How do you document and track feedback for performance reviews?

1 Why document and track feedback?

Documenting and tracking feedback can be beneficial for both you and your employees. Over time, it can help you review progress and achievements, identify strengths and areas for improvement, set clear expectations and goals, recognize and reward good performance, address and resolve performance issues, as well as provide evidence and support for performance ratings and decisions. Additionally, it can help avoid recency bias, which is the tendency to focus on the most recent events or behaviors instead of overall performance. Keeping a record of feedback throughout the year is key to ensuring fair, balanced, and comprehensive performance reviews.

2 How to document feedback?

Documenting feedback means capturing the key points and outcomes of your feedback conversations with your employees. You can use notes or summaries, emails or messages, feedback forms or templates, feedback logs or journals, and feedback reports or dashboards to document feedback. However, it is important to ensure that your documentation is accurate and factual, specific and concrete, relevant and meaningful, consistent and aligned, as well as accessible and secure.

3 How to track feedback?

Tracking feedback means monitoring and measuring the impact and results of your feedback on your employees' performance. You can use various tools and systems to accomplish this, such as performance management software, spreadsheets or databases, charts or graphs, checklists or rubrics, and surveys or polls. It is essential to ensure that your feedback tracking is timely and regular, actionable with follow-up, flexible and adaptable, transparent and collaborative, as well as analytical and evaluative.

4 How to use feedback for performance reviews?

Using feedback for performance reviews means incorporating your feedback data and insights into your performance review process and outcomes. Strategies and techniques you can use include reviewing and updating performance review goals and criteria, comparing feedback data to other sources of performance data, highlighting employees' achievements, discussing challenges and gaps, and developing action plans. It's essential that the feedback is balanced, fair, constructive, supportive, motivational, developmental, clear, and concise.

5 How to improve your feedback documentation and tracking?

Improving your feedback documentation and tracking means seeking and applying feedback on your own feedback practices and skills. You can use various sources and methods to do this, such as asking employees for feedback on your style, frequency, and content, or seeking feedback from peers or mentors. Additionally, you should review the quality, consistency, and accuracy of your documentation and tracking. Plus, it’s beneficial to learn from best practices and examples of feedback documentation and tracking, as well as experimenting with new formats, methods, tools, or systems. Ultimately, make sure that your feedback improvement is continuous and ongoing; reflective and self-aware; responsive and open-minded; curious and learning-oriented; and goal-oriented and action-oriented.