The time for annual performance reviews is rolling around once more. As a manager, thoughtfully conducted reviews allow you to provide meaningful feedback, set aligned goals, identify growth opportunities, and guide your team’s development over the past year.
But first, proper planning and preparation are key to enabling productive conversations.
Follow these best practices to get fully ready for annual review season...
Don’t let review deadlines creep up unexpectedly - get them booked early. Schedule all one-on-one meetings at least 2-3 months in advance to give employees plenty of notice to prepare.
Block off 30-60 minutes for each review conversation on your calendar.
Once scheduled, send reminders about the reviews along with any forms or self-assessment templates (if you're not using WorkStory). This gives employees a chance to reflect and gather their thoughts before the meeting.
Clearly communicate your expectations for any self-evaluations and provide guiding questions to prompt meaningful analysis of their own performance and growth throughout the year.
If you find preparing review paperwork and templates to be a hassle, WorkStory's automated system avoids the need for cumbersome forms and assessments. Everything is handled seamlessly on one centralized platform.
For managers, create a master calendar to track all upcoming review deadlines, meetings, and follow-ups in one organized place. Calendar invites can help lock in schedules across the team.
When you plan thoughtfully from the start, you set yourself and employees up for an impactful review process.
Don’t conduct reviews in a silo - connect them to employees' wider growth journeys.
Pull up last year’s finalized reviews to revisit previous goals, achievements, and developmental areas. Note the key progress made so far and what skills still need focus.
These insights pave the way for more meaningful conversations around development - which is the real reason for doing performance reviews in the first place.
Then collaboratively set aligned SMART goals for the upcoming review period - targets that ladder up to wider team and organizational objectives. Employees should leave understanding how their goals connect to the bigger picture.
Ideally, you would be conducting regular check-ins throughout the year to discuss performance, goals, and to identify targets for growth.
In doing so, you're creating a record of individual performance which will set you up for success in the larger annual performance reviews.
A positive side-effect of holding check-ins or 1:1s is that the team member will never be surprised by the performance review. If your employees are walking into the conversation without a complete understanding of how well they've been performing, you're setting yourself up for failure and ultimately for an uncomfortable conversation which may leave the employee demotivated and less engaged in the longer term.
Reviews become more robust when you solicit insights from different perspectives. Reach out to colleagues and team members who regularly interact with the employee to gather feedback.
Ask for specific examples and metrics that paint a detailed picture of performance beyond general impressions. The richer the insights, the more effective the review.
It's hard to collect these insights throughout the year - rather than once a year - but that's where WorkStory shines. See how we capture performance data continuously.
In your notes, compile any relevant performance data like sales figures, satisfaction scores, productivity stats.
Hard metrics often surface progress and problems more objectively - they tell an important story on their own.
Also document any performance issues that need to be addressed - the developmental areas along with the wins. Well-rounded reviews provide growth-oriented feedback, not just praise.
Decide whether you want to use standard forms or a more conversational format centered around open-ended questions. Just remain consistent across the team.
Evaluate how technology like automated performance management systems can bolster and streamline the process.
Carefully structure the dialogue to cover wins, strengths, improvements, career aspirations and future goals. Prepare talking points and performance examples you want to be sure to cover.
The best reviews are interactive, future-focused, and never a surprise to the team member.
With proper upfront planning and preparation, you can conduct more meaningful, effective reviews directly tied to company objectives and employee growth.
If spreadsheets make your current process cumbersome, consider a streamlined platform like WorkStory that avoids the need for forms and templates.
Invest time now to thoughtfully set up both managers and employees for review success down the line.
Hop into our editor to write your review, with the help of our AI tools, before exporting it as a PDF.
