No Performance Management? Start Here.

Estimated time to establish your foundation: 6–9 months

If your organization has no formal performance management process, you’re not alone. Many teams start small and grow fast, leaving systems for feedback, goal setting, and reviews behind. There's good news: you can build a sustainable, development-focused performance management approach from the ground up.

This guide walks you through how to start performance management from scratch using practical steps you can build into daily work. You’ll focus first on conversations, then feedback, goals, and finally, reviews.

Before you begin, identify the key stakeholders who will shape the foundation of your process. Involve:

• Executives: to connect performance management to organizational strategy.
• HR and People Leaders: to ensure fairness, consistency, and compliance.
• Managers: to translate the system into everyday coaching and goal alignment.
• Employees: to provide input on what meaningful performance discussions look like.

The goal is to co-create a process that fits your organization’s size, culture, and readiness rather than importing a one-size-fits-all system.

Each phase below builds on the last, helping your organization move from no process at all to a continuous system that improves performance and development outcomes.

Timeline: Month 1-2

Objective: Build trust and create space for meaningful performance conversations.

Why this matters: You can’t manage performance without dialogue. Regular 1:1s help managers understand what employees are working on, what’s blocking progress, and where support is needed.

Key Actions:

• Launch consistent weekly or biweekly 1:1 meetings for all people managers.
• Provide a simple agenda to guide discussions (progress, challenges, support).
• Encourage both manager and employee to add topics ahead of time.
• Track attendance and completion rates to build accountability.

You’re ready to move to Phase 2 when:

• 1:1s are happening consistently for at least 6 weeks with at least 80% of employees.
• Both managers and employees are contributing to agendas.
• Conversations are focused on outcomes and development, not just task updates

Tip: Expect to regularly remind employees and manager to have 1:1s and add to agendas. New behvaiors require on-going over-communication!

Timeline: Month 2-3

Objective: Make feedback a normal, expected part of work.

Why this matters: Feedback fuels growth and helps employees understand expectations. Start small with positive feedback. Focus on creating safety and regularity, not formality.

Key Actions:

• Train managers on how to give specific, timely feedback.
• Encourage upward feedback so employees feel heard. Employees will probably need time to get used to giving managers feedback.
• Introduce lightweight prompts such as “What’s one thing I could do differently next week?”
• Use feedback as input for future 1:1s and goal discussions.

You’re ready to move to Phase 3 when:

• Managers and employees are giving feedback regularly and comfortably.
• Aim for at least one piece of monthly feedback for each employee.
• Managers can articulate what effective feedback looks like.
• Feedback is influencing action items or focus areas in 1:1s.

Timeline: Month 5-7

Objective: Create alignment between individual work and organizational priorities.

Why this matters: Once communication and feedback routines are in place, it’s time to clarify direction. Goals give purpose and help employees see how their efforts matter.

Key Actions:

• Start with department-level goals tied to business outcomes.
• Co-create goals with employees during 1:1s to ensure buy-in.
• Make sure at least some of the goals tie to the larger strategic goals.
• Aim to have goals broken down into 90-day milestones so that they are revisited in 1:1s regularly.
• Review progress at least monthly.

You’re ready to move to Phase 4 when:

• Every employee has 2-4 clear, documented goals tied to higher-level objectives.
• Progress updates are part of your recurring 1:1 agenda.
• Teams can see how their goals connect to organizational success.

Tools like miviva make it easy to visualize goal alignment and track progress, but even a spreadsheet works as long as it’s visible and regularly reviewed.

Timeline: Month 5-7

Objective: Evaluate performance fairly and use insights for growth.

Why this matters: Reviews close the loop, allowing you to assess results, recognize contributions, and identify development needs.

Key Actions:

• Use your 1:1 notes and feedback history as inputs for reviews.
• Keep reviews forward-looking by asking, “What will help you grow next?”
• Schedule reviews on a regular cadence (for example, twice per year).
• Train reviewers to avoid bias and focus on development, not just ratings.

You’re ready to move to Phase 5 when:

• Review conversations are grounded in evidence from prior discussions.
• Employees understand how performance is evaluated and what’s next.
• Review insights are being used to guide goals and learning and development plans.

Timeline: Month 7-9

Objective: Integrate all performance elements into one ongoing system.

Why this matters: Continuous performance management isn’t about more meetings or paperwork. It’s about creating a rhythm where feedback, goals, and coaching happen year-round, not just at review time.

Key Actions:

• Connect 1:1 discussions to goal progress.
• Encourage employees to bring feedback and updates proactively.
• Use aggregated insights from reviews to shape training and development priorities.
• Celebrate progress often — both individual and team wins.

You’re ready to sustain continuous performance management when:

• Employees and managers view performance as an ongoing dialogue, not an event.
• Data from feedback, goals, and reviews is being used to improve both performance and culture.
• The majority of leaders are modeling the process and supporting others in maintaining it.

You don’t need to build a complex process overnight. Focus first on communication and connection. Add structure only as it becomes useful. The result is a system that grows with you — one that helps people do better work and stay aligned with what matters most.

Use the downloadable Performance Management Starter Roadmap to plan your first 6–9 months. It outlines each phase, objectives, and key actions to help you launch a simple, sustainable performance management process.

Download Now: The Performance Management Starter Roadmap

• Get started with 1:1s: If You Don’t Have 1:1s: Where to Start
• Get started with goals: If You Don’t Have Goals: Where to Start
• Return to the main hub? Where to Start with Performance Management
• Will miviva work for your processes?