What's the Difference Between a Manual and Automatic Review?

When creating a review cycle, you will be able to choose how you want to advance each phase of the review cycle. You can create a scheduled review (automatic) or opt for a manual review.

A review using an automatic sequence is one where all emails and reminders follow a strict schedule set up ahead of time in Lattice. Automatic reviews are an excellent option for admins who want to set a specific timeframe for their review cycle and ensure the review does not extend for too long. 

However, due to the strict schedule, the review will move through each phase regardless of how many people may have completed the task. The admin will not have the ability to go in and retroactively move back a step in the review cycle.

If an admin finds that the automatic sequence is moving too fast (or too slow), they can change the dates in the sequence or take over the review cycle manually. Once a cycle has been changed to a manual sequence, it cannot be put back on an automatic sequence.

Review reminders and tasks

Lattice will look to the admin's browser's timezone to establish when the events on an automatic sequence occur and not the admin's profile time zone or the company's default timezone.  

The dates that you select for your automatic sequence will be reflected on the tasks that appear on your employee's Home Page, making them fully transparent and easily visible.

Note: Reminder notifications are only customizable in manual review cycles.

A review following a manual sequence is one without a pre-set schedule. Instead, the schedule is controlled by the admin throughout the review cycle. For example, with a manual review, an admin can wait until they feel the time is right to move the cycle along to the next stage. However, once an admin has moved from one stage to the next, it will not be possible to move back into a previous stage.