After you launch a campaign, you can still adjust who participates in each review. This flexibility helps you handle employee changes, correct mistakes, or adapt to situations you didn't anticipate when launching.
This article explains how to manage participants throughout the review lifecycle and what happens when you make changes.
💡 Still using our previous review system? See Classic Reviews documentation for help with one-on-one and 360 reviews.
Why you might need to change participants
Real-world situations require flexibility. Common reasons to adjust participants include:
Someone left the company
An employee or manager leaves mid-campaign and needs to be removed or replaced.
Organizational changes
A manager change means the new manager should participate instead of the old one.
Mistakes in setup
You forgot to include someone or accidentally added the wrong person.
Missing perspectives
After launch, you realize additional feedback givers or meeting participants would be valuable.
Employee changes
Someone goes on leave, transfers departments, or changes roles during the campaign.
The review system lets you handle all these scenarios without starting over.
Accessing the review to edit participants
You can edit participants from the review detail page.
Navigate to the review
Go to the review via the campaign or the anywhere the review is displayed
Click the specific review you want to edit
You'll see the review detail page with all steps and participants listed.
Who can edit participants
Only these roles can add or remove participants:
HR and Group HR (for all reviews)
Review admins (for reviews they can manage)
Managers (for their own team's reviews, if they're review admins)
See Roles and Permissions in Reviews for details on these roles.
Removing a reviewee from a campaign
Sometimes you need to remove someone's entire review from a campaign.
When to remove reviewees
Remove someone when:
They left the company before completing the review
They transferred and will be reviewed in a different campaign
They were included by mistake
They're on extended leave and won't complete the review
How to remove a reviewee
Go to the campaign page
Find the review you want to remove
Click the three-dot menu next to their review
Select Delete review
Confirm the removal
⚠️ Important: This deletes all data for this review, including any completed feedback or summaries.
What happens after removing
The review disappears from the campaign
All associated data is deleted
Participants no longer see notifications for this review
The employee won't be reviewed in this campaign
If you removed someone by mistake, you'll need to add them back as a new review (starting from scratch).
Changing the reviewer or manager
When an employee's manager changes during a campaign, you can update who reviews them.
When to change the reviewer
Change the reviewer when:
The employee's manager changes mid-campaign
The original manager leaves the company
A different manager needs to take over the review
You assigned the wrong manager initially
How to change the reviewer
Open the specific review
Look for the participant list for each step
Find where the manager is listed (usually as feedback giver, note taker, or meeting participant)
Click Edit participants for that step
Remove the old manager
Add the new manager
Save changes
You'll need to update the manager in every step where they appear. If the old manager was:
A feedback giver
A preparation participant
The note taker
A meeting participant
A signature participant
Make sure to update all relevant steps.
What happens to completed work
If the old manager already completed their part:
Their feedback remains in the system
Their preparation notes remain (if they prepared)
The new manager will see this existing content based on visibility settings
If the old manager hasn't completed their part yet:
The new manager takes over and completes it instead
The old manager no longer receives notifications
💡 Tip: When a manager changes, consider whether the new manager should also see feedback given by the old manager. Adjust visibility settings if needed.
Adding participants to a specific step
You can add people to individual steps without adding them to the entire review.
When to add participants
Add someone to a step when:
You realize additional feedback would be valuable
You want more people in the review meeting
You need additional signatures for approval
You forgot to include someone initially
How to add participants
Open the specific review
Navigate to the step where you want to add someone
Click on the three-dots and Edit participants for that step
Select a specific person to add
Save changes
You can add:
Feedback givers (if still in the feedback step)
Preparation participants (if in preparation phase)
Meeting participants (during the meeting step)
Signature participants (during the signature step)
Timing considerations
You can only add participants to:
The current step — The step the review is currently on
Future steps — Steps that haven't started yet
You cannot add participants to steps that have already been completed.
Example:
If the review is currently in the meeting step, you can:
✅ Add meeting participants (current step)
✅ Add signature participants (future step)
❌ Add feedback givers (step already completed)
What the new participant sees
When you add someone:
They receive a notification about the review
They see what you've configured them to see based on visibility settings
They can complete their part immediately
They're on a different timeline than participants added initially
💡 Tip: When adding someone late, send them a personal message explaining why they're being added and what's expected. The automated notification doesn't provide context.
Removing participants from a step
You can remove people who were originally included but no longer need to participate.
When to remove participants
Remove someone when:
They left the company
They changed roles and are no longer relevant
They were added by mistake
They can't complete their part due to conflict of interest
How to remove participants
Open the specific review
Navigate to the step with the participant to remove
Click the three-dots and Edit participants for that step
Remove the person from the list
Save changes
What happens to their work
If they already completed their part:
Their content is removed from the system
It's still visible to people configured to see it
You can't delete their individual contribution
If they haven't completed their part yet:
They're removed from the participant list
They stop receiving notifications
Their incomplete work (if any) is discarded
⚠️ Important: If someone gave feedback and you remove them, their feedback is removed in the review.
Changing the note taker
The note taker is the person who writes the meeting summary. Sometimes you need to change who that is.
When to change the note taker
Change the note taker when:
The original note taker leaves the company
Someone else is better suited to write the summary
The review needs a neutral third party instead
You assigned the wrong person initially
How to change the note taker
Open the specific review
Go to the meeting step
Click the three-dots and Edit note taker
Select a different person from the meeting participants
Save changes
The note taker can be someone who's not already a meeting participant. They will automatically become a meeting participant.
What happens to existing summaries
If the meeting summary hasn't been written yet:
The new note taker takes over
The old note taker loses editing access
No content is lost (there isn't any yet)
If the meeting summary is already written:
The new note taker can edit the existing summary
Impact on review timeline
When you change participants, it affects timing differently depending on the change.
Changes that don't affect timeline
These changes won't slow down the review:
Adding signature participants — You can always add more people to sign
Removing someone who already completed — Their work is done
Changing future step participants — Hasn't started yet
Changes that may delay completion
These changes can extend the review timeline:
Adding feedback givers — New people need time to give feedback
Adding preparation participants — They need time to prepare
Changing the note taker — New person needs time to write the summary
Removing someone who hasn't completed — You lose their contribution and may need to wait for a replacement
Managing expectations
When you add participants mid-review:
Give them the same deadline as others (if still reasonable)
Or extend the deadline for everyone to keep things fair
Communicate timeline expectations clearly
When you remove participants:
Decide if you'll wait for a replacement or proceed without them
Adjust your timeline if needed
Communicate changes to remaining participants
Best practices for participant management
Follow these guidelines to manage participants smoothly:
Plan carefully before launching
The best participant changes are the ones you don't need to make. Before launching:
Double-check your reviewee list
Verify managers are correct
Confirm feedback givers make sense
Review participation at each step
Make changes as early as possible
If you realize you need to adjust participants, do it immediately. Changes are easier when:
Fewer people have completed their parts
The review is still in early steps
You haven't communicated timelines yet
Communicate changes
When you change participants, tell affected people:
Who was added or removed and why
What the new timeline is (if changed)
What's expected of new participants
How existing participants are affected
Don't rely solely on automated notifications — provide context.
Keep detailed notes
Document why you made changes:
Who changed and when
Reason for the change
Who authorized it
Impact on the review
This creates an audit trail if questions arise later.
Minimize disruption
Try to avoid:
Adding many participants after launch (suggests poor planning)
Changing note takers after summaries are written
Removing people who've already contributed (their work stays anyway)
Making changes that require re-explaining the entire process
Use review viewers instead of participants
If someone needs visibility but not active participation, make them a review viewer instead of adding them to steps. This gives them read-only access without complicating the workflow.
Common scenarios
Here's how to handle typical situations that require participant changes:
Scenario: Manager leaves mid-campaign
Situation: An employee's manager leaves the company during the review campaign. The manager already gave feedback but hasn't written the meeting summary yet.
Solution:
Identify the new manager (or interim manager)
Open each affected review
In the meeting step, change the note taker to the new manager
Add the new manager as a meeting participant if needed
Consider whether the new manager should also be a feedback giver (they can give additional feedback, but can't replace feedback already given)
Message the new manager explaining they're taking over, what's been completed, and what timeline remains
Result: The old manager's feedback remains. The new manager writes the summary and completes the review.
Scenario: Forgot to include key feedback giver
Situation: After launching, you realize the employee's cross-functional partner should give feedback but wasn't included.
Solution:
Check which step the review is currently on
If still in the feedback step: Add the person as a feedback giver immediately
If already past the feedback step: You can't add feedback givers to completed steps. Options:
Have the person provide input informally and include it in the meeting summary
Add them as a meeting participant so they can contribute during the discussion
Accept that formal feedback from this person won't be included
Result: If caught early, you get the additional feedback. If caught late, find alternative ways to include their perspective.
Scenario: Employee transferred departments mid-review
Situation: An employee transfers to a new department and gets a new manager halfway through the review campaign.
Solution:
Decide if the old manager or new manager should complete the review (usually old manager, since they observed the review period)
If keeping old manager: No changes needed
If switching to new manager:
Remove old manager from future steps
Add new manager to remaining steps
Consider having both managers participate in the meeting to ensure continuity
Document the transfer in the review summary
Result: The review completes with appropriate manager involvement reflecting the employee's situation.
Scenario: Need additional oversight
Situation: A performance review is going poorly and HR wants to add an HR business partner to the meeting for support.
Solution:
Open the review
Go to the meeting step (or add to future steps if not there yet)
Add the HR business partner as a meeting participant
Configure their visibility (typically they should see all feedback and preparation)
Optionally add them as a signature participant for formal acknowledgment
Communicate with the manager and employee that HR will attend
Result: The HR partner provides support and oversight without disrupting the existing workflow.
Scenario: Someone on unexpected leave
Situation: A feedback giver goes on extended medical leave and can't complete their feedback.
Solution:
Decide if their feedback is critical or optional
If critical: Add a replacement feedback giver who can provide similar perspective
If optional: Remove them from the participant list and proceed without their feedback
Document why feedback is missing (in case anyone asks later)
Result: The review continues without being blocked by unavailable participants.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add someone to a step that's already completed?
Can I add someone to a step that's already completed?
No. You can only add participants to the current step or future steps. Once a step is closed, you can't add more participants.
What happens if I remove someone who's the only feedback giver?
What happens if I remove someone who's the only feedback giver?
The feedback step would have no participants. You should add a replacement feedback giver before removing the only one, or skip the feedback step entirely.
Can participants see when I add or remove people?
Can participants see when I add or remove people?
Not automatically. They might notice if they see the participant list or if someone new joins a meeting. Consider communicating changes rather than surprising people.
Do I need to adjust visibility when adding participants?
Do I need to adjust visibility when adding participants?
Maybe. New participants inherit the default visibility settings for their role. If you want them to see something different than the workflow specifies, you'll need to adjust visibility settings.
Can I change multiple participants at once?
Can I change multiple participants at once?
Yes. When editing participants for a step, you can add and remove multiple people in the same edit session before saving.
What if the person I need to add doesn't exist in the system yet?
What if the person I need to add doesn't exist in the system yet?
You can't add someone who's not in your system. They need to be added as an employee first, then you can include them in reviews.