How do I handle negative peer reviews in my annual review?

You need to have very clear objectives and KPIs that are agreed with your manager in order to "protect" you from situations like this. So I suggest that you get this clarified with your manager soonest.

Once you have that it is clear what you are accountable for and if they are unrealistic you should communicate that to your manager before agreeing to them.

Step one - don't assume. Wait for your review before you assume you have an issue to solve. My guess is that others in your position face similar challenges and your manager will rate you on how you compare to others in a similar situation.

If you do get negative feedback in your review, ask your manager for advice, confirm that you do want to perform well, and make sure your manager acknowledges that you are working long hours.

Then at the end of the review, you need to make a decision if the review is fair and your manager has laid out a path to success which you believe is attainable and desirable. If not, you might begin a process of finding a position that better suits your personal goals.

i am in a similar position this year. instinctively, one wants to defend and probably resort to blame-game in such situations but a little me-time will reveal that discussing these things with the manager upfrontly and setting the right and achivable goals are helpful. incase these goals were already set an year back, high load is not justified, it should have been a quaterly check - anyways for ur argument - always refer to more important metrics such as profitability, utlization, quality as ur focus with HR issues. try to get him in a spot where the manager believes that the foregone things were best to forego becuase of ur immense contribution. - but always remember the truth - a better planning would have made u achive te impossible as well.

As previously advised, do not assume a negative review, but be ready to defend yourself in a non-confrontational way if things come up. Have suggestions to offer, such as people need to use the system to request your time, and perhaps that your supervisor approve requests of your time. Also, ask for examples if others complain about your performance, It may be that you can say that "when that request was made I as working on "x,y,z" and gave those projects priority. If that was wrong, I apologize. Again, do not be confrontational, but try to understand any issues so you can address them, Do not offer excuses, but offer solutions and "color" as to what was happening when someone perceived issues with your performance.

To address the route causes, one thing to consider is from whom your requests are coming. Requests coming from people higher in the corporate ladder you should get a bit more priority all things considered. Also, some people exaggerate how quickly they "need' something, so at times you can make people aware you are busy, and ask when they really "need" to have things done.

The biggest issue here appears to be your supervisor, this needs to be the person you can go to when you have questions about your priorities. This person should direct you how to best allocate your time when you are being pulled in all directions. I had a job once where requests for my time needed to be approved by my boss because being the "go to person" meant that I was doing other people's jobs.

No easy answer here unless your supervisor steps up or others who request your time better understand all that you have on your plate.

Good luck!

You need to have a clear understanding with your supervisor on expectations. He/she should not "ding" you on these issues if your peers are not following protocol. He/she may also have thoughts as to what you need to do differently to help in meeting your customers needs. Lastly, I would make sure you have open communication with your peers on possible process improvements. Perhaps the prioritization process isn't working in the best interests of the company.