Promotions rarely happen just because you’re “due.” They happen when decision-makers can clearly see impact, readiness, and leverage. If you want to accelerate your career growth, try building a simple 90-day plan that makes your progress visible and measurable.

Why a 90-day plan works

A quarter is long enough to deliver meaningful outcomes—but short enough to stay focused. It also gives you an easy structure to communicate your value:

• What you’re improving (skills)
• What you’re delivering (results)
• How you’re leading (scope + influence)

Step 1: Pick one “promotion-signal” outcome

Choose a result that matters to your team’s goals and can be measured. Examples:

• Reduce customer response time by 15%
• Improve dashboard accuracy and adoption across stakeholders
• Cut build/release failures by 30%
• Launch a new workflow that saves the team X hours/week

Tip: Aim for outcomes that your manager can repeat in a promotion conversation: “They led X and achieved Y.”

Step 2: Build skills in public (without being performative)

Skill-building should show up in your work artifacts, not just in courses.

• Volunteer for a task that stretches you (presenting, stakeholder management, prioritization)
• Create a before/after: a process doc, template, or automation that demonstrates improved thinking
• Ask for one targeted feedback loop (e.g., “Can you review my next stakeholder update for clarity?”)

Step 3: Track your impact with a “wins log”

Keep a running document with:

• Problem → action → result (with numbers when possible)
• Screenshots/links to deliverables
• Stakeholder quotes (even a Slack message counts)

This becomes your performance review and promotion packet—already written.

Step 4: Make your growth visible to the right people

Visibility isn’t bragging; it’s reducing ambiguity.

• Send your manager a biweekly 5-line update: priorities, progress, risks, next steps
• In meetings, summarize outcomes and decisions (“To recap, we aligned on X, and I’ll drive Y by Friday.”)
• Share credit generously—and name your contribution clearly

Step 5: Ask for the promotion rubric early

A powerful question in a 1:1:

• “What would someone at the next level be doing consistently that I’m not yet doing?”

Then align your 90-day plan to those behaviors.

Quick template: Your 90-day plan

• Outcome (1):
• Skills to build (2):
• Key deliverables (3):
• Stakeholders to align (3–5):
• Proof of impact (metrics):
• Cadence: biweekly manager update + monthly stakeholder recap

If you tried this for the next 90 days, what’s the one outcome you’d choose that would most strengthen your promotion case?