Performance review

A performance review decides things that genuinely matter to the person: their growth, their motivation, and sometimes their pay. That is why it cannot be improvised in the room. The gap between a review that helps and one that hurts is almost all in the preparation, in arriving with facts and examples instead of feelings.

The risk when there is no method is recency bias: you judge the last month and forget the rest of the period, or you mix the professional with the personal. This list walks you through gathering evidence, listening to the person, and leaving with a written development plan rather than good intentions.

The review steps

These are the points the template brings, from the prep beforehand to the final record:

• Gather wins and examples from the period, not just the last month
• Review the objectives agreed at the start
• Ask peers who work with the person for feedback
• Prepare the self assessment so it arrives thought through
• Draft strengths and areas to improve with examples
• Schedule the meeting with time to spare, no rush or interruptions
• Share the feedback backed by concrete examples
• Listen to the person's view without interrupting
• Agree on goals for the next period
• Define a development plan with concrete steps
• Record the agreements in writing to revisit later

How it works in Foco

On import, Foco creates the "Performance" job with these steps in the List view, grouped by date to separate what you prep beforehand from what you do on the day of the meeting. You tick off each step as you go, and if you review several people, you duplicate the job or reuse the template for each one.

You can attach voice or text notes with examples as they come to mind so you do not lose them, set a reminder to schedule the meeting with margin, and assign the follow up on the development plan with its own date.