How to Conduct a Performance Review for Your Team
Most writing about performance reviews is aimed at the employee preparing for one. This is for the manager delivering it. Running a review well is a distinct skill — and most new managers are expected to have it before anyone’s taught it to them.
Key takeaways
A performance review is a two-way conversation, not a verdict you deliver — your report should do at least half the talking
Good preparation means specific evidence, not impressions — what did they actually do, and what was the impact?
Surprise is a sign of failure in the process — none of the substance in a review should be new information if you’re giving regular feedback
Hard reviews — underperformers, rating disagreements — require specific preparation and a clear posture coming in
Blomma helps you rehearse the conversation before you’re in it, especially for the reviews you’re most nervous about
On this page:
What a Performance Review Is Actually For
A performance review serves two functions that often get conflated: evaluation (how has this person performed?) and development (what do they need to grow?). The best reviews do both — they’re honest about the past and constructive about the future.
Performance reviews don’t replace ongoing feedback — they consolidate it. If you’re giving real-time feedback throughout the year, the review should feel like a familiar summary, not a revelation. Surprise in a performance review is almost always a failure of the year’s management, not just the review conversation itself.
How to Prepare Well as the Reviewer
Good preparation separates reviews that feel fair from reviews that feel arbitrary. Before you write or deliver a review:
Gather evidence, not impressions. Pull your notes, emails, project outcomes, and any 360 feedback from the review period. Memory is biased toward recent events — the systematic review rebalances it.
Write specific examples for each key point. Not “good collaborator” but “led the Q3 cross-functional launch with minimal friction from three other teams who reported it went well.”
Check yourself for bias. Recency bias, halo and horn effects, and affinity bias are all real and all affect ratings. Ask: if someone else had done exactly this same work, would I rate it the same way?
Calibrate relative to the role level, not your best performer. Rating is about meeting expectations for the level, not about distance from the top of your team.
How to Structure the Conversation
Don’t read your review document at them. The written review is what they read afterward — the conversation is a dialogue. A structure that works:
Open by asking them to self-assess. “Before I share my perspective, I’d like to hear yours — what do you think went well this year, and what would you do differently?” This tells you how aligned your views are before you commit to a direction.
Share your assessment clearly, with specifics. State the rating or overall view plainly and early — don’t bury the headline. Soft-pedaling a hard message forces you to repeat it more often, not less.
Leave real space for their response. Deliver the key message, then be quiet. Their reaction tells you what you need to address next.
End with development, not criticism. The last thing they should leave with is a clear picture of what they can do differently — not a list of what they did wrong.
How to Handle the Hard Reviews
The most stressful reviews aren’t the strong performers — those are easy. The hard ones are:
Underperformers. Be direct. Name the gap clearly. If the conversation is a surprise to them, then this is your first explicit conversation about it — not your last. Follow the review with a documented improvement plan that has specific expectations and a timeline.
People who disagree with their rating. Listen to their case. If they raise something that genuinely changes your view, update it. If they don’t, hold your rating calmly — “I’ve heard your view and I’ve thought about the same evidence. I’m going to keep my assessment because [reason].” Don’t let discomfort produce inflation.
High performers who expect more than you can give. Recognize the performance clearly and explicitly. Then be honest about what the path forward actually looks like. Vague optimism about future promotions you can’t guarantee creates the expectation problems that drive resignations.
How Blomma Helps Managers Prepare
Blomma’s coaching helps you work through the performance review conversations before you’re in them. You can bring the specific situation — this person, this message, this likely reaction — and think through how to frame it, what to say when they push back, and how to hold both honesty and care in the same conversation.
My Resources lets you upload the actual review document so coaching is grounded in your specific situation. For the employee side of the equation, [how to prepare for a performance review](./performance-review-preparation) gives your reports a useful parallel framework. For feedback outside of review cycles, [how to give feedback as a new manager](../for-teams/how-to-give-feedback-as-a-manager) is worth reading alongside this.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a performance review conversation be?
Typically 45-60 minutes for a full review. That’s long enough for real dialogue without turning into an endurance test. Hard reviews may run longer.
What if I don’t have enough evidence to rate someone fairly?
That’s information about how you managed this year, not just about the review. For the current cycle, be transparent: tell them directly what you observed and what you’re uncertain about, and commit to building a more complete picture in the next cycle.
Should I share the written review before or during the conversation?
Most managers share it after the conversation. Sharing it beforehand gives them time to prepare reactions, which can help or hurt depending on the person. In either case the conversation itself should be a dialogue, not a read-aloud.
What do I do if someone cries or shuts down in the review?
Pause. Acknowledge what you’re seeing without interpreting it. “I can see this is a lot to take in — do you need a moment?” Don’t rush past the emotional response to get back to the content. The response is the content. Offer to continue the conversation in a follow-up if they need time.
The review you dread most is usually the one worth preparing for most carefully. The specificity of your preparation is exactly what makes hard conversations feel fair rather than punitive.