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Performance Review Template

A performance review template gives a small team a fair, repeatable structure for a review conversation: what the person is accountable for, what actually happened with evidence, what they should keep doing, what needs to improve, and the two or three commitments for the next period.

Updated August 2026

What to include in your Performance Review Template

  • Employee, role, reviewer, review period and date
  • The outcomes the role owns, taken from the job description
  • Evidence against each outcome, with specific examples
  • Strengths to keep doing
  • Development areas with practical support attached
  • Self-assessment section completed before the meeting
  • Two or three commitments for the next period with dates
  • Support the business will provide: training, tools, time
  • Notes and both signatures

Practical guidance

No surprises rule

A review should summarize feedback the person has already heard. If something significant is new in the review, that is a management failure rather than a performance failure, and it should be addressed as soon as it appears instead of stored up.

Tie reviews to the job description

Use the same outcomes you wrote when defining the role. When the review measures the same things the person was hired to deliver, fairness is structural rather than a matter of tone.

How to use this template

  1. 1Send the self-assessment a week ahead so the conversation is not one-directional.
  2. 2Gather evidence beforehand; opinion without examples feels arbitrary and lands badly.
  3. 3Keep to a maximum of three development areas or nothing changes.
  4. 4Agree written commitments in the meeting itself rather than sending them afterwards.
  5. 5Schedule the next check-in before the meeting ends.

Filled-in example

Example

Filled-in example: six-month review, field technician

  • Outcome — first-time fix rate. Result: 88% against an 85% target, evidenced by job records.
  • Outcome — job notes completed same day. Result: 71%, below the 95% target.
  • Strength — handles difficult customers calmly; two written compliments this period.
  • Development — same-day notes. Support: switch to voice notes in the app, review in four weeks.
  • Commitment 1 — same-day notes above 90% by 30 June.
  • Commitment 2 — complete the refrigerant handling refresher by 31 July, booked by the manager.
  • Next check-in — 12 May, fifteen minutes, notes rate only.

Common mistakes

  • Reviewing personality traits instead of outcomes and behavior.
  • Raising a problem for the first time in the review.
  • Recency bias, where the last three weeks outweigh six months.
  • Listing eight development areas, which guarantees none are addressed.
  • No follow-up date, so the review becomes an annual ritual with no effect.

Frequently asked questions

How often should small teams run reviews?
Twice a year for a structured review, with short monthly or quarterly check-ins between. Annual-only cycles let problems run too long.
Should reviews be linked to pay?
Keep the development conversation separate from the pay conversation, even if they happen in the same month. Mixing them shifts the focus to negotiation.
Is this suitable for formal disciplinary matters?
No. Performance management with potential employment consequences varies by jurisdiction and should be handled with qualified HR or legal advice.
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