Elevate Your Performance Review Conversations with these 12 Expert Tips

Stop dreading performance reviews. We assembled a list of 12 tips from expert leaders like Lenny Rachitsky, Molly Graham, Russ Laraway, Brie Wolfson, Julie Zhuo, and more to make these conversations more impactful. There are frameworks and tactics for managers and reports alike to rethink their approach.

Outline

The email hits your inbox, and you let out a little groan: It’s time, once again, for performance reviews. On top of your already jam-packed to-do list, you’ve now got to set aside time for writing thoughtful reviews for peers, managers, reports, and yourself — trying to patly summarize 3, 6, or 12 months’ worth of feedback.

Not to mention the dread when it’s time to actually sit down and have these conversations. For folks on the receiving end of the review, there’s the creeping anxiety that you’ll get a dose of feedback that stings or catches you on the back foot. And for managers delivering employee reviews, there’s a delicate balance between encouragement, coaching, and tough love. Let’s face it — there’s a lot of anxiety on both ends of the table.

But it doesn’t have to be such a chore. When done well, performance reviews are an incredibly valuable exercise that enables a manager and direct report to track growth over time, align on how the work impacts what matters most to the business, and build a more open and trusting relationship. The conversation should flow both ways — a back-and-forth dialogue, not a lecture.

That’s why we combed the Review archives for the best frameworks and advice we could find for both managers and direct reports to make performance reviews a worthwhile — not just headache-inducing — endeavor. From the documents to use to prep for these conversations ahead of time, to the question prompts that yield insightful conversations, to reflection tools that put feedback into practice.

1. HONE YOUR NARRATIVE WITH A PERSONAL PRESS RELEASE

Imagine you’re writing a press release about all the things you shipped and the impact that they had. Some things you might want to include in your press release are:

Headline/Lede: the attention grabber
One-line summary: imagine how someone would describe this to a colleague
Top 3-5 things you shipped
Where your time went
Key insights or learnings
Progress on metrics
Qualitative impacts
Contributions to the broader team/company
Positive feedback you received from stakeholders/users (internal or external)
One piece of art (graph, picture, screenshot, etc.)
Overall mood/sentiment
Anything the broader organization did that you wish you could have been a part of
What you’re really proud of
Anything you’re not so proud of
A look ahead on: What you’re shipping next, what you’re excited about, big opportunities for you, your team, or your company, and any foreseen blockers, risks, or things that you’re worried about.

While you likely won’t share this exact press release with your manager during performance reviews, setting aside a couple of hours for this exercise can help you craft the narrative for what you’d like to highlight in your self-assessment.

2. MANAGERS TRY THIS TEMPLATE TO STRUCTURE YOUR NEXT REVIEW CONVERSATION

ICs aren’t the only folks who can struggle with the blank page paradox — managers, too, can be unsure exactly where to get started when structuring reviews for their direct reports. That’s why we love this simple, yet powerful performance review template from Lenny Rachitsky.

Accomplishments

“Detail the person’s accomplishments over the course of the period. Collect these from the report’s self-evaluation, peer feedback, and your own notes that you’ve been keeping throughout the year,” says Rachitsky.

Superpower

“Most performance reviews over-index on development areas. The reality is that an individual will have just as much impact (if not more) on an organization if they flex what they are really good at, instead of just trying to improve on the areas they’re struggling with.

High-level feedback

“Next, I take a step back and summarize the report’s performance in a short narrative, about four to six sentences. I try to make a simple story arc, starting by describing how far they’ve come, then a sentence or two about how they did this cycle, and ending on a high-level overview of what they need to focus on next,” he says.

Development areas

Identify one to two development areas to focus on for the next cycle, and put them in the middle column. Don’t go overboard — less is more, so select with care.

3. ZOOM OUT TO GET A FULLER PICTURE

Most likely, these one-hour performance review meetings are focused on the relatively short term: What does the report need to do to get a promotion in the next year?

To widen the aperture and open up space for more impactful discussions, Russ Laraway prescribes three specific types of conversations.

Start with the Past — Life Story: This is the path that led this human being to this moment in time.
Talk about the Future — Dreams: Discover where this person wants to be at the pinnacle of their career.
Plan for the Present — Career Action Plan: Build a relevant and thoughtful action plan.

4. SPEND MORE TIME THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED TO WITH YOUR HIGH PERFORMERS.

With so much work that goes into performance reviews, it can be easy to somewhat phone it in when it comes to your high performers. After all, they’re crushing it — wouldn’t you rather focus on crafting high-quality feedback and coaching for the folks who are struggling?

But Molly Graham believes that you should be spending the majority of your time with the people who are moving the needle — the folks who are your highest performers and have the potential to change the company.

5. DON’T GIVE A SH*T SANDWICH

Kim Scott (of “Radical Candor” fame) gives advice to be as direct as possible when delivering critical feedback.

6. DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN INTERPERSONAL AND PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK.

It’s important to recognize the difference between interpersonal feedback and performance feedback, as both serve distinct purposes in performance reviews.

7. ASK THIS QUESTION TO GIVE FEEDBACK THAT LANDS

Whether you’re a manager delivering feedback to your direct report, or sending feedback up the management chain, the best way to make your conversation heard is to make the listener feel safe, and to show that you care about their success.

Questions to consider while giving feedback:

Does this feedback resonate with you? Why or why not?
What are your takeaways?

8. LOOK BACKWARD AND FORWARD

These are key questions that can help individuals reflect on their learning.

Look back:

What did you like about that project?
What did you hate about it?

Look forward:

What’s the next challenge?
What’s the next big step or career goal you want to reach for?

9. TAKE THREE STEPS FOR CLEARER CONVERSATIONS

Clear feedback is structured in a way that communicates:

What happened
What impact that had
What you would like to happen next

10. BORROW A TRIED-AND-TRUE FRAMEWORK

Two basic feedback structures that stand the test of time include the SBI Method and the Start, Stop, Keep framework.

11. ASK QUESTIONS TO AVOID GETTING DEFENSIVE ABOUT FEEDBACK

Responding defensively to feedback is common but asking questions can help clarify the message and improve understanding.

12. REFLECT AND CIRCLE BACK ON THE FEEDBACK YOU RECEIVED

Taking the time to reflect before responding allows for thoughtful consideration of the feedback and can lead to more productive outcomes.