The purpose of the performance review is to assess and identify opportunities for improvement in individual performance, align each team member’s job goals with organizational objectives, and provide effective feedback for potential development and improved results.
A good performance and results review process is an organizational tool to foster individual growth, improve process efficiency and effectiveness, and strengthen team members' commitment to organizational values and strategic goals. As Line Manager you need be prepared for conversations with your team that will become meaningful and inspiring experiences.
This guide provides orientation to you as Line Manager on how to have powerful conversations that strengthen your bond with your team, drive their development and motivation, align expectations, and establish clear and achievable commitments.
🧩 Before the meeting
Preparing in advance for the session with your staff member is the first step to creating a safe, reliable, and meaningful space. Getting to know each team member personally and professionally is an important task for any line manager, as it helps build a relationship of trust and mutual respect.
- Schedule the meeting with each member of your team at least one week in advance and ask them to complete their self-assessment at least 2–3 days before the meeting.
- Read their self-assessment, review their goals, and take notes of your observations by identifying at least two strengths and one or two challenges during the year.
- If you have additional information about their performance, such as notes from previous 1:1 conversations, project progress reports, feedback from other stakeholders, etc.; review it and take notes you consider relevant for the conversation.
- Prepare 2–3 concrete examples of key situations in which you observed behaviour or results to highlight during the conversation. Have facts, dates and results in mind.
- Prepare powerful questions that invite self-reflection and deepen the conversation around performance and continuous improvement. Refer to the article A Leader’s Guide to Asking Better Open-Ended Questions of Employees for guidance on your questions.
- Think about resources you can offer your staff member in line with the results of their evaluation. For example: training, time off, mentoring, reprioritization, etc.
🧩 During the meeting
The 1:1 conversation is a valuable opportunity to strengthen your bond with team members, identify their individual needs and interests, and recognize common elements within your team that highlight success factors and improvement opportunities in building a high-performance team.
A performance review conversation should include space to: express and clarify job expectations and objectives, discuss and gain visibility on the progress of set goals, recognize and appreciate work and effort, provide useful and constructive feedback, and offer support and wellbeing elements to help the staff member improve performance or results.
- Start the meeting by creating a safe, open, and honest space for dialogue. Present the meeting plan and clearly explain what you expect to achieve from the conversation, including the review of goals and agreement on next steps.
- Use clear and direct language. Avoid metaphors, overlong self-reflections, comparisons, and complicated words.
- Keep in mind your staff member’s overall performance level to guide the conversation. Remember that each level of performance requires a different approach to allow the conversation to flow and lead to the agreement of next steps accordingly. Use this simple guide to focus your approach.
Development level |
Description |
Focus of conversation |
Support to offer |
Outstanding |
Staff members who consistently meet or exceed expectations and deliver superior results. These colleagues are often top talent and may be future leaders in the organization. |
Conversation should focus on discuss career expectations and readiness for next steps. Explore stretch opportunities, retention factors and what keeps them motivated. Confirm their aspirations and timeline for growth. |
Coaching to identify concrete next steps; discuss likely investments in learning; build a tailored learning/career path and succession preparation. Agree checkpoints for progress and visibility to senior stakeholders. |
Excellent |
Staff members who are strong contributors, deliver solid results, are valued by the organization, and who could take on more responsibility. |
Conversation should focus on explore interest in additional responsibilities, identify skill gaps, potential development areas and need to improve.
Clarify expectations for the next level and what success looks like.
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Coaching to map next steps; build a short development plan to maintain performance level and add value (training,project stretch, mentoring). Set 1–2 measurable goals to broaden scope.
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Satisfactory |
Staff members who meet standards but whose full potential is not yet visible(e.g., recent role change, reprioritization, or limited time in role). Results are acceptable but there is scope for greater impact. |
Conversation should focus on review reasons for current performance, clarify role expectations and priorities, and identify barriers. Re-establish short-term objectives and immediate success criteria. |
Co-create an action plan with clear milestones, resources and training needs. Provide regular check-ins, on-the-job stretch opportunities and line-manager support to remove obstacles.
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Needs Improvement |
Staff members who performance is below expectations in some areas but show ability and willingness to improve. Issues are specific and addressable with targeted support. |
Conversation should focus on precise gaps(behaviours, skills, resources) and on understanding root causes. Emphasize development intent while making expectations clear . |
Create a focused Personal Improvement Plan (PIP)with concrete actions, short deadlines and measurable indicators for next three months with monthly check-ins. Offer targeted coaching, specific training, peer support or temporary reallocation of tasks. Clarify consequences if agreed improvements are not met. |
Unsatisfactory |
Staff members who are not meeting expectations and appear disengaged or overwhelmed; performance is inadequate and requires decisive action. |
Conversation should keep tightly focused on current performance and concrete examples. Avoid exploring new responsibilities or future options. Agree on immediate corrective actions and realistic short-term targets. |
Implement a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with clear objectives, timelines and success criteria. Provide structured coaching and resources, frequent monitoring and documented check-ins. Involve P&C as required and clarify next steps if targets are not met |
- Invite your team member to present their progress on their goals for the period and address the most meaningful responses in their self-appraisal. Ask questions to clarify and use your previous notes to highlight important points.
- Allow the conversation to flow; prioritize listening and asking over speaking. Avoid monologues and use open-ended questions to invite deeper reflection.
- Talk about challenges and behaviors. Use the examples you prepared, explore root causes, and offer constructive feedback that encourages reflection and continuous improvement. Refer to the articles: How to guide: Effective Performance Feedback and How to guide: Constructive Feedback for further guidance.
- Encourage your staff member to think more strategically about their performance and potential by exploring the value of their work in achieving goals and their contribution to the organizational culture.
- Invite your staff member to propose improvement actions, help by offering some ideas and support. Encourage them to jointly identify at least two or three actions to be considered in planning their goals for the next period.
- If the staff member has low performance, inform them that it is necessary to work on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), for which you will have another specific session later.
- Create space to talk about the leader-staff relationship. Ask for feedback on your leadership style and listen carefully, identify their preferences, and establish agreements on work methods, communication, and interpersonal relations.
- Clearly state your expectations of the staff member in terms of results and behavior. Explain what you expect to see and achieve in the next cycle. This will give your staff member a clearer vision of their next goals and them will appreciate it.
- End the meeting by informing them of the next steps in the process and offering to follow up on any elements of the conversation that may need it.
🧩 After the meeting
- Review your notes, comments, and reflections from the 1:1 meeting with your staff member.
- Complete the evaluation process in the system according to the instructions provided in the article How to guide: Multi-rater Annual Performance Review.
- Include in the comments and in the evaluation all the relevant elements from the conversation, including agreements and next steps, if applicable.
- Write the feedback required by the evaluation system to leave a record of what was discussed and evaluated on your part.
- If specific agreements were reached related to training, support, or other topics, send a summary email to the staff member whit the agreements and the next steps for their implementation.
- If it is a staff member with low performance, schedule the meeting to formulate the PIP no later than one month after the performance review meeting.
- Document, report, or contact other stakeholders as agreed in the meeting to ensure the fulfillment and follow-up of the commitments.
Finally remember that, as a line manager, your work doesn’t end when the meeting finishes, the real impact comes from the follow-up. Use this guide as your roadmap: prepare with care, listen with curiosity, agree on clear actions, and track progress with regular check-ins.
When you close the loop, you turn a performance conversation into a real development moment for the person and for the team. 💟
The purpose of the performance review is to reflect on the practices, methods and results of your work, identify opportunities to develop your skills and grow, align your goals with the organisation’s priorities, and agree on concrete actions that move you forward.
A good review is an opportunity for you as Staff Member to demonstrate your impact, receive useful feedback, and co-create a plan that helps you improve and feel supported. It is also a chance to talk with your line manager about ways of working and communication, and to share your ideas and proposals that can boost both your individual results and the team’s collective performance.
Use this guide to prepare your self-assessment, present your achievements clearly, receive feedback constructively, and leave every 1:1 with practical, achievable next steps.
🔗Before the meeting
Preparing your meeting in advance gives you confidence and ensures the conversation stays focused on evidence and development.
- Review your goals, archive goals from previous periods, and update progress on your current goals. Use the step-by-step guidance in the article How to guide: Goals Management in Zoho People to make the process easy.
- Add as much evidence as possible to each goal, attach links, deliverables and metrics that show your impact. Concrete proof makes the conversation objective and credible.
- Take notes on key results or moments you want to share with your line manager, and prepare full examples of situations that demonstrate those outcomes.
- Identify two or three important achievements and one or two challenges you faced during the year related to your goals, and make notes about them.
- Prepare two or three questions you want to ask your line manager about your performance and that you are willing to receive feedback on.
- Complete your self-assessment according to the procedure and submit it in the system at least two days before your 1:1 so your line manager has time to prepare.
- Think of two or three actions that should be a priority for you and the team in the next period, and identify one or two skills you would like to develop.
- Consider and note the type of support you would like to receive to help your development and achieve your goals.
🔗During the meeting
The 1:1 conversation with your line manager is your space to share and demonstrate the impact of your work, receive feedback on how your manager perceives your contributions, and jointly identify next steps to develop your skills and improve results.
- Start the meeting by reviewing the meeting agenda with your line manager so you both have clear objectives and expected outcomes.
- Present your results one by one, emphasising those you believe had the biggest impact, then explain the tasks or goals that were most challenging for you.
- Share the evidence and key items you prepared beforehand to give consistency and credibility to your results.
- Use concrete examples, explain the context, what happened, and how it impacted the results.
- Ask for concrete feedback, request examples and suggestions, listen actively, take notes and reflect back the key points to confirm your understanding. Use this tips to improve your skills on receive feedback:
How to receive feedback |
What to say |
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Listen carefully, don’t interrupt. Let your line manager finish speaking before you respond. Take notes of key words and facts so you can reflect on what you hear. |
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Avoid getting defensive; manage body language. Stay calm and neutral. It’s normal to feel uncomfortable, but remember this is a safe space to listen and also to share your perspective later. |
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Ask specific clarifying questions when something isn’t clear. Request concrete examples that help you understand the situation. |
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Summarise what you heard to validate understanding. Paraphrase briefly to confirm you and your manager mean the same thing. |
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Thank your manager and acknowledge the effort of giving feedback. Recognise that constructive feedback takes courage and time. |
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If you need time to think, ask for it and propose a follow-up. It’s OK to pause, process and return with an action plan. |
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Ask for concrete suggestions to improve. Ask your line manager for suggestions on things you could do to improve the situation or do it better next time. |
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- Propose actions to improve performance or results. Consider individual and team actions, and try to link them to how will improve collective outcomes.
- Ask for the support you need to improve your results, training, extra time, mentoring, re-prioritisation, and be specific about what will help. Remember there is always space to improve, even when performance meets expectations.
- Talk about your work and communication preferences with your line manager; this is also an opportunity to give your feedback and strengthen your working relationship.
- Clarify expectations and priorities for your role and performance. If you leave the meeting with clear expectations, it will be easier to plan your goals for the next period.
- If appropriate, discuss growth and career opportunities within the organisation. Share your aspirations and plans for your career.
🔗After the meeting
- Review and reflect on your notes and the feedback you received. Update your self-assessment if any evidence or ratings changed as a result of the conversation.
- Start the agreed actions preparing or update a personal action plan to track your progress. Remember, improving results and developing skills is your own responsibility.
- Draft the objectives you want to pursue in the next period aligned with the expectations shared by your line manager. This will help you create your goals.
- If your performance outcome is low, begin preparing a proposal of actions for your Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Identify the specific support you need so you can present it in the follow-up meeting with your line manager.
- As a good practice, consider sending brief feedback on the review process to your line manager or to People & Culture by email. What worked well and what you would suggest to improve next time.
Finally, remember that the conversation doesn’t end when you close the meeting, the real value lies in what you do next. Use this guide as your roadmap, prepare thoughtfully, present your evidence with confidence, welcome feedback with curiosity, and turn agreed actions into tangible steps.
Take ownership of your development, keep your manager updated, and use the periodic check-ins to show progress. When you follow through, a performance conversation becomes your moment to grow and make a real difference for you and the team. 💟