50 Performance Review Phrases To Inspire and Improve Your Team

Performance reviews can feel stressful. 😬

You want to inspire workers - managers and employees alike, and help them improve. But you want to be subtle. More importantly, you want to dodge any trouble with Human Resources when your only intention is to help.

Below, we talk about the meaning of performance reviews and provide example phrases you can use to convey feedback clearly, yet subtly.

What is a Performance Review?

A performance review is a process of assessing an employee’s performance over a certain period. The idea is to provide employees with specific, measurable, actionable insights on how they can improve by highlighting and acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses. 🏆

It’s also a great way to help employees understand the company’s goals better and how they can align their work with those goals. It's also a great way to help employees become their best selves and become more productive.

According to PR Newswire, a survey of 1,400 GenZers from the International Intern Leadership Conference showed that 63% of respondents prefer to receive timely constructive feedback throughout the year.

The problem? Performance evaluations can have a psychological impact.

Your team might get the wrong message from your review if you call them to your office and go:

You don’t want to demotivate the employee, but still help them through actionable feedback. So when providing constructive feedback, sandwich it between positives. 🥪 

What Should You Say in a Performance Evaluation?

Your aim is to maximize performance reviews’ effectiveness without causing the employees to resent you.

So, how do you write impactful performance review phrases?

1. Start with the positives: Ensure employees that you’re noticing what they’re doing well. Be specific and inspire them to achieve more.
2. Provide constructive criticism and help:  State areas for improvement. Again, be specific. Most importantly, provide actionable steps they can take to improve. Where relevant, provide examples and set goals on how to achieve improved performance.
3. End on a positive note: Find an overall positive comment before closing the review. For example, acknowledge their progress towards a goal they mentioned during the previous review. Also, ask how you can help moving forward.

Remember to lay the groundwork for the next performance appraisal process once you’ve completed the current one. Set achievable goals for the next month, quarter, or year, and periodically check in with the team to offer help.

While it's important to frequently map out time for productive one-on-one meetings, it might not always be feasible. But you can use a tool like Assembly to guide the team quickly.

For example, you can use Assembly’s One-on-One Direct Reports template to check in on the team and provide help without investing time in an in-person meeting. Here’s more on how Assembly can help:

50 Positive Performance Review Examples

Below are 50 positive performance review examples you can use for inspiration. The examples are categorized based on the area of review.

Communication

1. Proactively asks questions
2. Always provides constructive feedback to leaders
3. Open to other members’ ideas and receiving feedback
4. Concisely and effectively communicates thoughts, ideas, and decisions
5. Is persuasive and makes logically strong arguments
6. Tries to understand why a suggestion is rejected and presents thoughtful arguments
7. Gets along with new team members

Reliability

8. Goes the extra mile to complete tasks within the job description
9. Trusted by team members when inputs are needed for complex projects or tasks
10. Consistently completes work before they’re due
11. Aims to exceed expectations

Cooperation

12. Accepts the group’s preferred methods even when he/she would ideally use a different method
13. Doesn’t prioritize personal growth over team’s goals
14. Welcomes ideas and is open to discussing them even when they don’t match his/her ideology
15. Supports team members when needed

Time Management

16. Consistently meets deadlines, ensuring he/she doesn’t disrupt the project’s workflow and timeline
17. Always plans meetings and one-on-ones and ensures they don’t take too much of anyone’s time
18. Ensures consistent quality of work even in case of faster turnarounds
19. Reports to the office and meetings on time
20. Is respectful of other people’s time

Client-Centricity

21. Keeps clients updated about the project or work’s progress
22. Trusted by clients
23. Builds long-term professional relationships with clients
24. Has a friendly tone when interacting with clients
25. Is respectful of the client’s time and boundaries
26. Empathizes with client’s issues and makes genuine efforts to understand and resolve those issues
27. Tactfully handles client’s objections to overcome them
28. Able to handle difficult customers without damaging the business’s reputation

Flexibility

29. Eager to work on a wide range of tasks
30. Responds well to change
31. Admits mistakes and ensures the mistake doesn’t repeat
32. Handles pressure well and is open to taking on more responsibility if needed
33. Is capable of adapting to new methods fast

Attitude

34. Helps colleagues even when he/she has tight deadlines
35. Carries a smile and speaks politely with the office staff
36. Stays composed under pressure and helps colleagues stay focused
37. Never offends others even when in disagreement with their ideas or opinions
38. Is highly motivated to grow professionally and encourages others to achieve their full potential

Problem Solving

39. Always brings insightful ideas to the table when working to solve a problem
40. Uses a logical approach to identifying the root cause and determining a viable solution
41. Is flexible about trying new problem-solving techniques
42. Actively seeks challenges and tries to find solutions
43. Tries to test ideas or verify their relevance and viability when testing isn’t possible
44. Explains his/her thought process for a solution to ensure others see the rationale clearly

Management

45. Identifies and assigns tasks that align with the team member’s core skill set but still challenge them
46. Prioritizes tasks effectively
47. Is a good negotiator and able to persuade clients effectively
48. Acknowledges and appreciates the team’s contributions
49. Sets achievable goals for himself/herself and the team
50. Leads by example

Negative Performance Review Examples

You should always start and end with the positives. But you also want to help the team grow, and that’s why you need constructive criticism.

Choose your words carefully when providing constructive feedback. You want the team to understand why something is a problem and offer recommendations on how they can work on it.

Here are some examples for inspiration:

1. You’ve been missing deadlines over the past quarter. We want to stick to our timelines and be a reliable partner for our clients. Is there something we can do to help you manage your time more effectively? Have you tried using a planner app to plan your time?
2. You closed fewer clients during the past two quarters. Are you facing any difficulties at work? We can provide training resources if you believe they’ll be helpful.
3. There have been instances over the past quarter where you didn’t cooperate with the team after a disagreement. Disagreements are a part of working with a group, but team members must work together towards a common goal. Is there something we can do to help?

Use the Right Tools for Performance Reviews

Performance evaluation processes don’t have to be dreadful, time-consuming tasks. Instead of just viewing reviews as a task to check off your list, use them to help the team grow by following performance review best practices.

Now, in-person performance reviews can be a time-hog. ⏰

Using a tool like Assembly makes employee reviews easier with customizable workflow templates. For example, you can use the Manager feedback template to provide reviews quickly and anonymously.

The team can ask questions about the feedback using the comments section. More importantly, they’re less likely to feel reluctant about asking questions when you’re not sitting in front of them.

Like the sound of it? Book a Demo today!