Top Performance Review Questions to Build Stronger Teams

Getting recognized or coached through a mistake helps employees feel valued and engaged. However, only one in four employees reports receiving meaningful feedback at work. This disconnect creates a gap: companies miss chances to develop talent, while employees feel undervalued and directionless.

Supportive performance reviews can bridge this divide. Asking the right questions can turn these meetings into productive dialogues. Since each business and situation is different, we've compiled the most helpful performance review questions to guide meaningful and constructive feedback for both managers and employees. Choose and adapt the ones that will help you strengthen your team and drive results.

Essential Performance Review Questions

Questions for a performance review are inquiries by managers and employees during their evaluation meeting. They work best when they balance reflection with forward momentum. Managers and employees should be checking in with each other to assess current and future goals. Asking thoughtful questions leads to honest dialogue and actionable outcomes. Here are some examples:

Questions About Achievements and Impact

It's a good idea to start with questions about individual contributions. These performance review sample questions give employees room to showcase wins. They provide concrete examples you can later reference.

Managers:

• What accomplishment are you most proud of this period?

• Which project stretched your skills the most?

• How did your work directly support the team or company goals?

Employees:

• What do you think were my most significant achievements this year/quarter?

• What should my goals be for the next review period?

• Is there anything I can change to make things better for the team?

Questions That Identify Development Areas

Questions that focus on growth create psychological safety while uncovering opportunities for improvement. Frame obstacles as learning experiences rather than failures. These discussions may reveal systemic issues you can address. Pair these questions with employee performance documentation to create objective improvement plans. It also helps to connect development directly to career advancement.

Managers:

• Where did you face unexpected challenges?

• What resources or support would have helped you succeed?

• Which skills would accelerate your progress over the next six months?

Employees:

• Can you provide a specific example of an area that I could improve?

• Where do you feel I am making the most impact, and what specific skills should I focus on refining?

• Are there any resources or support that can help me perform better?

Strategic Questions for Performance Review Planning

Forward-looking performance review questions shift conversations from past mistakes to future possibilities. This approach often resonates with service providers and growing teams.

Goal-Setting Questions That Stick

Replace vague objectives with questions that generate measurable targets. Employees who set quarterly goals are more engaged than those with only annual targets. Both managers and employees can use these questions to clarify expectations and prevent burnout by managing workload.

• What are your top three priorities for next quarter, and how will we measure success?

• Which current responsibilities should we deprioritize to make room for new goals?

• What milestone would represent meaningful progress?

Questions About Team Dynamics

Performance happens in context. Ask questions that reveal opportunities for collaboration and remove barriers.

• Which collaborations most effectively support your workflow?

• Where do handoffs or communication gaps slow progress?

• How can I better support cross-team collaboration?

Manager-Specific Performance Review Questions

Small businesses can use modern HR tools and team development metrics to help managers succeed. Engaged teams need managers who create trust. Assess their leadership effectiveness and communication skills by asking performance review sample questions like these:

Questions About Team Development

• Describe one team member's growth this period and your role in supporting it.

• How have you aligned team goals with company objectives?

• What steps do you take to ensure different perspectives are heard and respected?

Questions About Operational Excellence

• Which processes did you improve or eliminate?

• How did you handle your most difficult personnel challenge?

• Where do you need additional training or support as a leader?

Crafting Questions for Remote and Hybrid Teams

Distributed work requires questions that address unique challenges. Remote employees may need a different type of support. They may feel overlooked for promotions. Use targeted questions to address proximity bias directly. The same applies to technical or cultural barriers. Find out how you can optimize tools and meeting cadences.

• How clear is the path for you to access projects that expand your skill set?

• What would improve your remote collaboration experience?

• How well do current communication channels support your work?

Making Performance Reviews Work for Small Businesses

Small businesses need a streamlined approach to continuous performance management that combines practical questions with regular feedback. Here are some tips for preparing performance review questions that drive sustained improvement.

Keep it Focused and Actionable

Select six to eight high-impact questions that are tied directly to role responsibilities. Document responses with specific examples, not general impressions. Aim to create one development goal and one performance goal per review, and schedule monthly check-ins to track progress.

Link Reviews to Business Outcomes

The performance review questions should connect individual contributions to your company's success. For a 25-person marketing agency, this might mean asking how campaign work improved client retention. For a growing fintech startup, questions might focus on adoption rates for product features. By using people analytics tools, small teams can track performance patterns across review cycles and identify which questions yield the most actionable insights.

Simplifying Performance Management with Justworks

Creating valuable performance conversations requires preparation and structure. Start by selecting questions that match your company's growth stage and culture. Document responses to track progress over time. The right tools will help you streamline your performance management and HR tasks. By partnering with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), you gain access to expert guidance on performance management best practices and compliance management. Get started with Justworks today.