19.2: Drafting Accomplishment-Impact Bullet Statements

The heart of effective writing involves writing effective accomplishment-impact statements. If you are like many supervisors, you’ve likely stared at a blank report and wondered, "How in the world do I even start to write effective bullet statements?" Whether you are in that situation for the first or 100th time, here are some steps that will help you write effective accomplishment-impact bullets.

Step 1: Extract the Facts

The first step is the hardest part of bullet statement writing—getting started! Supervisors often get in trouble early because they do not capture information on their employees regularly or completely. Without a good file of accomplishments for each employee, it is hard to write about what each has accomplished.

Gather the Information

Begin by getting organized and creating a file for each employee. Collect all of the information you can find that is relevant to each accomplishment and file this information in the file you have created for that employee. Capture everything you can-direct information and support that may be remotely related to the accomplishment-on paper or electronically. What looks unimportant today may be a key piece of information later. As you gather information and make annotations, consider the following tips for what to look for and how to mark what you find:

• Isolate the action: Isolate and record the specific action the person performed.
• Annotate the record: Mark the action with a power verb that best describes the action (e.g., repaired, installed, designed, etc.).
• Measure the action: Document related numerical information (number of items fixed, dollars saved, man-hours expended, people served, pages written, etc.).
• Connect the dots: Document how this accomplishment impacted the bigger picture and broader mission of the unit, group, wing, installation, command or Air Force.
• Ask the member: Facts and figures do not always present themselves easily. Talk to the people you supervise. They are in the best position to clarify information on the tasks they perform, provide details about what they have accomplished, and inform you on how the task was done (e.g., saving time, treasure or talent).
• Ask others and check the tech: Ask coworkers and other supervisors who may have seen this person in action. Also, consult Technical Orders, customers served, letters of appreciation, automated work production documents or other sources to get all the information you need.
• Capture from the start: Track your subordinate’s accomplishments as they happen. Keep a record of significant work performance (both good and bad). This habit will help you be prepared when it’s time for a performance report, feedback, award or decoration.

Gathering information does not take as much time if it is performed regularly. Be prepared to schedule ample time with your people and make notes on what you need to include (or verify) in an employee’s record. If you think gathering information as a routine takes too much time, consider how long it will take to write a good performance report, award or decoration request without the information_-and how much you will spend tracking it down in the face of deadlines and irate superiors. Without documented information on performance, you are forced to rely upon loose generalizations and vague statements rather than convincing facts.

Sort the Information

With the information you have gathered, the next task is to sort the useful items from the items that are not useful. Test each item to see if it is truly associated with the accomplishment you identified earlier or if the item is unrelated to the accomplishment. The test is to ask, "Is this bit of information solidly connected to this single accomplishment?" If the answer is yes, flag the information as useful. If the answer is no, line through or flag the information as not useful-but never throw it away or delete it! Although it may not be useful now, it may be just what you need for another bullet later. Continue applying this question to all of the items you’ve collected for this bullet statement. Once the bits of information are sorted, you will have a stack of information that pertains precisely to the accomplishment and the bullet statement to be written.

Step 2: Build the Bullet’s Structure

The next step is to take the sorted information and organize it into an accomplishment-impact bullet. Group the sorted items for each accomplishment as either the accomplishment (the what) or the impact (who, when, how, why).

The Accomplishment Element

The accomplishment element begins with an action. Action is best expressed with strong action verbs. The table, below, contains a short list of action verbs that can be used to start bullet statements. These are not all the action verbs that can be used, but it should get you started in writing that next evaluation, appraisal, award or decoration package.

Table \(19.2.1\) Action Verbs for the Accomplishment Element

Accomplished	Achieved	Acquired	Acted	Activated
Actuated	Adapts	Adhered	Adjusted	Administered
Advised	Agitated	Analyzed	Anticipated	Applied
Appraised	Approved	Aroused	Arranged	Articulated
Assembled	Asserted	Assessed	Assigned	Assisted
Assured	Attained	Attend	Authorized	Averted
Bolstered	Brought	Build	Calculated	Capitalized
Catalyzed	Chaired	Challenged	Clarified	Collaborate
Collected	Commanded	Communicated	Compared	Compelled
Competed	compiled	Completed	Composed	Comprehend
Computed	Conceived	Concentrated	Conducted	Conformed
Confronted	Considered	Consolidated	Consulted	Contacted
Continued	Contracted	Contributed	Controlled	Cooperate
Coordinated	Created	Cultivated	Delegated	Demonstrated
Deterred	Developed	Devised	Displayed	Dominated
Drove	Elicited	Embodied	Emerged	Emulated
Encouraged	Endeavored	Energized	Enforced	Enhanced
Enriched	Ensured	Escalated	Established	Exceeded
Excelled	Expanded	Expedited	Exploited	Explored
Frabricated	Facilitated	Focused	Forced	Formulated
Generated	Grasped	Helped	Honed	Identified
Ignited	Impassioned	Implemented	Improved	Initiated
Inspired	Insured	Invigorated	Kindled	Launched
Maintained	Manipulated	Motivated	Orgainized	Originated
Overcame	Oversaw	Performed	Perpetuated	Persevered
Persuaded	Planned	Practiced	Prepared	Produced
Projected	Promoted	Prompted	Propagated	Propelled
Quantified	Rallied	Recognized	Rectified	Refined
Reformed	Regenerated	Rehabilitated	Rejuvenated	Renewed
Renovated	Reorgainzed	Requireed	Resolved	Revived
Sacrificed	Scrutinized	Sought	Solved	Sparked
Spearheaded	Stimulated	STrengthened	Strove	Supervised
Supported	Surpassed	Sustained	Transformed	Utilized

In some cases, action verbs alone just cannot fully stress the strength or depth of someone’s accomplishment. If you need to give action verbs an added boost, use an adverb to modify the verb. Most adverbs are really easy to pick out ... they end with the letters "ly." Try connecting some of the adverbs listed below to the verbs listed above to get a feel for how the adverb-verb combination can intensify the accomplishment element.

Table \(19.2.2\): Adverbs for the Accomplishment Element

Actively	Aggressively	Anxiously	Ardently	Articulately
Assertively	Avidly	Boldly	Competitively	Compulsively
Creatively	Decisively	Eagerly	Energetically	Enterprisingly
Enthusiastically	Expeditiously	Exuberantly	Feverishly	Fiercely
Forcefully	Frantically	Impulsively	Incisively	Innovatively
Intensely	Powerfully	Promptly	Prosperously	Provacatively
Quickly	Relentlessly	Restlessly	Spiritedly	Spontaneously
Swiftly	Tenaciously	Vigorously	Vigilant

Now that you get the general idea about how to begin the accomplishment element, let's look at the rest of this critical part of the bullet statement. Broadly speaking, the accomplishment element contains all the words that describe a single action performed by a person. While this sounds simple, this rule si violated frequently. If two or more action share combined together in the same bullet, each of the actions is forced to share the strength of that entire statement. So rather than combining two or more actions to strengthen a single bullet, writers must ensure bullets focus on only one accomplishment. Two examples of an accomplishment element are below: one uses simply an action verb; the second uses a modifier (adverb) for added emphasis.

• Processed over 300 records with no errors as part of the 42 ABW Mobility Exercise
• Tenaciously processed​​​​​​​ over 300 records with no errors as part of the 42 ABW Mobility Exercise

In summary, the accomplishment element begins with some form of action (action verb only or a modifier plus action verb) and contains a factual, focused description of one single action or accomplishment. With that established, let’s look at the impact element.

The Impact Element (Impact and Results)

The impact element explains how the person’s actions had an effect on the organization and the level of impact (e.g., work center, unit, wing, Air Force or Department of Defense). However, the scope of the impact should be consistent with the person’s accomplishment. For example, if the accomplishment explains how a person processed a large number of records during a base exercise, the impact should not be stretched to show how the Air Force will save millions of dollars. The impact must be accurate (more on that later); be careful not to stretch the truth when rendering full credit for someone’s accomplishment. For the accomplishment element above, the impact element could be as follows:

• ... all wing personnel met their scheduled clock times

Connecting the Accomplishment and Impact Elements

"ing": Connecting the accomplishment and impact elements together can be done several ways. One of the ways is to use the "ing" form of words. See how the word "ensuring" connects our two elements in the example below:

• Processed over 300 records with no errors as part of the 42 ABW Mobility Exercise ensuring all wing personnel met their scheduled clock times

Punctuation: Another way to connect these two elements together is to use punctuation that joins phrases together (conjunctive punctuation). The most common form of conjunctive punctuation in bullet statements is the semicolon. Let’s set off our previous example with a semicolon to see this approach in action:

• Processed over 300 records with no errors as part of the 42 ABW Mobility Exercise; all wing personnel met their scheduled clock times

Multiple impacts: If you have a situation where a single accomplishment has more than one significant impact, you may show each impact element separately but using sub-bullets. The bullet statement format for a multiple impact accomplishment separates the accomplishment element as the single dash (-) bullet statement followed by impact element sub-bullets with a double dash (–). Start each impact element sub-bullet with an action verb.

• Processed over 300 records with no errors as part of the 42 ABW Mobility Exercise
  • Ensured all wing personnel met their scheduled clock times
  • Helped the wing garner an overall “OUTSTANDING” rating from the IG team

CAUTION: The multiple impacts method of writing bullets for a single accomplishment takes a great deal of space where space is limited (evaluation forms). Some commands do not allow the use of multiple impact lines under a single accomplishment. Check with your local command for guidance. Similarly, familiarize yourself with the appropriate MAJCOM/Base/Wing/unit level guidance for commonly used acronyms, abbreviations, etc. to ensure your documents are complete and well written.

Step 3: Streamline the Final Product

Review: After extracting the facts we built the structure of the performance bullet by separating the information into two elements: the accomplishment element and the impact element. Then we connected the two elements and applied standards to make the bullets strong and meaningful. Now we need to streamline the final product and make the bullet statements accurate, brief and specific (ABS).

Accuracy

Accurate bullets are a must. To be accurate, they must also be correct. If the facts are stretched, exaggerated or embellished, then accuracy is lost. Exaggeration or embellishment, no matter how minor, is not the truth. Evaluations, appraisals, awards and decorations are permanent official records - let them be full of facts and truth that reflects our core values.

Brevity

Editing for brevity accomplishes two tasks. First, select words that are shortest and clearest, yet most descriptive to the readers. This means that long, confusing words or phrases are replaced with short, clear, common terms. Second, eliminate or reduce unnecessary words. Some of the words that all bullet writers should be looking to eliminate (or at least sharply reduce) are:

• Articles: a, an, the
• Helping verbs: can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would
• Also forms of be, have, and do
  • Forms of be: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being
  • Forms of have: have, has, had, having
  • Forms of do: do, does, did
• Linking verbs: forms of verbs associated with five senses: look, sound, smell, feel, taste
• Name of the person when their name is printed elsewhere on the document
• Personal pronouns
• Prepositions (use them sparingly): over, under, in, during, within, etc.

Specificity

Specific bullet statements contain detailed facts. To write them, you’ll need to be familiar with the people and systems involved. Resist the urge to estimate or generalize. Don’t be satisfied with a range (10-20 units), or round numbers (approximately \(\$ 1000\); nearly 3500 customers).

Get the exact numbers and use them. With the first round of drafting complete your bullets are ready to be polished.