How to Prepare for a Performance Review: A Manager’s Perspective

When I sit down with someone for a performance review, I do not want the most important thing we discuss to come as a surprise.

If something needs attention, I want us to have spoken about it already. If someone is doing well, I want them to have heard that too. I see the review as a moment to pause together, look at the bigger picture and decide what comes next.

That is the standard I aim for as a manager. It is also a responsibility: I cannot expect someone to understand an expectation I have never explained.

Of course, your workplace may handle reviews differently. There may be a formal appraisal form, a rating or a separate process for pay and promotion. Check what is required and complete it. The preparation below is there to help you have a useful conversation within that process.

Before collecting your achievements, look again at your role and the goals you agreed. What are you accountable for? What does good work look like? Has anything changed since those goals were set?

Perhaps priorities shifted, a project stopped or you took on work that was never added to your objectives. Bring that context into the room. You can take responsibility for your work and still ask whether the expectations around it are clear and realistic.

Try: “These were the priorities we agreed. This is what changed during the year. Are we still aligned on what matters most in my role?”

For me, that understanding matters. I want to know that someone understands where their contribution fits, and that we have given them enough clarity to act.

There is a place for a record of achievements. It can help you remember work that would otherwise disappear into a busy year, especially the quieter contributions that rarely announce themselves.

But a long list, on its own, tells me less than a few thoughtful examples.

Choose two or three moments you can explain clearly. What needed doing? What did you contribute? What changed as a result? What did you learn? If other people helped, say so. If the outcome was mixed, be honest about that too.

An example might sound like this: “We kept losing time because the handover information was incomplete. I suggested a simpler format and tested it with two colleagues. We now have fewer questions coming back after handover. I would like to check whether the approach works for the rest of the team.”

That is an illustrative example, but it shows the kind of conversation I value: noticing, acting, learning and thinking about the next improvement. Use numbers when you have reliable ones. A clear description of an observable change is useful too.

I pay attention to initiative between our conversations. Did someone come back to an agreed action? Ask for help when they were stuck? Notice something we could improve and suggest a manageable way forward?

Ownership does not mean solving everything alone or taking on work until there is no room left in your week. Sometimes it means saying early, “I cannot deliver both of these well within the time available. Which should come first?”

Before your review, ask yourself:

If progress has stalled, bring that with you. An unfinished goal is worth discussing. We need to understand whether the next step requires more practice, clearer direction, time, resources or a different approach.

One of the questions I want to ask is simple: what do you want from your career?

You do not need a polished five-year plan. You might want to deepen your expertise, become more confident in a particular part of your role, lead a project or explore a future move. You might enjoy your current role and want to do it well without taking on management responsibility.

There is room for that answer too.

Think about the work that brings out your strengths. What do people come to you for? Which responsibilities would you like to try? Where could you make a contribution that we are not yet making enough space for?

My favourite part of managing people is seeing their talent become visible. I want to create an opportunity, offer the support someone needs and then watch them make that space their own. There is real pleasure in being able to step back and enjoy what someone else is achieving.

Talent and the confidence to show it do not always arrive together.

If you want to move towards a role that asks more of you, there may be skills or habits you need to develop. That deserves an honest conversation, without turning every hesitation into a personal failing.

Perhaps you need practice presenting your ideas. Perhaps expectations are unclear. Perhaps an earlier experience has made it harder to speak up. You can describe what would help without sharing personal history you would rather keep private.

As a manager, I am willing to invest in development. That might mean coaching together, an external programme, feedback after a meeting or a carefully chosen opportunity to practise. I also need to follow up and see whether the support is helping.

Your part is to engage with the opportunity and try the next step. My part is to make that step possible, agree a realistic workload and provide useful guidance. Neither of us can do the whole thing for the other.

Try making the request concrete: “I would like to lead part of the next project meeting. Could we prepare together beforehand and have ten minutes afterwards to discuss what worked?”

Visibility should have more than one route. Written recommendations, technical work, mentoring and thoughtful contributions in smaller meetings can all reveal talent. Development should connect to the work and the person's ambitions, rather than an assumption that everyone needs to become the loudest person in the room.

You can arrive prepared and still hear something you were not expecting. If that happens, you do not have to produce an immediate, perfect response.

Ask for a specific example. Check which expectation the feedback relates to. Explain relevant context and ask what a useful change would look like. If you need time to think, say so and agree when to return to it.

You might say: “This is the first time I have heard that concern. Could we look at an example together? I would like to understand it and then agree a sensible next step.”

If you disagree, be clear about what you see differently and the evidence behind it. Listening does not require you to agree with every interpretation. It gives both of you a chance to understand the issue properly.

I also want people to tell me what they need from me. Have I been clear? Have I followed through? Have I made enough room for them to do the work we agreed?

A warm conversation can still disappear into the week unless you give it a little structure.

Before you finish, agree one or two priorities, what progress will look like and what support is needed. Write down the employee's action and the manager's commitment separately. Put a follow-up date in the diary.

For example: you will draft a recommendation before the next project meeting; your manager will arrange time to review it with you and make space for you to present it. At your next check-in, you will discuss what you learnt and what to try next.

Keep the plan small enough to use. If priorities change, revisit it together.

For a gentle way to keep practical commitments visible, you might borrow a small part of The Sunday Life Admin Ritual: a brief glance at what is coming and what needs attention. Keep work notes in an appropriate, secure place rather than adding confidential details to a personal planner.

Set aside a quiet half-hour, gather your goals and a few useful notes, and work through the prompts. You do not need to fill every space. Bring the points you most want to discuss.

Download the free Performance Conversation Prep Sheet · 4 A4 pages · English · Printable PDF

It covers your responsibilities, contribution, initiative, ambitions, support needs and the commitments you agree together. It is a reflection tool, not an appraisal scorecard.

I want someone to leave a review knowing where they stand, understanding what is expected and feeling that there is room for their talent to grow.

I also want us both to know what we have committed to.

You bring your ambition, effort and willingness to learn. Your manager brings clarity, attention, feedback and access to support. The next conversation becomes more useful because of what you each do before it arrives.

That is where I believe development happens: in the ordinary working days when someone tries something, asks a question, makes an improvement and begins to see what they are capable of.

Esther is the founder of Essy’s Essentials. In this article, she shares her personal approach to managing people: clear expectations, shared responsibility and opportunities for talent to grow. Explore more practical everyday systems in Life, Beautifully Organised.