Welcome to the step-by-step guide on initiating a new review cycle in Teamflect. This guide will walk you through each stage, from selecting or creating a template to launching the review cycle.

Click the Review Cycles button and once inside, click the "Start New Cycle" button.

On the pop-up, you will see the existing templates in the drop-down menu. You can use one of the existing templates.

If you want to create a new review template from scratch, please click the "You can create and see your review templates in create/see review template'' text located under the template menu.

You also have this option on the previous page, the main page of the Reviews module in the Admin Center.

If you want to create a new review template, please find the designated button at the top left and click on it.

The description you write here will be visible on the review page. Please take a look at the example below.

Then you will need to select the type of review. Teamflect currently offers two options:

2. Self Review & Reviewer (2 steps): A review with a self-assessment will be created when you select this option. Once the reviewee submits the self-review, the reviewer will be able to add comments on top of the reviewees.

Finally, in this section, choose whether the template can be sent only from the admin center. If you turn this button on, managers won't be able to initiate reviews using this template on the front end/within the app.

After completing these parts, click "Review Questions" to move on to the next step.

You can either select one of the existing question sets using the drop-down menu or create a new question set using the "Add question set" button.

You could add existing sets to the review using the "Add question set from library" button. You can also create new sets by pressing the "Create new question set" button.

When you press the "Create new question set" button, a new window will open. On this screen, set a title for your questions. Then add a description.

Then define the form of your question. When you are adding questions, you will have 5 different options:

You can also add a small description explaining the context of the question or some instructions to be kept in mind while answering.

When you come to the question visibility section, you will have 5 different options:

If you turn on the "Required" option, the review won't be able to be submitted if this question is not answered.

After you add all the questions to your question set, you can now click the "Create" button.

The new question set you created will now be included in the existing question sets. Click the "Goal-related questions" button to proceed to the next step.

You can add the goals of the reviewee (which were assigned to them in the ''Goals'' module) in the review period into the review as a question set. To activate this feature, you can turn the toggle on that's located at the top right corner.

When you turn this button on, a few more options will appear. Here you can customize the title of this section of your choice, add instructions and explain rating scales for goal questions, choose which goals to include, and choose which goal period to include.

Set the question type to decide how your employees evaluate their goals and related performance. You have 3 options in this section. These options are "freeform", "multiple choice" and "rating".

1. Freeform

If you choose the "freeform" type, there will be an empty box under the goals in the review. Reviewee can write his/her thoughts about the goal in this box.

2. Multiple Choice

If you select this type, the choices you have prepared appear under the goals in the review. Reviewee can continue by ticking one of these choices. If you want to allow more than one choice to be ticked, you can activate the "allow multiple answers" button. If you want a comment section under the choices, you can activate the "ask for additional comments" button.

3. Rating

If you choose this type, the rating section will be displayed under the goals in the review. Reviewee can choose a number within the rating range determined here or change the rating type to number, star, or emoji-based scale.

If you want to add a comment section under the rating section, you can activate the "ask for additional comments" button.

When you want to select the goal period to be included, two options will appear.

1. The first option is " Goals partially covered by review period"

In the first option, all goals that are active during the review period are selected and take their place in the review. This option is ideal if the review period is relatively longer, e.g.: Annual reviews, mid-year, or quarterly reviews.

Example:

Review Period: H2 Jun-Dec 2023

Goals to be included: All the active goals whose start and end dates fall between June 1 and Dec 31, 2023.

2. The second one is " Goals started and ended in review period"

If you choose the second option, only the goals whose start and end dates are within the review period are selected and take their place in the review. This option is ideal if the review period is relatively shorter, e.g.: monthly or quarterly check-in reviews that should include monthly or quarterly assigned goals.

Example:

Review Period: Jul 1-Sep 30, 2023

Goals to be included: Only the goals that started on/after Jul 1, and ended on/before Sep 30, 2023.

In this section, you can select the available goal types in your account to be included in your employees' review.

You are already aware that in Teamflect, the goal structure depends on parent goals and subgoals connected to them. However, if you do not want the subgoals to be evaluated within the review, you may toggle the button.

Once toggled, the review participants will only see the parent goals and evaluate their performance based on the parent goals' progress.

As it's possible to assign custom weights to the goals based on priority or importance, you may want to only evaluate these goals within the review.

If so, toggle the button and Teamflect will exclude the goals that do not have an assigned weight.

You can click on "Make goal-related questions mandatory" button to make this whole section mandatory, so when not answered, the review participants won't be able to submit their evaluation.

If you have configured the ''Career'' module in Teamflect and added competencies related to your employees' job titles, these can be incorporated in the employee reviews by enabling this section.

After including competency questions in the review template, please make sure to give this section a title first and then you'll be able to insert instructions as well.

Next, you'll decide on the answer type for these competency-related questions and you'll have 3 options.

Then, please select who should answer these questions in the ''Will be responded by'' section.

Here, you have 5 options:

Lastly, if needed, you can make this section required so that the review participant(s) will not be able to submit the form without answering the competency-related questions.

After you're done, please proceed to the ''360-degree feedback.''

If you turn the "360-degree Feedback" option on, you can add a feedback section to the review. First, please type the "360-degree Feedback Instructions".

Then choose whether you want to use the same feedback template for everyone, regardless of their relation with the reviewee, or use different templates for people belonging to different groups.

If you want to differentiate the questions, you can activate the groups you want to receive feedback.

After completing the group selection, select one of the existing feedback templates by clicking ''Add feedback template from library'' or create a new one with the "create new feedback template" button.

This option exists in the Peers (Automatically ask from teammates (people who report to the same manager), Managers/Supervisors (Automatically ask from direct manager), and Direct Reports (Automatically request feedback from direct reports of the reviewee) sections. When the box is checked, Teamflect automatically sends a feedback request to the related group (peers, managers, direct reports) without the need to manually send the feedback requests to these people after the review has been initiated. If it suits your scenario, please check the box.

In this case, the minimum number of feedback providers is 0 and the maximum number of feedback providers is 5. Keeping the minimum number at ''0'' means that this section is not required and the review can be submitted even if it does not contain any feedback requests/providers, and a maximum of five people from your company should be selected to submit the review.

Then please select the visibility of the feedback. There are 4 options here.

In the last 2 visibility options, you also have the setting to make the feedback anonymous to the reviewee's manager and Teamflect admins which allows them to see the results, average ratings, etc., but not the feedback providers' names.

This is how feedback appears in the review.

After choosing the visibility, please select who can ask for feedback. There are 3 options here.

Then click the "Review result section" button to proceed to the next step.

In this section, you will configure how the "Review Results" section will be. You can see an example of the result section below from the reviewer's point of view.

In this step, you can activate 4 sections.

The first of these is the ''Overall rating summary.'' If you enable the review rating section, you need to add criteria/criterion to the review for the reviewer to rate the reviewee according to these criteria. Then specify the criteria names, explanations, and weights.

The section may be hidden from the reviewee by using the "Hide rating section from the reviewee" toggle.

If you prefer a more verbal evaluation rather than sticking with numerical ratings, you can enable the ''Custom evaluation section.''

Optionally, you may want to hide the multiple-choice section from the reviewee, to do that please check the box marked below.

Optionally, you can enable the 9-box for the result section. If there are instructions about the 9-box section, write them in the instructions section.

The 9-box grid is fully customizable, and you can edit the grid names, background colors, axes, and levels.

After customizing your 9-box grid, you can check the box below that reads ''Hide 9-box results from reviewee'' to decide if you want the results of this 9-box grid to be not visible to the reviewee.

If you'd like to also guide reviewers in making more accurate and informed choices for their direct reports you may enable the ''AI-assisted 9-box suggestion'' setting.

The setting uses performance and average ratings, along with the review content, to suggest the most suitable selections.

By enabling this feature, reviewers can receive intelligent suggestions, making the evaluation process more meaningful and efficient.

Optionally, enable the "Overall comment section". By activating this button, the reviewer(s) can add their comments to the result section in the review.

Overall comments will be visible to the reviewee, reviewer, reviewer's manager, and the Teamflect Administrators. Private comments will be visible to all of the above but the reviewee.

You can also invite other people to check the review and participate in leaving a comment in the overall comment section by checking the box right below the ''Enable overall comment section'' statement. This is the perfect workaround if you'd like a second reviewer added to the review. That way, the collaborator will have full visibility on the review and provide their comments in the overall comment section with a clear image in mind.

Example scenario: The reviewee has a supervisor, indirect manager, secondary manager, or skip-level manager, the admin or the reviewer can easily invite these people for them to provide comments about the reviewee after checking the content of the review.

The "Enable private comment for review participants" feature in Teamflect offers flexibility in how comments are managed during reviews.

Here’s a breakdown to clarify its functionality:

This feature is particularly useful for maintaining transparency where necessary while also allowing space for private discussions about the reviewee’s performance, development needs, or potential issues.

Click on the "Development plan" button to proceed to the next step.

You can add a "Development plan" section to your reviews which allows review participants (reviewee and reviewer) to assign goals directly from the review form. All the goals that have been assigned from the review will be available in the Goals module for further tracking purposes.

As the creator of this review cycle, you can add instructions for the development plan section.

The instructions you write here will be visible inside the review. Please see below:

1. Enabling the "Disable adding new goals after the review is finalized" setting will prevent both parties from assigning new goals within the review, as the review will have been finalized well before any attempts to do so.

2. Enabling the ''Enable AI-generated development goals recommendations'' setting will allow both parties to ask AI about what new goals should be created based on the comments, ratings, and other inputs provided within the review.

Here's what it looks like on the review form:

3. By enabling the ''Select goal types that reviewees can create for their development plan'' setting, you will be able to limit what type of goals should be assigned within the review form. If this section is for development purposes, you may only allow them to assign ''self-development'' goals by selecting the goal type accordingly.

4. By enabling the "Make development plans mandatory" option, users will be unable to submit the review without adding self-development goals. Both parties can create self-development goals in this section.

Click on the "Attachments" button to proceed to the next step.

The file attachment section allows you to attach relevant files and supporting documents to the performance reviews. This can help provide additional context or evidence of your accomplishments and contributions.

To use this section, simply turn the "Add attachments section to this review" button on. You can also add instructions for the attachments. Once you activate the file attachment section, users can click the "Upload file" button in the reviews and select the file they want to attach. Users can attach multiple files if necessary.

It is important to note that the types of files that can be attached to your performance review may vary depending on your organization's policies and the purpose of the review.

Click on the "Signature Section" button to proceed to the next step.

You can add a "Signature section" to your reviews. If you turn the "Signature Section" option on, two options will appear.

These options are "e-signature" and "written signature when printed". If you choose the e-signature option, you can sign the review electronically when the review is completed. If you choose the other option Teamflect creates a section for the reviewee and reviewer to sign at the bottom when you print out your reviews.

You can also change the title of this section or write a description. The description you write here will be visible inside the review.

After selecting the signature type, you can also select who should sign first.

Here you have 3 options to select from:

This is what the signature section looks like when you print out your review:

And this is what the signature part looks like when you choose e-signature:

Click on the "Finalization Flow" button to proceed to the next step.

In this section, you can decide how the final flow of the review should be. There are two options in the finalization flow section. These options are:

If you select "Calibration off", reviewers can finalize the evaluation themselves. As the admin, you'll still be able to see the review, however, you won't have a chance to calibrate the review results and be in charge of finalizing the review. So, as the admin, you'll have partial control over the review.

You can also enable a meeting recommendation to be sent when the "Release for discussion" button is clicked as the review will be finalized by the reviewers themselves.

If you select "Calibration on", when the reviewers submit their review results, the results will be sent to Teamflect Administrators for calibration. During the calibration process, the administrators will be asked to enter the calibrated scores. Nothing will be visible to the reviewee until calibration is completed. As the admin, you'll have complete control.

Then, please select who should finalize the review after the calibration.

Within this section, you have the ability to access a concise overview of the review cycle you've created.

Moreover, you can easily rearrange the sequence of sections including the order of the multiple question sets included by utilizing the arrows positioned alongside each section.

You will see 3 options on this page.

1. You can click the "Save" button at the top right to use the review template later on.

2. You can use the "Test" button to test the review template you have created before initiating anything.

3. You can use the "Start" button to start the review. When you press "Start" you will be automatically redirected to the last step.

You will see 3 scenarios in this section. You can start the review cycle by selecting the scenario you want.

After choosing the scenario, give this cycle a name which will be visible to the review participants. Enter any specific instructions or notes if necessary as well.

Then, select the reviewees, the period under review, and the due dates.

Once you are done with all the settings, click "Start" to start the review.

You will be asked to confirm before starting the review. Once you start the review, you will not be able to make changes to the template.

After you start the review, you will be redirected to the "Review cycles" page where you can see a list of your existing review cycles.