116 Performance Review Questions for Managers

This is a categorised bank of 116 performance review questions covering self-assessment, goals, development, upward feedback, wellbeing, team dynamics, values, frontline roles, new starters, managers and underperformance conversations. Take five to eight for any single review rather than working through a section.

The quality of a review is largely determined by the quality of the questions asked. A good question produces a conversation. A poor one produces a defensive answer or a shrug.

How to use these questions

Choose five to eight in total. Enough to cover the period properly, few enough that both people stay engaged.

Send them in advance. A question answered thoughtfully is worth considerably more than one answered on the spot, and it gives quieter people a fair chance to prepare.

Keep the same core questions each cycle. Consistency lets you compare answers over time, which is where the useful signal sits.

Ask follow-ups. The first answer is rarely the complete one. Can you give me an example? does more work than any question on this list.

Self-assessment questions (15)

Completed by the employee before the review. Start here rather than with the manager assessment — it changes the conversation from a verdict being delivered to two perspectives being compared. See our glossary entry on performance reviews for how self-assessment fits the wider process.

• What are you most proud of from this period?
• Which of your goals did you make the most progress on, and what helped?
• Which goal did you make least progress on, and what got in the way?
• What part of your role do you find most energising?
• What part do you find most draining?
• Where do you feel you have grown since the last review?
• What is something you did that you do not think anyone noticed?
• What would you do differently if you had this period again?
• What do you need from me or the organisation that you are not getting?
• How would you rate your own performance this period, and why?
• What is the hardest thing you dealt with this period?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• Which piece of feedback stuck with you most?
• What are you doing now that you could not do six months ago?
• If you had to name one thing holding you back, what would it be?

Goal and contribution questions (12)

Draw on the goals actually set at the start of the period. If they were written using SMART goals or OKRs, review each one specifically rather than asking about progress in general.

• Which of your goals had the biggest impact on the team?
• Were the goals we set at the start still the right ones by the end?
• What did you achieve that was not on the goal list?
• Which goal turned out to be harder than expected, and why?
• What would you set as your priority for the next quarter?
• Is there anything you are working on that you think is not worth continuing?
• What is one thing you would take off your plate if you could?
• Which goal are you least clear about how to approach?
• Did you have what you needed to hit your goals? If not, what was missing?
• Which goal would you keep if you could only keep one?
• How did you decide what to prioritise when everything was urgent?
• What did you say no to this period, and was that the right call?

Capability and development questions (13)

These questions produce the input for development plans and for skills mapping across the workforce.

• What skill have you developed most this period?
• What skill would make the biggest difference to your work if you developed it next?
• Where do you want to be in twelve months?
• What kind of work would you like more of?
• Is there part of the role you would like to learn that you have not had exposure to?
• Who in the organisation would you like to learn from?
• What training or support would actually be useful, as opposed to available?
• If you were to move into a different role here, what would it be?
• What is a task you currently avoid because you are not confident with it?
• What would you need to be ready for the next level?
• Is there a qualification or certification that would help you?
• What part of your job would you like to be known for being excellent at?
• Who do you currently help develop, and how is that going?

Feedback and manager questions (11)

These are the questions most managers skip and the ones that most change the relationship. Expect little useful response for the first few cycles; keep asking anyway. Continuous feedback works in both directions or not at all.

• What is one thing I could do differently to support you better?
• Is there anything you have wanted to raise with me and have not?
• Do you get enough feedback from me? Too much?
• What decision have I made recently that you disagreed with?
• Is there anything about how the team works that frustrates you?
• What should we stop doing?
• Do you feel comfortable telling me when something is not working?
• When was the last time you felt genuinely listened to here?
• What do I do that makes your job easier? What makes it harder?
• Is there information you need that you are not getting?
• If you were in my role, what would you change first?

Wellbeing and workload questions (9)

Handle with care. These only work in a relationship where the answer will be taken seriously, and asking them without being prepared to act does more harm than not asking.

• How is your workload at the moment — sustainable, or not?
• Are your hours working for you?
• Is there anything happening that is making work harder than it needs to be?
• Do you feel you can take leave when you need it?
• How connected do you feel to the rest of the team?
• Is there anything about the roster that is not working for you?
• Do you have the equipment and resources you need?
• Is there anything outside work affecting how you are going that I should know about?
• On a normal week, how often do you finish feeling like it went well?

Team and collaboration questions (8)

Useful where the role depends on others, and particularly revealing in multi-site operations where team dynamics vary sharply between locations.

• Who on the team do you work best with, and why?
• Is there anyone you find it difficult to work with?
• What does this team do well that we should protect?
• What is the biggest thing slowing the team down?
• How well do we handle disagreement?
• Do you feel your contribution is visible to the rest of the team?
• Who has helped you most this period?
• If a new person joined tomorrow, what would you warn them about?

Values and behaviour questions (7)

These surface the gap between stated values and lived ones. Expect uncomfortable answers, and treat them as the most valuable output of the review.

• Which of our company values do you most identify with?
• Which value do we talk about but not actually live?
• Can you give an example of a time you saw someone live our values well?
• Have you seen anything that concerned you about how we do things?
• What behaviour gets rewarded here that maybe should not be?
• What would you say to a friend who asked what it is like to work here?
• Would you recommend this as a place to work? What would you add?

Questions for frontline and shift-based roles (14)

Standard review questions assume a desk, project work and a manager who observed most of the period. These are adapted for roles where the work is operational and the manager may not have been on shift. Our guide to frontline employee apps covers how multi-site operators keep these conversations consistent.

• What is the best shift you have had this period, and what made it good?
• What is the most frustrating part of a normal shift?
• Is there something we do that makes your job harder than it needs to be?
• Do you have everything you need to do the job properly?
• Who on the team do you learn the most from?
• If you were running the site for a week, what is the first thing you would change?
• Do you feel confident handling a difficult customer or a difficult situation?
• Is there a task you have not been trained on that you are expected to do?
• Do you get told about changes before they affect your shift?
• Is the handover between shifts working?
• When something goes wrong on shift, do you know who to call?
• Are there parts of the site or the role that feel unsafe?
• Do you feel treated the same as people at other locations?
• What is one thing head office does not understand about your site?

Questions for new starters (11)

For a first review within the first six months. The purpose is different — you are checking whether the role matched the promise and whether the person is settling, not assessing a full period of contribution.

• Has the role been what you expected from the interview?
• What surprised you, good or bad?
• Is there anything you still feel unclear about?
• How was your onboarding — what was missing?
• Do you know who to ask when you are unsure about something?
• Have you got to know the team as much as you would like?
• Is there anything we told you during recruitment that has not turned out to be the case?
• What took longest to work out that we could have told you sooner?
• Is there anything you are still not confident doing on your own?
• How did your first shift go, looking back on it?
• Who has been most helpful to you since you started?

The question about recruitment promises is uncomfortable and worth asking. Prosper’s onboarding survey data shows 43% of employees said their onboarding experience did not meet their expectations — and the gap between what is described at interview and what the job turns out to be is a substantial part of that. Our employee onboarding guide covers closing it.

Questions for reviewing a manager (10)

Reviewing someone who leads a team requires different questions. Operational delivery is only half the role; the other half is whether their people are developing and staying.

• How is the team going, honestly?
• Who on your team is doing something that deserves more recognition?
• Who are you worried about?
• How many of your one-to-ones actually happened this period?
• What is the hardest conversation you have had to have?
• Is there a conversation you have been avoiding?
• What support do you need to lead this team well?
• Who on your team could step up if you were away for a month?
• What would break first if you lost two people?
• How much of your week goes on people versus operations?

Underperformance conversation questions (6)

For a review where performance is genuinely below standard. Ask before you tell — there is frequently a reason you do not know about. If the conversation leads to a formal process, see our glossary entry on performance improvement plans.

• How do you think this period has gone?
• What is your view on why we are having this conversation?
• What is getting in the way of you doing the job as we agreed?
• What support would make the biggest difference?
• What would you need to change to get back on track?
• What happens if nothing changes?

Questions to avoid

Leading questions. You have enjoyed the new roster, haven’t you? invites one answer.

Double-barrelled questions. How are you finding the workload and the team? gets you an answer to one of them and you will not know which.

Questions about personality. Why are you not more proactive? is a judgement wearing a question mark. Ask about behaviour and situations instead.

Questions you are not prepared to act on. Asking what support someone needs and then providing none is worse than not asking.

Comparison questions. How do you think you compare to the rest of the team? produces defensiveness and no useful information.

Turning answers into action

A review that generates good answers and no follow-through is worse than one that generates nothing, because it demonstrates that being honest changes nothing.

Three practical rules. Anything the employee raises gets a response, even if the response is that it cannot change and why. Anything you commit to gets a date. And whatever was agreed appears in the next one-to-one rather than resurfacing at the following review.

Our guide to running performance reviews well covers the structure around these questions, and the performance conversation guide covers the ongoing conversations in between.

Frequently asked questions