1. Sample MBA Performance Narrative
The situation –
what happened?
what led up to it?
With only two years in my position as a Software Analyst, I was given the
responsibility to be the Application Design Lead for my team on a major
‘Feature Function’ software release. This kind of software release differed from
the normal bi-monthly software releases due to the complexity level and the
capacity of its impact. Normally, being the Application Design Lead is the
responsibility of a Software Specialist. However, my company’s philosophy is,
speaking only from within the IT organization, in order to get promoted, you
must first prove you can perform the responsibilities at the next level
successfully. As I was working towards positioning myself on the path to
become a Software Specialist, coupled with the fact that I knew I was going to
be watched closely since I was chosen as the candidate for this effort, it was
important this project set the standard on my ability to successfully carry out
increasingly complex responsibilities.
Who was involved –
the relationships?
Being the Application Design Lead, not only did I have to understand the
impact to my own team’s application but, in turn, how those impacts affected
the other downstream applications which are fed by my team’s subsystem.
Faced with the challenge of supporting such a large and complex billing system,
I had to intelligently communicate clearly in a heavily technical dialogue with
other Application Design Leads of the other subsystems that I had little to no
knowledge about. It was crucial that I and the other Design Leads speak a
common language to ensure things were developed accurately to meet project
requirements.
What you did –
what you were
thinking at the
time.
Once I had developed the high-level software design, I had to write it up, clearly
and concisely, from both a plain business English format as well as pseudocode, all within a system design document and present it to my team’s
developers in a format where they could use my specs to develop the necessary
software. In addition, I was responsible for assigning the work to the
developers, setting the delivery dates of their design/code work, and reviewing
and approving the developers’ designs, code and unit test plan documents.
Even though the development of this project was a team effort, the Application
Design Lead is ultimately held accountable when the software deploys into
Production. Any design or code defects that arise, although potentially a result
of another team member’s work, the defect would be held against me as the
Lead for the project.
For application teams, defects are one of most critical criteria in measuring an
employee’s performance. Once the software had been developed and delivered
to the System Test environment, I went above and beyond the expectations of
the Application Lead to play a key role in assisting both the System Test teams
and other application teams in resolving some of the ‘bugs’ that were found in
testing the software. I viewed it as not only an opportunity to be proactive in
the effort of eliminating potential production defects but also the chance to
increase my knowledge of the other subsystems.
© Copyright 2012. Alverno College Productions, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Law prohibits reproduction in part or whole by any method.
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1. Sample MBA Performance Narrative
The outcome –
what you
accomplished.
A true measure of success for new software development is the number of
defects found in the software when it is deployed. The project went live back in
the fourth quarter of XXXX and to date, not one defect has been found in the
software developed by my team. I received a reward and director-level
recognition for my efforts as this was a critical project for the business. This
project was indeed a pivotal point in my career as I was promoted to Software
Specialist just a few months later.
© Copyright 2012. Alverno College Productions, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Law prohibits reproduction in part or whole by any method.
Page 2