Performance evaluation comments are the manager's half of the written review: a comment against each objective that names the evidence and the judgement, and a closing comment that says what the overall rating means and what follows from it. They are the part of the record the employee re-reads, and the part that is quoted back if a rating is ever contested, so they are written to be shown. This page sets out how the comments are built, works one area that appears on almost every review, communication evaluation comments, with communication performance review examples from below expectations to outstanding, and turns to performance review communication in the other sense: how the meeting where the comments are delivered is run so the employee hears what was written.
How the comments are built
Per objective: the target as set, what was delivered with a specific example, the judgement in the scale's words, and, where the self-rating differs, why. Overall: the calibrated rating, what it means on the scale, the two or three things the period showed most clearly, and the outcome and development plan in one paragraph. Nothing in the comments is new to the employee if check-ins were held; the review confirms in writing what was discussed. The free final comments worksheet on this site works the rating and the objectives met into the outcome and the new salary, with example comments beside the figures, so the manager writes from the arithmetic rather than toward it.
Communication as a worked area, by level
Below: updates on the project were late or missing, as in the two dates named, and the client learned of the delay from someone else. Partially meets: written updates were regular but the difficult message about the slipped date was left to the manager, as in the case named. Meets: kept the client and the team informed through the period, including the slipped date, which was communicated the day it was known. Exceeds: communicated the slipped date with a revised plan the client accepted, and wrote the status format the rest of the team now uses. Outstanding: the same, plus handled the escalation named without it reaching the manager. Each level has an event attached, which is what makes the level defensible.
Delivering the comments in the meeting
The employee reads the written review before the meeting, so the meeting is a conversation about a known text rather than a reveal. The manager opens with the overall rating and what it means, walks the objectives in order, spends the time on the gaps between self-rating and rating, and closes on the outcome and the development plan. The employee's response is recorded on the same document. Performance review communication done this way produces no surprises and few disputes, and what disputes there are can be settled from the record. Reviewvo Pro keeps the comments, the employee's response and the outcome on the cycle record.
Questions people ask about performance evaluation comments
What should performance evaluation comments contain?
Per objective: the target, a specific example of what was delivered, the judgement in the rating scale's words and, where the self-rating differs, why. Overall: the calibrated rating, what it means, the period's main points and the outcome.
How do you write communication performance review comments?
Name the events: the update that was late, the difficult message that was or was not delivered, the format others adopted. Grade the level by what happened in those events, not by a general impression of how the person communicates.
Should the employee see the written review before the meeting?
Yes. The meeting is then a conversation about a known text, focused on the gaps between self-rating and rating and on the outcome, and the employee's response is recorded on the same document.