How to Prepare for and Run a Quarterly Review in Ninety
Using the 1-on-1 tool, Managers can initiate Quarterly and Annual Reviews that help prepare both the Manager and the Team Member. It's an opportunity to share what's working and what's not.
In Ninety, the steps to complete a Review are:
The Manager creates the Review.
Both parties fill out the forms prior to the scheduled meeting.
The manager starts the meeting on the agreed-upon date in Ninety to view both responses side by side.
Meeting and Review are completed.
Note: All Reviews and answers are saved within Ninety. They can also be printed out as a PDF.
Availability: Quarterly and Annual Reviews are part of the 1-on-1 tool, available on the Accelerate, Thrive, and Legacy plans. See Ninety's pricing page for plan details.
Role Permissions
Owner, Admin, and Implementer: Can see all Reviews and create Reviews.
Manager: Can see and create Reviews for themselves and their team.
Team Member/Managee: Can see Reviews they're a part of. Can't create Reviews.
Observer: Cannot see the 1-on-1 tool.
Creating a Review
Creating a Quarterly or Annual Review in Ninety kicks off the whole review process — once created, both the Manager and Team Member are notified and can begin filling out their forms.
Note: Only the participants listed in a review can complete its forms.
Anyone can create a Quarterly or Annual Review between two people. This means assistants, HR professionals, meeting facilitators, and others can quickly set up a review between any Ninety users in the company.
Navigate to the 1-on-1 tool and click the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab.
Click + Create Review (or + Quarterly Review in the upper right if reviews already exist).
On the Overview tab, title the review and add an optional description.
Choose a Time Period date range to pull in the managee's Rocks, To-Dos, and KPIs.
Set a Due Date for both parties to complete their forms before the meeting.
Confirm the Manager — this defaults to the user creating the review.
Add managees using one of these options:
Click Select All My Direct Reports to add all of your direct reports at once. Ninety will create a separate review for each person selected.
Click Add Managee(s) to add individual team members one at a time.
For each managee, select their Seat from the dropdown. If a managee holds multiple seats, choose the seat most relevant to this review.
Click the Settings tab to adjust any review-specific settings before creating.
Click Create Review. Ninety sends a notification email to both the Manager and each Managee.
Note: The Manager field defaults to whoever creates the review, and it can't be changed after the review is created. If you're creating a review on behalf of another manager, set the Manager before you create it. To move a review to a different manager later, the creator must delete the review and recreate it with the correct Manager selected.
Preparing the Forms
After creating the Review, you can click Start Form Review.
The managee assesses their performance and then their Manager's. The Manager reviews their performance, and then the Managee's.
Click Start Form
The first section assesses the managee on the company's Core Values, Competency, Commitment, Capacity for the Seat, and their performance data on Rocks, To-Dos, and KPIs from each of their teams.Next, the Manager is assessed. Ninety uses the Lead, Agree, Coach assessment for Managers.
Click Finish to submit your form, or click Save for Later to return to it later.
Save for Later vs Finish: Click Save for Later to save your progress and keep your form editable. Click Finish to submit your form so the other person can see it's done. After you click Finish, you can still edit your responses with the pencil icon until the review as a whole is complete (the meeting is held and signed, or all forms are complete when no meeting is planned). Once the review is complete, it locks and can't be edited.
Editing the Forms
Overview Tab
After you've created a Review, you have the ability to edit various fields. For example, if you schedule the Due Date as March 10th but one of the participants has a conflict, you can change that Due Date without deleting the current Review and creating a new one.
Editable Fields: Name, description, and due date (only the Manager can edit the due date).
Edits can only happen before the Review as a whole is complete. A complete Review can mean a meeting was held, or forms are complete (if a meeting isn't going to be held). The Review is locked.
Settings Tab
Accessible and viewable by both users, but only the Manager on the discussion can edit the settings.
Before someone starts the form, all the settings can be edited.
Once the discussion is started, these cannot be edited. You see the message "Review in progress, these cannot be changed."
These settings include Meeting Settings and Answer Visibility, which control when each party can see the other's responses. See the section "When Each Party Can See the Other's Responses" below.
Completing the Forms
Click Save for Later to save your progress at any time.
After completing the forms, click Finish.
The other Review member sees that the form is complete.
Even after completing, you can still click the Pencil icon to edit your responses until the review as a whole is complete.
After the Review is complete, click the PDF View Form button on its row to export and print responses.
Clicking on the Review opens the details panel on the right, showing both parties' responses after the submission.
When Each Party Can See the Other's Responses
Answer visibility is controlled on the Settings tab when you create the review. Only the Manager can set it, and it can't be changed once either party has started their form. Two settings work together: Meeting Settings and Answer Visibility.
Meeting Settings
Hold a Meeting after both participants complete. Once both participants complete their forms, a 1-on-1 Meeting can be held in Ninety. The Meeting is what reveals the Manager's answers to the Team Member, so it's required for the selected answer visibility setting.
Answer Visibility — choose one of three options:
Hide answers from both participants prior to review (default). Answers are not visible to either participant before the Meeting. Responses appear side by side once the Manager starts the meeting.
Share answers with both participants after completion. Once both participants complete their forms, answers are visible to both before the review.
Manager can view Team Member's answers before review. Once the Team Member completes their form, their answers are visible to the Manager. The Manager's answers remain hidden from the Team Member until the Meeting is held. This lets the Manager prepare with full context while keeping their own review from influencing the Team Member's submission.
Note: These settings must be chosen when the review is created. They can't be changed once either party has started their form.
Holding the Meeting
After both parties have submitted their form responses, the Start Meeting option appears. When started, the meeting shows a side-by-side comparison of the form responses.
Tip: Run the Review from only one person's computer. All entries are editable by either party in the Review.
At the end of the meeting, each party electronically signs and dates the form, which concludes the session. Users then mark the Review complete and archived.
Printing Review Responses
After you complete the meeting, the responses are saved indefinitely in Ninety. You can also print the responses for your records. Only completed Reviews can be printed.
Click 1-on-1 from the left navigation.
Click the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab.
On the filters bar, click Past to show completed Reviews.
Click the PDF View Form button on the Review's row.
In the PDF Print Options popup, choose Portrait or Landscape, then click Print.
Viewing Past Responses
Within Ninety, all previous responses are saved indefinitely in the UI.
Click 1-on-1 from the left navigation.
Choose either the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab.
On the filters bar, click Past. This provides a list of all previously completed Reviews, along with the following details and options.
Manager name
Managee name
Due date
PDF View Form button — opens the form so you can view it on the platform or print it out for your records
Deleting a Review
Only the person who created a review can delete it.
To delete a review you created, find it on the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab, click the ellipsis at the end of its row, and select Delete.
Owners and Admins cannot delete reviews they did not create.
If the person who created the review is no longer at your company, contact support to have it removed.
Observers cannot access the 1-on-1 tool and cannot delete reviews.
Troubleshooting
Issue: I created reviews for everyone, and I'm now the Manager on all of them.
Solution: The Manager field defaults to whoever creates the review and can't be changed afterward. Delete each affected review and recreate it with the correct Manager selected. If you're setting up reviews on behalf of other managers, set the correct Manager at creation, or have each manager create their own.
Issue: I need to delete a review, but don't see the option.
Solution: Only the person who created the review can delete it, using the ellipsis at the end of the review's row. If you didn't create it, ask the creator to delete it. If the creator has left the company, contact support to have it removed.
Issue: I clicked Finish, but I still need to change my answers, or we can't sign and close out the review.
Solution: After you click Finish, you can still edit your responses with the pencil icon until the review as a whole is complete. If a form appears stuck and won't let you finish or sign, contact support with the participants' names, the review type (Quarterly or Annual), and the due date.