What questions should a manager ask in a performance review? Ask open, evidence-based questions across five themes: what went well against agreed objectives, how the person worked (behaviours), what support or training they need, what they want to develop next, and which two or three SMART goals matter for the next period. That map matches what Acas says a performance review should cover - what someone is doing well, areas for improvement, support or training, and career or development objectives - with a written record shared afterwards. The questions are the coaching spine; the rating form is only the notebook.

Key takeaways

  • Cover Acas’s four content themes, then add next goals. Strengths, gaps, support/training and career development - plus two or three SMART objectives for the next cycle.
  • Coaching quality beats question volume. McKinsey (2018) found that when managers coach effectively - a practice less than 30% of respondents reported - 74% said their performance-management system was effective, versus 15% when coaching was weak.
  • Prefer specific, strengths-based prompts. CIPD’s 2022 performance-feedback evidence review urges quality over quantity and highlights strengths-based / feedforward approaches that ask what worked and how to recreate it.
  • Feedforward questions can lift later performance. Budworth, Latham and Manroop (2015) found employees in a feedforward interview outperformed peers who received a traditional appraisal when observed four months later.
  • Write it down and share it. Acas expects a written record of the discussion shared with the employee - questions without a shared summary do not protect either party.

What “good review questions” actually means

A performance review is not a quiz. Acas describes it as a chance to discuss someone’s work: what they are doing well, where they need to improve, whether they need more support or training, and their career or development objectives. Employers should hold regular reviews for employees (at least yearly is a practical minimum), keep informal check-ins between formal meetings, and share a written record afterwards. Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

That content list is your question bank. Managers who only ask “How do you think you did?” leave the conversation to personality and memory. Managers who only read the form aloud turn a coaching hour into a slide deck. The useful middle path is a short set of open prompts, tied to evidence from the whole period, that the employee has seen in advance. For a printable structure, start with the free performance review template and the performance review prep checklist for managers.

Why obsess over the questions? Because the conversation quality drives whether people trust the system. In McKinsey’s 2018 analysis of performance management, effective manager coaching was the strongest driver of perceived fairness. Where managers coach well, 74% of respondents said the system was effective and 62% said the organisation outperformed peers; where coaching was weak, those figures fell to 15% and 30%. Sixty-eight percent agreed that ongoing coaching and feedback conversations help individual performance, and people who reported ongoing discussions were ten times likelier to rate their system as effective. Question quality is how you operationalise that coaching hour.

Five themes and example questions

Use this table as a running order, not a script. Share the themes with the employee before the meeting so they can bring examples. Pair each theme with one piece of evidence from the period - a goal outcome, a peer note, a customer result or a skills observation.

Theme Ask Why it belongs Listen for
Outcomes “Looking at the objectives we set, what are you most proud of this period - and what evidence would you point to?” Acas: discuss what they are doing well against agreed objectives Specific results, not vague “I worked hard”
Behaviours “Where did how you worked help or hinder the result - with customers, peers or your team?” Acas: reviews may include demonstrating the right behaviours Observable examples; avoid personality labels
Support “What support, tools or clarity from me would make the biggest difference next quarter?” Acas: whether they need more support or training; chance to ask for help Actionable requests you can own
Development “Think of a recent stretch where you performed at your best. What conditions made that possible - and how do we recreate them?” CIPD 2022 strengths-based / feedforward prompts; Budworth et al. 2015 Success formula, not a deficit laundry list
Forward plan “What two or three SMART goals should we set for the next cycle - and how will we know they are done?” Acas SMART objectives; closes with a written next step Specific, time-bound, realistic stretch

CIPD’s 2022 evidence review is blunt: feedback is not always useful, so emphasise quality, prepare properly, and check how the person reacted. It also notes that negative feedback often fails to improve performance and that strengths-based approaches - including the feedforward interview - can make one-to-ones more useful for performance and learning. Budworth, Latham and Manroop’s 2015 field test in a business equipment firm randomly assigned managers: employees who had a feedforward interview (n = 70) were later rated by anonymous peers as performing significantly better than those who received the firm’s traditional appraisal (n = 75), four months on. That is not a licence to skip hard topics; it is evidence that questions about peak performance and future conditions belong in the pack.

If pay is in scope for the cycle, keep compensation as a separate follow-up. McKinsey treats meaningful differentiation of pay as a fairness practice alongside coaching, not as the content of the coaching questions themselves. Mixing bonus maths into the same hour usually kills candour - the same failure mode we cover when improving the performance review process.

How to run the conversation

  1. Send the themes three working days ahead. Include the five questions above and ask the employee to bring two examples per theme. Surprise agendas produce defensive answers.
  2. Open with purpose in one sentence. “This is a review of the last period against our scorecard and a plan for the next one; pay is a separate conversation.” Purpose clarity is the same discipline CIPD lists for useful feedback.
  3. Let them speak first on outcomes. Ask the Outcomes question before you share your view. Then compare against evidence notes from the whole period - the habit in our manager training for performance management.
  4. Stay on behaviours, not personality. “When X happened, the impact was Y” beats “you are careless”. If personality language creeps in, reset - see how to separate personality from performance.
  5. Use one feedforward prompt. Ask for a recent high-performance episode and the conditions that made it possible. Capture the “success formula” in the written summary.
  6. Close with two or three SMART goals and a support ask. Write owners, measures and a check-in date. Acas’s SMART example (cut email response time, review in three months) is the pattern.
  7. Share the written record within 48 hours. Both parties should see the same summary. Store it where calibration can find the evidence later - the rhythm in the performance review checklist for HR managers.

Risks if the questions go wrong

  • Recency and halo. Questions that only probe the last project inflate recent wins and favourite behaviours. Force evidence from the full period; use performance review bias checks before calibration.
  • Gotcha lists. Saving every critique for the formal meeting violates Acas’s expectation of regular informal feedback. McKinsey’s 10× effectiveness gap for ongoing conversations is the business case for weekly 1:1s.
  • Vague development wishes. “I want to grow” without a skill, measure or owner becomes forgotten. Tie development questions to the employee development plan and career conversations guide.
  • Question theatre. Reading twelve prompts without listening recreates the feedback that never sticks - the pattern in why feedback never sticks.
  • No shared write-up. Without Acas’s written record, disagreements turn into memory contests at calibration or in a grievance.

If your managers are already drowning in admin, run the free performance health check before you add another question pack - and share a short brief via the People Performance Playbook intake if you want a second pair of eyes on the agenda.

How to measure whether the questions work

  • Pre-share rate. Percentage of reviews where the employee received the question themes at least three days ahead.
  • Two-way time. Rough share of speaking time; aim for the employee to talk at least half the hour on Outcomes and Development.
  • Evidence density. Share of ratings with a one-line evidence note covering more than the last fortnight.
  • Written summary on time. Percentage of reviews with a shared write-up inside 48 hours (Acas practice).
  • Goal follow-through. Share of agreed SMART goals with a progress note at 30 and 90 days - the same close-out logic as alternatives to annual performance reviews.
  • Manager coaching confidence. A short pulse after the cycle: “I had useful questions and evidence to run a fair conversation.” McKinsey’s fairness story starts here.

Our perspective

Most mid-market managers I meet do not need a longer question bank. They need five themes that match what Acas already expects, sent early, with evidence attached. When the hour opens with “how do you think you did?” and ends with a surprise rating, nobody leaves clearer. Send the five themes three days ahead, let them speak first on outcomes, ask one feedforward question about when they were at their best, and leave with two or three SMART goals in writing. The form is the notebook; the questions are the coaching.

Ash

How Revolut People supports better review conversations

I work at Revolut People, so read this section with that in mind. For manager questions, the useful product piece is not a slogan - it is whether evidence, goals and 1:1 notes sit in one place so the five themes are not rebuilt from email. Revolut People lets managers work from pre-filled scorecards and goal progress, keep review notes beside the period’s objectives, and run calibration on the same evidence trail rather than a side spreadsheet. Customer stories such as Huspy and Ebury show mid-market and scale-up teams putting review routines on one system; for the manager day-to-day view see Revolut People for line managers.

If you want a light fit-check on whether your current agenda would survive an Acas-style write-up and a McKinsey-style coaching hour, book a 15-minute review. Soft ask only - bring one anonymised review agenda and your evidence notes.

90-day plan

  1. Days 1–30 - Publish the pack. Agree the five themes, example prompts and evidence rules. Train managers on employee-first Outcomes and one feedforward question. Add the pack to the review prep checklist.
  2. Days 31–60 - Pilot one cohort. Run the pack with one function (for example Product or Customer Support). Measure pre-share rate, summary-on-time and goal follow-through. Fix personality language in calibration.
  3. Days 61–90 - Harden and scale. Roll to remaining managers, spot-check written records, and drop any prompts that produce vague answers. Keep pay conversations on a separate calendar invite.

Bottom line

What questions should a manager ask in a performance review? Open, evidence-based questions across outcomes, behaviours, support, development and next SMART goals - the themes Acas already expects in a fair review, sharpened with CIPD’s quality-over-quantity guidance and at least one feedforward prompt. McKinsey’s 2018 coaching data is the commercial case: weak coaching collapses trust in the whole system. Send the themes early, listen first, write it down, and treat pay as a separate meeting.

FAQ

How do you prepare for a performance review as a manager?

Gather evidence from the whole review period, not the last two weeks. Write a one-line evidence note for every rating you plan to discuss, pick two or three key messages, and share the agenda and self-reflection prompts with the employee before the meeting. Acas expects a written record of what is discussed and shared afterwards; preparation makes that record fairer.

How long should a performance review meeting last?

Most mid-market reviews work in 45 to 60 minutes when evidence is ready: roughly ten minutes opening and employee first, twenty to twenty-five on outcomes and behaviours, ten on support and development, and ten on next goals and close. Longer meetings usually mean missing evidence, not better coaching.

What should be included in a performance review form?

At minimum: employee and role header, agreed objectives and evidence, behaviour or values items, a development section, agreed next goals, and space for both parties to comment. Acas publishes free appraisal form templates covering objectives, self-appraisal and promotion potential. Pair the form with a live conversation - forms without questions become box-ticking.

Should performance reviews be linked to pay?

Many organisations connect ratings to bonus or merit decisions, but the coaching conversation works better when pay is a separate, later discussion. McKinsey (2018) treats differentiated compensation as a fairness practice alongside coaching, not as the content of the review questions themselves. Keep today’s questions on evidence, support and next goals; schedule compensation separately.

How often should managers give feedback?

Acas says managers should still talk to employees informally about performance between formal reviews - through regular feedback, coaching and check-ins. McKinsey (2018) found respondents who report ongoing coaching conversations are ten times likelier to rate their performance-management system as effective. Use the formal review for synthesis, not as the first time someone hears the message.

Sources

About the author: Ash Taherian is a Product Sales Executive at Revolut People, based in Dublin, working with People and Finance leaders on reviews, calibration and the talent bar.

Disclosure: I work for Revolut People, which sells performance management software, so read the product section with that in mind.