How to Respond to a PIP in Writing: The Report That Got Me Off Mine

If you are on a PIP and you have decided to fight for your job, the answer is a written report. Every two weeks, you send your manager one goal, two highlights, two lowlights and what you will do in the next two weeks. Every line ties back to what your manager said you have to deliver.

That report is what got me off my own PIP at Amazon. I sent it every two weeks at first, then every week once the wins started stacking up. My manager used it to vouch for me, and my skip level read it to see that I was doing real work.

Here is exactly how to write it.

First, Decide You Are Staying

This post is for you if you want to keep your job. In my experience, leaving a company while you are on a PIP usually means you cannot go back. At the companies I know best, including Amazon and Microsoft, people who leave during a plan are often marked as not eligible to return.

There are good reasons to stay and good reasons to go. If you are still deciding, start with how a PIP really works at Amazon and Microsoft. Once you choose to stay, the work is simple to describe and hard to do. You have to show, in writing, what you are doing and why it matters.

Get the Three Things in Writing Before You Write Anything Else

Ask your manager what you need to deliver to get off the plan. Push for three specific outcomes and put them in an email.

Something like this works:

“Thank you for meeting with me. I want to make sure I am focused on what matters most to you. Here are the three outcomes I understood I need to deliver by [date]: [one], [two], [three]. Did I capture these correctly?”

In my experience, managers keep PIP goals vague. Sometimes that is on purpose. The plan is often built so that you burn out and quit, which costs the company less than letting you go. Your manager is usually under pressure too, from a budget, a priority that went red, or a leader above them. Getting the goals in writing is the one piece of clarity you can force.

Pick One Overarching Goal and Know Why It Matters

Your report starts with one goal for the next 30 to 60 days. Make it a real deliverable, such as “Launch the new hire training program.”

In 30 days you can start a program the right way: set the priorities, build the project plan, name the milestones and pull in the right people. That is enough to show progress.

The hard part is explaining why your goal matters to the business. Map it out:

• How does your team fit into your organization?
• How does your organization fit with the other organizations around it?
• How do those organizations serve the company’s bigger mission?

Read your internal wikis and planning documents. Sit in on another team’s meeting. Ask a team lead what problems they are trying to solve. Then find where your work helps them, with your manager’s problems and your organization’s problems first.

Use an AI tool for this. ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can help you turn a pile of documents into a clear picture of who needs what.

Send It Every Two Weeks, Then Weekly When You Have the Wins

Start every two weeks. If you are moving a lot of work forward every week and it is not getting seen, move to weekly. Once you go weekly, stay weekly. Going back to every two weeks looks like you slowed down.

What Goes in the Report

Overarching goal and status. One sentence with a date, and a status of green, yellow or red. Be honest. Calling out a risk early builds more trust than a surprise later.

Highlights. Two things you did that moved the goal forward. Each one needs a “so what.” Compare:

• Weak: “Set up a meeting with all teams to identify priorities.”
• Strong: “Aligned the design, ops and training leads on launch priorities, so each team now owns its action items and the launch has dates.”

Use numbers whenever you have them. When you do not, show the clarity you created.

Lowlights. This is where your blockers go. A blocker is the professional way to say “I need your help.” For example: “Budget approval for the pilot is still pending, so the vendor contract is on hold. A decision by Friday keeps the launch date.” That tells your manager exactly what you need, without asking for it emotionally.

Two week outlook. What you will deliver before the next report, with dates.

Appendix. Attach your project plan, with milestones, dependencies and risks.

Map Every Bullet to What Your Manager Asked For

This is the step most people skip, and it is the step that gets you off the plan.

Every highlight, lowlight and outlook item should connect to one of the three outcomes your manager agreed to. Each one should also show a different company value. At Amazon those are the Leadership Principles. At Microsoft it is the core competencies. Your company has its own version.

If your company has a leveling guide that describes what is expected at each level, use it. Map your work to your level, and to the level above where it is true. Never stretch it. Every line has to be something you can back up.

Here is a prompt you can paste into your AI tool of choice. Attach your PIP document or the email where you and your manager agreed on your outcomes, plus your leveling guide or job description.

“I am on a performance improvement plan. Attached are the outcomes my manager and I agreed on, and the leveling guide for my role. Below are my notes on what I did in the last two weeks. Rewrite them as a status report with one overarching goal and a status of green, yellow or red, two highlights, two lowlights and a two week outlook. For each highlight, add the result: what changed because of the work. Put any blocker in the lowlights, stated as a specific ask with a date. Map each bullet to one of my agreed outcomes and to a different company value, and tell me which level of the leveling guide it shows. Do not exaggerate. Flag anything I cannot prove. My notes: [paste your notes]”

Who Gets the Report

Start with just your manager. Tell them: “I am taking this seriously. I will send you an update every two weeks.”

After the first one, ask your manager if you can copy your skip level. Then add the people whose work your report touches, such as team leads you met with or your skip level’s peers. Only add someone when the update matters to their work. Read the room.

Copying the right people does two things. Your manager gets what they need to advocate for you. And you build a record that you are doing work that matters to more than one team.

If you work in a role where nobody sees your work, this matters even more. A quiet, siloed role can feel safe. On a PIP, it is the opposite. Visibility is your protection.

Why the Report Matters More Than Anything Else You Do

Performance is subjective. The report turns it into a record. It is your receipt: you asked me to change these things, and here is what I changed.

The first one will take you a long time to write. That is normal. A clear, short report is harder to write than a long one. By the third report, with the template and an AI tool, it gets fast.

After You Make It Off the Plan

Keep sending the report until the project is done, which can take six months to a year. Take some time off if you have not. Then plan your move. In my experience, life on that team stays harder than it was before the plan. Give yourself about a year to transfer teams or find your next role, and keep your relationships strong on the way out.

Quick Answers

Do I have to respond to a PIP in writing?

You should. A written record of your goals, progress and blockers is your strongest protection, and it gives your manager something to show their leadership.

How often should I send PIP updates?

Start every two weeks. Move to weekly when you have more progress than one report every two weeks can show.

Who should I copy on my PIP updates?

Your manager first. Add your skip level once your manager agrees, then the team leads whose work your report affects.

What if my manager will not tell me what success looks like?

Write down the three outcomes you believe they want, send them in an email, and ask them to confirm. A written answer, or even no answer, is part of your record.

Samantha Cook is the founder of Inside the Cubicle® in Seattle. She spent seven years at Amazon, where she made it off her own PIP, and four years at Microsoft as a senior leader.

For education only. This is not legal advice, and no result is guaranteed. For your specific PIP, severance or contract, talk with an employment attorney. See our Terms.