Best Practice: Reviews Example Pre-Launch Email

Admins may wish to send out a pre-launch email to employees so they can prepare for an upcoming review cycle. An example pre-launch email can be found below: 

Hi Team,

We are excited to share that we’ll kick off our mid-year 360 review cycle tomorrow at 8 AM! Before tomorrow’s launch, I wanted to take this time to share the details of the review cycle, so you’ll know what to expect. Please feel free to ping me with questions!

Overview

Why are we running a mid-year review cycle?

Throughout the year, it’s important to take a step back to reflect on ourselves, our peers, and our managers. The goal here is to recognize accomplishments but also identify opportunities for improvement and growth.

Review type

We’ll be running a complete 360 cycle, meaning you will be reviewing yourself, peers (who have selected you to review them), and your manager, and in turn, you will receive feedback from peers (who you have selected & your manager has approved) and your manager.
Participants

All employees employed with Lattice for over three months will participate in this cycle. Participation for employees who have been with Lattice for less than three months is optional.
Share settings

In the spirit of open communication, the review cycle share setting will be completely transparent. All feedback will be shared with the reviewers' names attached (including peer reviews). You will have the opportunity to give optional private feedback directly to a peer’s manager and private feedback about your manager to your manager’s manager. Additionally, we are trying something new this review cycle and are not allowing managers to see the feedback given to their direct reports until after the cycle ends. This is designed to encourage unbiased manager feedback.

Timeline

We are going to do our best to follow the timeline below, so if you have travel planned within the next few weeks, please talk to your manager. You’ll receive automated prompt emails throughout the cycle, and I will also send reminders via Slack (in the Fulltime channel).

Part I: Peer selection 

• Wednesday, June 13 at 9 AM - The 360 review cycle kicks off with peer selection: As the starting point in the review cycle, you will be asked to select a max of 3 peers to review you. If you are unsure who you should select, think of peers you have worked with closely for at least the past quarter and who will be able to give you thoughtful, constructive feedback - so please avoid selecting your best friends. If you have questions about who you should select, talk to your manager; they will ultimately have final editing rights.
• Thursday, June 14 at 5 PM - Peer selection closes: All employees must have completed their peer selection. Managers can now begin the approval process.
• Friday, June 15 at 3 PM - The manager's peer selection approval period closes: To cut down on employees completing an excessive number of peer reviews, I will be reviewing the final peer selection numbers. I’ll contact managers & direct reports if I need to remove selections.

Part II: Write reviews

• Friday, June 15 at 5 PM -  The review cycle is officially open: Everyone, including managers, can start filling out their reviews. Again, note that managers will not be able to preview the feedback for their direct reports until the review cycle is closed.

Part III: Post-review process

• Tuesday, June 26 at 5 PM - The review cycle ends: Regardless of completion, the review cycle will end. At this point, managers can begin reviewing the feedback for their direct reports and writing final remarks. Managers should also start setting up 30-minute meetings with direct reports to discuss the review results.
• Friday, July 6 at 5 PM - All review discussions should be complete & all review packets should be shared with direct reports.

Thanks for participating. Excited to kick this cycle off tomorrow!

Best,

[Name]