started looking for an internal transfer. The crazy part was that I couldn’t transfer until I got off my PIP so I worked double hard to get off the PIP. What’s even crazier is that when I found my new role, my salary went up 65% . Yes you read that right. I was so underpaid and incorrectly categorized in my previous role.

Things just started to click into place. Going back to the expectation perception gap, you must ask yourself do you even want to meet that expectation? Do you care about your perception? If the answer changes to no then it’s time to move on.

Wrapping up

PIPs suck but they don’t have to be the end. If you want to get through the tough times, you’ll need to:

1. Record everything

2. Over communicate

3. Evaluate your priorities

4. Don’t trust HR

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