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The Busy Manager’s Guide To Better Performance Reviews

Includes free template

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Our philosophy

5 steps to better performance reviews 1. Use what you have 2. Set goals 3. Ask the right questions 4. Limit uncertainty 5. Revisit your goals Free performance review template

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Table of contents

Download from Google Docs

Scroll to the end for the PDF, or…

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“Holding people accountable to high standards and results is nothing to apologize for. Failing to stretch them to their potential is.”

– Dave Anderson, author of No-Nonsense Leadership

Our philosophy

The ingredients you need for better performance reviews

Trust & Accountability

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

– Stephen R. Covey, author & organizational expert

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Performance reviews are probably the highest-risk meeting you’ll ever have with an employee. They’re wondering, “How will this go? Am I going to get that raise? What should I say if I get a bad review?” This is a vulnerable time for your team, so if we had just one piece of advice, it would be this:Handle with care.

5 Steps to Better Performance Reviews

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How to use this templateIf all you want is a great performance review template, get our tried and true template on page 10. It’s been tested in more than 80 performance reviews over two years, and has significantly improved team trust and accountability for both managers and their employees.

But if you want to get the most out of this template—and the entire performance review process—keep reading.

We’ll show you how to:

1. Ask research-backed questions that will actually improve your relationship with employees.

2. Look for red flags that can reveal a poor employee fit—in the future or right now.

3. Guide employees to be their best selves, without coming off as a demanding, out of touch boss.

Download from Google Docs

Scroll to the end for the PDF, or…

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1. Use What You HaveIf you’ve been holding regular check-ins with each employee, look back at your notes. They’ll help you make decisions and speak confidently during review season.But maybe you didn’t know that regular check-ins were a thing. Or you were just too busy to make them a priority.

Either way, they didn’t happen. That’s okay!

Our performance review template will help you out. Employees fill out most of it, and we’ll help you do the rest.

But going forward… If you want to be a great manager, don’t skip your one-on-ones. Use pen and paper, a note-taking app, or our tool Uptick. What’s more important than the tool is the trust that’s built in these meetings. Next time performance reviews are due, you won’t have to guess whether you and your team are on the same page—you’ll know.

Try Uptick free

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Like the rest of your work, performance reviews should be guided by goals. But typically, we rush through the review process without thinking about why we’re doing it.

Let’s change that Set goals for each employee by filling in the blanks.

“I want [employee name] to leave our performance review feeling _____, knowing _____, and ready to do _____.”

2. Set Goals

Feeling Knowing Ready to doConfident What to focus on Show up as a leader

Listened to How I feel about their work Collaborate with their team

Valued How they can do better Take greater risks

Empowerd Why they’re important to the team Stop a problematic behaviorExcited Where they add the most value Build better habits

Need some ideas?

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3. Ask the Right Questions

Why this matters

2. Pride & productivity. What did you accomplish outside of your priorities that you’re really proud of? What obstacles to productivity did you come across and how did you overcome them?

1. Completing priorities. Priorities are important projects that add value to the organization. Share the priorities that you’re in charge of and how far you got. If you didn’t complete one, please explain why.

Let’s break down the 6 questions in our template to understand why each question is valuable, red flags to look for, and how to follow up.

What to look for

Follow up with

You encourage employees to set goals and take ownership of them—a proven way to increase productivity.1

Do they undermine priorities or get distracted?

Do they make excuses when things go wrong?

What could you have done differently to complete this? Do you feel like these were the right priorities?

Employees want you to pay attention to their successes and opinions.2

Do they give up when facing an obstacle?Do they do the bare minimum that’s required?

Could I have helped remove obstacles? What does it mean to you to have accomplished that?

Research notes

1. Studies found that productivity increased in workplaces that used employee input to guide decisions and goal setting. Source 2. Supervisor feedback leads to adequacy, but supervisor attention leads to excellence, according to researchers. Source

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3. Ask the Right Questions (cont’d)

Why this matters

4. Virtues & values. What virtues and values do you bring to work? Which ones would you like to build on?

3. Impact on the team. How has your work, your attitude, and your habits had a positive impact on the team?

Let’s break down the 6 questions in our template to understand why each question is valuable, red flags to look for, and how to follow up.

What to look for

Follow up with

You gauge their respect for teammates—the most important factor in team effectiveness.3

Do they overemphasize individual performance?Are they uninterested in sharing knowledge with team members?

How do you think team members would describe your impact?

How would you describe the team’s culture?

You encourage positive, virtuous practices, which benefits the entire organization.4

Do they claim to embody a virtue or value that’s not evident to anyone else?

Can you give me examples of when you really embodied that (or failed to)?

What would help you build on that?

Research notes

3. Google researchers found that the most effective teams had group norms of treating each other with respect. Source 4. A study found that positive, virtuous practices are related to significantly higher organizational effectiveness. Source

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3. Ask the Right Questions (cont’d)

Why this matters

6. How my manager can help. How can your manager help address issues or open up opportunities?

5. Areas of growth. How will you work on your professional growth in the next review period? What support do you need from your manager or the organization?

Let’s break down the 6 questions in our template to understand why each question is valuable, red flags to look for, and how to follow up.

What to look for

Follow up with

You increase the chances of success by showing support from the organization—not just once but sustained over time.5

Do I care more about their professional development than they do?

What are you willing to sacrifice to get this done?

Why would you like to grow in this particular area?

Productive organizations use input from employees when they make decisions.1

What feedback are they implicitly giving me?

If I took action on this, what would you consider a successful outcome?

Research notes

5. Studies show that professional development is most successful when it’s ongoing and comes with high levels of support. Source

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4. Limit Uncertainty

We don’t have self-reviews, we just meet with the supervisor and they tell us the stuff. I’m super afraid of

a surprise.

I need to toughen up before going in there, I KNOW

there will be surprises and negative things and I have to not take them personally. I wish I could just skip it

altogether!

When I finally got the official letter, there was this whole paragraph of criticism. Not only had he not

mentioned any of it at any point during the year, but he didn’t even mention it when we specifically discussed

my evaluation! Now I’m always afraid of a “surprise”.

– Reader comments from AskAManager.com

Nobody wants to be ambushed Here’s how you can avoid surprises so your team members aren’t stressed out.

• Hold weekly one-on-ones to build trust and accountability on a regular basis.

• Share materials as early as you can: the performance review template, the format of the big meeting, and the entire review timeline from start to finish.

• Model calmness during the meeting by being over-prepared.

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You may not need any of these tactics, but it’s best to have them ready, just in case.

Over-prepare for problems

• Expect meetings to go long. Leave a buffer between your

appointments so you don’t have to cut an employee off.

• Make a plan B if the buffer runs out. Keep time open on

your calendar in case concerns can’t be resolved during the

meeting. You might say, “It looks like we need more time to

resolve the issue you brought up, and I don’t want to rush you. In

our last 15 minutes, let’s finish going through the template

together. Next week, I’ll set aside an hour for us to talk about that specific issue. Will that work for you?”

• Prepare ground rules if the meeting gets too emotional. For example, you might say, “I’m sorry this feedback is upsetting. If

you need to take a few minutes for yourself, I can come back in 5. But then I’d like to discuss a few ideas for improving your

performance, without yelling or name calling. Can we agree on that?”

4. Limit Uncertainty (cont’d)

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5. Revisit Your GoalsRemember this?

“I want [employee name] to leave our performance review feeling _____, knowing _____, and ready to do _____.”As you send out the template, look over responses, and schedule meetings, don’t forget your goals. You may even want to share them with each team member.

Try Uptick free

Don’t be nervous!

You’ve got everything you need to hold awesome

performance reviews…and we’re not just talking about

the free template. Every day at work, you bring your

passion and strengths. You’ll do the same for

performance reviews. From all of us at Uptick, good

luck!

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Performance Review for: Evaluating to of

Position: Managed by:

Employee Evaluation Manager Comments

1. Completing priorities. Priorities are important projects that add value to the organization. Share the priorities that you’re in charge of and how far you got. If you didn’t complete one, please explain why.

2. Pride & productivity. What did you accomplish outside of your priorities that you’re really proud of? What obstacles to productivity did you come across and how did you overcome them?

3. Impact on the team. How has your work, your attitude, and your habits had a positive impact on the team?

Month Month Year

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Position: Managed by:

Employee Evaluation Manager Comments

4. Virtues & values. What virtues and values do you bring to work? Which ones would you like to build on?

5. Areas of growth. How will you work on your professional growth in the next review period? What support do you need from your manager or the organization?

6. How my manager can help. How can your manager help address issues or open up opportunities?

Performance Review for: Evaluating to of

Month Month Year