Introduction
Performance reviews in Aboard help you conduct structured, multi-step performance evaluations for your employees. The system supports three types of reviews: self-reviews (where employees reflect on their own performance), peer reviews (where colleagues provide feedback), and manager reviews (where direct managers evaluate their team members).
The feature organizes reviews into Projects (reusable templates) and Cycles (specific review periods). Each cycle follows a structured workflow with multiple steps, ensuring comprehensive feedback collection before final evaluation and calibration.
To get started, go to the top menu or the hamburger menu to find the Performance button:
Key concepts
Performance project: A template that defines review settings, including which review types to use (self, peer, manager), duration for each step, number of peers required, and the forms to use.
Performance cycle: A specific review period created from a project. Each cycle has a start date, end date, and contains individual reviews for each employee.
Review steps: Sequential phases within a cycle (e.g., self-review phase, peer-review phase, manager-review phase).
Performance review: An individual review instance for one employee within a cycle.
Calibration: The final step where managers review and adjust scores before locking them.
Step-by-step setup instructions
1. Enable performance reviews
Before you can use performance reviews, the feature must be enabled for your company.
This is done by administrators in Company settings:
2. Create a performance project
Navigate to Performance in the main navigation menu.
Click the New project button in the top right corner.
Fill in the project details:
Title: Give your project a descriptive name (e.g., "Annual Performance Review 2024").
Emoji and color: Choose visual identifiers to make the project easily recognizable.
3. Configure review scope
In the project form, you'll see three toggle options under "Scope":
Self review: Enable this if you want employees to reflect on their own performance. When enabled, participants will complete a self-assessment form.
Peer review: Enable this to allow colleagues to provide feedback. You'll need to specify how many peers each employee should nominate.
Manager review: Enable this for direct managers to evaluate their team members.
Note: At least one review type (self or manager) must be selected. Peer reviews are optional but require either self or manager reviews to be enabled.
4. Set peer review requirements
If you've enabled peer reviews:
Number of peers: Specify how many colleagues each employee should nominate (minimum 1). This number will be required when employees submit their peer nominations.
5. Configure schedule
Set the duration for each review phase:
Self review: How long employees have to complete their self-assessment (options range from 1 to 8 weeks).
Peer review: Duration for peer nominations and peer feedback collection.
Manager review: Time allocated for manager evaluations.
Evaluation: Period for final calibration and score adjustment.
These durations determine when each step automatically starts and ends within a cycle.
6. Set up enrollment configuration
The enrollment section determines which employees are included in review cycles:
Click the + button to add an enrollment rule.
Select a Profile segment (e.g., "All employees", "Sales team", "Managers", the profile segments are pulled from the public custom views that you have saved in the People tab).
Choose a Form that will be used for reviews in this enrollment.
Add multiple enrollment rules if needed. Rules are prioritized from top to bottom—employees matching higher rules take precedence.
We recommend adding categories during this stage as well to make it easier to set up the next part; review forms. The categories added here will determine what you are evaluating, e.g communication, goal achievment, knowledge, leadership etc.
Important: You must have at least one enrollment configured and at least one form available before you can start a cycle.
7. Create review forms
Before starting a cycle, ensure you have performance review forms set up:
In the project page, scroll to the Performance review forms section.
Create or assign forms that will be used for the reviews.
Forms should include questions with performance categories to enable scoring.
When creating the form, there are some things that are good to keep in mind:
When writing a question, remember to set up the wording for all of the scopes (Self, Manager, Peer, depending on what you have enabled).
Set a category for the question, e.g what is being evaluated with this question?
An example of different wording for the same question depending on scope:
8. Start a performance cycle
Once your project is configured:
Open your performance project.
Click Start cycle (this opens a dropdown with a calendar).
Select a start date using the calendar picker. The cycle will begin on this date.
Click Create cycle.
The cycle is now created but in draft mode. You can still make changes to reviews, forms, and managers.
9. Activate the cycle
Before reviews can begin, you must activate the cycle:
Open the cycle you just created (click on it from the cycles table).
Review the cycle details and ensure everything is correct.
Click the Activate button in the top right corner.
Once activated:
The system automatically creates individual reviews for all employees matching your enrollment rules
Review steps are set up based on your project configuration
The first step will start automatically if its start date has arrived
Employees will begin receiving notifications for their review forms
Important: After activation, you can no longer edit review forms or managers for individual reviews. You can only reschedule or extend steps.
How users interact with performance reviews
All users regardless of role do their reviews through the forms tab found in the employee portal:
For employees: completing reviews
Self-review phase
Employees receive a notification when the self-review phase begins.
They can access their review form from the Forms section in their portal.
The form displays as "Self review" with the cycle name.
Employees answer questions about their performance, including scale-based questions that contribute to their scores.
Once submitted, the self-review step is marked as complete.
Peer nomination (if peer reviews are enabled)
Before peer reviews can begin, employees must nominate their peers.
Employees receive a notification prompting them to nominate peers.
They access the peer nomination form from the Forms section.
They select the required number of colleagues (as specified in the project settings).
Employees cannot nominate themselves or their direct manager.
Once submitted, the manager is notified of the nominations.
Peer review phase
Nominated peers receive notifications when the peer review phase starts.
They access the peer review form from their Forms section.
The form is labeled "Peer review" and shows the employee being reviewed.
Peers complete the form with feedback and ratings.
Once all nominated peers submit their reviews, the peer review step is complete.
For managers: completing manager reviews
Managers receive notifications when the manager review phase begins.
They access manager review forms from their Forms section.
Forms are labeled "Manager review" and show each team member being evaluated.
Managers complete evaluations for all their direct reports.
Once submitted, the manager review step is complete.
For administrators: monitoring progress
Viewing cycle progress
Navigate to your performance project.
Click on a cycle to view its details.
The cycle page shows:
Progress bar: Overall completion percentage across all reviews
Review steps: Visual indicators showing which phases are active, completed, or pending
Reviews table: List of all employees with their progress, review status, and last activity
Review Details
Click on any employee's name in the reviews table to see:
Individual review progress
Scores from each review type (self, peer, manager)
Category breakdowns (if performance categories are configured)
Comparison of responses across different reviewers
List of all participants and their completion status
Managing reviews (draft cycles only)
While a cycle is still in draft status (before activation), administrators can:
Add reviews: Manually add employees who weren't included in enrollment rules
Change form: Assign a different form to a specific review
Change manager: Update the manager assigned to a review
Delete reviews: Remove employees from the cycle
Rescheduling steps
For active cycles, administrators can reschedule steps that haven't started yet:
Click the ellipsis menu (⋯) on a pending step.
Choose to start it Now, Tomorrow, In 1 week, or select a Custom date.
Participants will be notified of the schedule change.
Extending deadlines
For steps that have started but not completed:
Click the ellipsis menu (⋯) on an active step.
Choose to extend by 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, or select a Custom date.
All participants receive updated deadline notifications.
Calibration phase
After all review steps are complete, administrators enter the calibration phase:
Navigate to the Calibration tab in the cycle view.
The calibration table shows:
Each employee's scores from self, peer, and manager reviews
Score gaps (differences between review types)
A final score field (editable)
Notes field for each review
Review each employee's scores and adjust the final score if needed (1-5 scale).
Add notes to document calibration decisions.
Click Save and lock scores when ready to finalize.
Once locked, scores cannot be changed and the review is marked as completed.
Best practices and tips
Planning your review cycle
Timing: Schedule cycles during periods when employees and managers have adequate time to provide thoughtful feedback. Avoid busy seasons or major project deadlines.
Duration:
Self-reviews typically need 1-2 weeks
Peer reviews may need 2-3 weeks to account for nomination time
Manager reviews often require 2-3 weeks for thorough evaluation
Evaluation/calibration should allow 1-2 weeks for careful review
Communication: Send advance notice to all participants before starting a cycle. Explain the timeline, expectations, and how to access their forms.
Form design
Performance categories: Organize questions into categories (e.g., "Technical Skills", "Communication", "Leadership"). This enables category-based scoring and better insights.
Question types: Use scale questions (1-5 or emoji scales) for quantitative scoring. Include open-ended questions for qualitative feedback.
Clarity: Ensure questions are clear and specific. Avoid ambiguous language that could lead to inconsistent interpretations.
Peer nominations
Guidance: Provide employees with guidance on selecting peers—choose colleagues who work closely with them and can provide meaningful feedback.
Reminders: The system sends reminders for pending peer nominations. Consider sending additional manual reminders if many nominations are outstanding.
Manager review: Managers can review and edit peer nominations if needed before peer reviews begin.
Calibration
Review patterns: Look for significant gaps between self, peer, and manager scores. These may indicate areas needing discussion or clarification.
Consistency: Ensure calibration is fair and consistent across similar roles and departments.
Documentation: Use the notes field to document why scores were adjusted during calibration. This creates an audit trail.
Timing: Complete calibration while feedback is fresh in everyone's mind.
Managing multiple cycles
Naming: Use clear, descriptive names for projects (e.g., "Q1 2024 Reviews", "Annual performance review").
Archiving: Archive completed projects to keep your active projects list clean.
Templates: Create reusable project templates for recurring review cycles (e.g., quarterly reviews) with consistent settings.
Common Troubleshooting and FAQ
Employees can't see their review forms
Problem: Employees report they don't see review forms in their portal.
Solutions:
Verify the cycle has been activated (not in draft status)
Check that the current step has started (steps start automatically based on schedule)
Confirm the employee matches your enrollment rules
Ensure the employee has a valid email address in their profile
Check that forms are assigned to the enrollment configuration
Peer nominations not appearing
Problem: Employees don't see the peer nomination form.
Solutions:
Verify peer reviews are enabled in the project settings
Check that the cycle has been activated
Ensure the self-review step (if enabled) has been completed first
Confirm the employee has a manager assigned (peers cannot be the employee or their manager)
Reviews stuck at 0% progress
Problem: Reviews show no progress even though forms have been submitted.
Solutions:
Check that forms are fully submitted (not saved as drafts)
Verify that all required questions are answered
Ensure the review step has been started (check the steps timeline)
Refresh the page to see updated progress
Can't start a new cycle
Problem: The "Start cycle" button is disabled or cycles can't be created.
Solutions:
Ensure at least one enrollment rule is configured
Verify that forms are assigned to enrollments
Check that there are active employees matching your enrollment segments
Complete or archive any existing active cycles for the project
Scores not calculating
Problem: Scores aren't appearing after forms are submitted.
Solutions:
Verify that questions use scale or number scale question types
Ensure questions are assigned to performance categories
Check that the form participant has fully completed and submitted the form
Wait a moment for scores to calculate (they're generated automatically upon submission)
Can't edit reviews after cycle starts
Problem: Need to change a review but options aren't available.
Solutions:
Review edits (form, manager) are only available in draft cycles
Once activated, you can only reschedule or extend steps
To make changes after activation, you may need to create a new cycle or contact support
Peer review step not starting
Problem: Peer review phase doesn't begin automatically.
Solutions:
Verify that peer nominations have been submitted for all reviews
Check that the previous step (self-review) has been completed
Ensure the step's start date has arrived
Manually reschedule the step if needed using the step menu
Calibration scores locked too early
Problem: Need to adjust scores but they're already locked.
Solutions:
Once scores are locked, they cannot be changed
Contact your system administrator if corrections are needed
Consider documenting corrections in notes or through other HR processes
Notifications not received
Problem: Employees or managers aren't receiving review notifications.
Solutions:
Verify email addresses are correct in employee profiles
Check notification preferences in user settings
Ensure email delivery isn't blocked by spam filters
Review notification logs in the system (if available)
Multiple reviews for same employee
Problem: An employee appears multiple times in a cycle.
Solutions:
This shouldn't happen automatically—each employee should have one review per cycle
Check if the employee was manually added multiple times
Remove duplicate reviews using the delete option (draft cycles only)
Verify enrollment rules aren't creating duplicates
Additional resources
For form creation and question setup, see the Forms documentation
For profile segments and enrollment configuration, see the People management guide
For notification settings, see the User preferences guide
Need help? If you encounter issues not covered in this guide, contact your system administrator or Aboard support.