How to run your first performance review on a small team
A first review does not need a complex process. It needs a defined period, written expectations, evidence, a conversation, and agreed next steps. This guide is for founders and new managers who are running a first performance review, or reviewing their first employee, on a small team without a dedicated HR owner.
The worksheet below works in a shared document. Adapt it to your roles and policies before asking anyone to fill it in. You do not need software to complete it.
If you are the person receiving a first review, write from evidence rather than from a blank page. The self-review examples walk through that half of the work.
What a first review should accomplish
Aim for a fair account of a defined period, a shared understanding of what the role expected, one or two strengths to keep using, one or two practical changes, and named support with a follow-up date. Tell people, before anyone writes, whether pay or promotion will be part of this conversation or a separate one.
A first review should not be a surprise verdict, a personality judgment, or an attempt to invent a full HR system in a week. If a serious concern has never been raised before, say so, hear the other person's context, and treat the written note as the start of a plan—not as proof that your first interpretation is complete.
Agree on the rules before anyone writes
Tell everyone:
- The start and end dates being reviewed.
- Who writes, reads and stores each review.
- Whether you will use ratings, and the written meaning of each level if you do. Skipping ratings on a first review is a reasonable choice.
- Whether pay decisions are part of this process or a separate conversation.
- What happens if someone joined recently, changed role or took leave.
- How someone can correct a factual error or disagree with an assessment.
Do not introduce new standards after people have written their reviews. Assess the work they were actually asked to do, and the time they had in the role, with appropriate treatment of leave and accommodations under your policies.
A lightweight sequence
This is a starting plan, not a benchmark:
| Step | Owner | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare | Manager or founder | Period, role expectations, dates and privacy rules |
| Reflect | Employee | Short self-review and selected evidence |
| Draft | Manager or founder | Review tied to the agreed expectations |
| Discuss | Employee and manager | Shared understanding, recorded differences and next steps |
| Follow up | Employee and manager | First check-in on an existing 1:1 |
Leave time to read and respond. Avoid stacking every conversation immediately before a holiday, a launch, or a pay discussion.
Copyable first-review worksheet
FIRST PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Employee / role:
Manager:
Period covered:
Time in role / start date:
Role changes or agreed priority changes during this period:
A. Expectations we agreed for this period
- The main responsibilities:
- The goals or outcomes we discussed, if any:
- Where expectations were never made explicit:
B. Employee reflection — complete first
- The most important work in this period:
- What changed, and why:
- Evidence I can point to:
- Support or context my manager may not have seen:
- Questions I want to discuss:
C. Manager review — draft after reading the reflection
- Where expectations were met, with examples:
- A strength to keep using, with an example:
- A behavior or skill to change, with an example and a practical next step:
- Context, collaborators, or limits I should acknowledge:
- Anything I do not have enough evidence to assess fairly:
D. Conversation notes
- Context added or corrections:
- Differences we did not resolve, and who will respond:
- Whether pay or promotion was discussed, or deferred:
E. Next steps
- Outcome or behavior we want:
- First practical step:
- Employee owner:
- Manager support / owner:
- Follow-up date and where we will review it:
- Where this review will be stored and who can access it:Use this worksheet to structure the work. It is not a score, and it is not a substitute for evidence.
Copy the first-review worksheet, or create a free workspace for 1:1s and goals. Review cycles are on Team.
If you do not have a long history
A first review often happens with incomplete notes. That does not mean you should invent a fuller story.
If this is your first employee, write down what you asked them to do, what you observed, and what you never made explicit. Give more weight to the work you can describe than to comparisons with a company you have not yet built.
If the person joined during the period, assess the time they actually had in the role. Do not treat a few months as if they were a full year.
If you are a new manager inheriting someone else's work, say what you saw directly and what you did not. Invite the employee to fill gaps. Do not present inherited impressions as if they were your own observations.
When evidence is thin, the honest sentence is often: you do not yet have enough examples to assess that responsibility fairly, and you will review the relevant work together before finishing that section.
Hold a useful conversation
Share the draft with enough time for the person to read it. Start by asking what context is missing. Spend most of the time on what should continue, what should change, and what support you will provide.
Discuss differences without pretending that agreement is required on every interpretation. Record unresolved points and who will respond. End with a small set of achievable next steps and a follow-up date, not a long list of new goals.
If pay will be discussed at all, say so in advance. If you can, give feedback and compensation their own space so neither conversation is rushed. Follow your organization's policy and explain the decision process clearly.
Common mistakes on a first review
Waiting until someone asks about pay. A review that exists only because a raise was requested is already under pressure. Set a period and a date before that conversation arrives.
Using a form nobody has seen. Share the prompts and the rules first. People should not have to guess what “good” will be judged against.
A surprise concern. If a serious issue appears in writing for the first time, acknowledge that you should have raised it sooner, and leave room for the person's perspective.
Vague labels. “Needs to communicate better” is hard to act on. Name the situation, the behavior, the effect you saw, and a next step you will support.
Recency only. If you only remember the last few weeks, say so and ask the employee to add earlier work. A first review with thin notes is still better than one that pretends to cover a year it cannot support.
No follow-up. A document that nobody opens again will not change much. Put the first check-in on an existing 1:1, using the 1:1 meeting template if helpful.
After the first review
The worksheet above is the main thing to copy and use. You can run the review in your own documents.
For fuller employee and manager forms, use the performance review template for small teams. For wording help on strengths and growth, see these manager review phrases. If you are looking back over a full year, use the year-end review examples.