In order for you to be as strategic as possible, it is important you have full comprehension of your variable. Don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions and revisit your goals frequently during the month or quarter. If something isn’t crystal clear, be sure to communicate that to your manager. It doesn’t help anyone when you underperform because you don’t understand the goals ahead of you.

Your end results and payout should not be a mystery to you. If your manager doesn’t provide one for you, build out a compensation calculator in excel or sheets where you can input your performance and calculate the outcome of all your hard work. Tying your variable compensation achievements to ta...