{"id":4340,"date":"2019-07-11T12:49:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T19:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/?p=4340"},"modified":"2025-02-13T20:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T04:11:11","slug":"should-you-do-performance-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2019\/07\/11\/should-you-do-performance-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you do performance reviews?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Based on input from 1,000+ managers in our online leadership community in Canopy<\/a>, here’s what to consider if you’re thinking about doing performance reviews. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Performance<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Should I do performance reviews?” A manager recently wrote this to me. We’d arrived in the middle of the year (already?!), and he was curious if he should kick-off bi-yearly performance reviews with his team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance reviews<\/a> are a peculiar relic of our work lives. It’s this thing we believe the big, serious companies seem to do. A thing we’ve been told is a standard management practice. But perhaps you’ve gotten word from colleagues or friends at other companies that performance reviews are less en vogue these days, and markedly less effective. And perhaps \u2013 as this manager was who was writing to me \u2013 you feel that if you decided not<\/em> to do them, you’re a little stuck about what to do instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you ask yourself the same question this manager did: Should you do performance reviews? If so, what are the best practices? And if not, what should you do instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

In order to answer those questions, let’s first examine the purpose of a performance review, to begin with. Ultimately, these fixtures in organizations were created because we, as managers, are accountable for our team’s performance<\/a>. Performance reviews are intended<\/em> as a mechanism to help our team perform well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must keep this in mind. At the heart of things, the intention behind performance reviews are meaningful: To encourage performance positively, and to help ensure the outcome you both want for the team is achieved. If the goal behind performance reviews is anything other than that (e.g., because other companies do them), then, well, you should really stop wasting your time \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, the question becomes: How do you best<\/em> encourage performance positively, and help ensure the outcome you both want for the team is achieved? Do performance reviews \u2013 or something else \u2013 best fulfill that function?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering this, I consulted our online leadership community in Canopy<\/a>, with 1,000+ managers from all over the world, to see how they answered those questions. Here’s what they said…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you do performance reviews at your company?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most said, “Not really.” Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n