Should the manager share the review before or after the face to face review meeting?
Table of Contents
Well, it depends!
To play it safe, you may want to let managers only share the written feedback after the meeting. This way you prevent unwanted circumstances, for example if a manager writes harsher feedback than they mean to, and the employee gets upset or scared the day before the meeting.
On the other hand, once managers have some experience writing reviews, it may be fairer to provide the feedback before the meeting so the employee can prepare accordingly. If you want to share before, we’d recommend sharing it an hour or two before the meeting, but not the day before. This prevents a misunderstanding from turning into a big issue and a sleepless night. If there’s misunderstanding, it will be resolved at most 2 hours later.
Discover more resources
The “4 Cs” of Management: A Monthly Rhythm to Fix Your Broken 1:1s
Stop the “status update trap” and transform your management style. Learn the 4 Cs Framework—Clarity, Coaching, Care, and Celebration—to build a high-performing team and fix your broken 1:1 meetings today.
Why you should reconsider ratings in performance reviews
Ratings may seem like a go-to evaluation tool. But before you include them in the next performance review, consider these problems and pitfalls.
Best 8 Employee Survey Tools in 2026
Employee surveys used to be another annual checkbox; long forms, low participation, and little follow-up. But with a more remote workforce and spread-out teams, the way we gather feedback has changed.
Should I be S.M.A.R.T.?
A first-person look at setting professional objectives in accordance with the S.M.A.R.T. method.
Managing Your Career Without Managing People
One of the most important decisions an organization can make is who to put in leadership, and research conducted by Gallup reveals that we fail to select the right candidate with the right talent 82% of the time.
What do I do with all this feedback? Here’s your feedback action plan
Employee insights are valuable to any company, but only if we act on it. Learn about how you can create effective feedback action plans.
