Performance reviews are one of the most important conversations you will have with a team member. Manager Toolkit makes preparation straightforward by giving you structured data to draw from rather than relying on memory alone.
Step-by-Step Preparation
Review catchup history. Open the team member's profile and look through their recent catchups. Read through the discussion notes for the review period. Note any recurring topics, concerns raised, or positive highlights.
Check sentiment trends. Look at the sentiment tracking chart for the review period. Has sentiment been stable, improving, or declining? Sentiment trends give you an objective view of how the person has been feeling over time, which is valuable context for the review conversation.
Review completed targets. Check which targets were assigned to this team member and their outcomes. Were targets met, partially achieved, or missed? What were the circumstances? This gives you concrete evidence of performance against agreed goals.
Check action completion rate. Review the actions assigned to or created for this person. How many were completed on time? Are there long-standing overdue items? Action completion is a useful indicator of follow-through and reliability.
Gather key theme connections. If you have been linking key themes to catchups and meetings, check which themes are most associated with this team member. Recurring themes like "leadership growth" or "technical depth" provide narrative threads for the review.
Pro
Use the AI summary feature to generate a quick overview of the team member's recent activity. The AI analyses catchups, actions, targets, and sentiment to produce a concise briefing that can serve as a starting point for your preparation.
Compiling Your Notes
Once you have gathered the data, compile your review notes around three areas:
- What went well - completed targets, positive sentiment trends, strong action completion, growth areas highlighted in catchups
- What could improve - missed targets, recurring concerns from catchups, overdue actions, declining sentiment
- Goals for the next period - new targets, development areas, changes to ways of working
Do not rely solely on recent events. A common bias in performance reviews is weighting the last few weeks too heavily. By reviewing the full period's data in Manager Toolkit, you get a balanced picture.
During the Review
Bring your Manager Toolkit data to the conversation. Referencing specific catchup notes, target outcomes, and sentiment trends makes the review feel evidence-based rather than subjective. It also shows the team member that you have prepared thoroughly and value the work you do together.
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