# Performance reviews

> How cycles, rounds and reviews fit together, who uses which tab, and how to turn the module on

Performance runs review rounds in which each person is reviewed by their manager and, if the
cycle asks for it, by themselves, their peers and their own direct reports.

## How it works

A **cycle** sets who is reviewed, which form they answer and which reviews are asked for, and
it runs a single **round** or repeats every 3, 6 or 12 months. In each round every person gets
one review: their reviewer, normally their line manager, writes the manager review, and the
cycle can add a self review, peer feedback and anonymous upward feedback from a manager's
direct reports. People can also keep goals, which a review can rate, and give each other
anytime feedback outside rounds. Anyone writing a review can have an assistant they connect
save a draft only they can see, and every rating stays theirs to pick.

Links in a review open without a warning only for sites on **Allowed sites**. An admin keeps that
list under **Settings → Review settings**, on the **Links in reviews** card. It starts empty, holds
up to 20 sites, and never blocks a link. See [Write a review](/docs/performance/write-a-review/).

## Who uses which tab

**Performance** in the sidebar opens on **To do**.

| Tab | Who sees it | What it holds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **To do** | Everyone | Reviews to write, peers to choose, suggest or confirm, goal updates due, a shared review to read |
| **Reviews** | Everyone | **About you**: your reviews, newest round first, which open once shared with you. **You lead**, for managers, admins and owners: the reviews you write |
| **Goals** | Everyone | Your goals; a manager's team and reports; any person's for admins |
| **Feedback** | Anyone with an employee record, and admins | Anytime feedback **About me**, that **I gave** and about **My team**; **Reported** for admins |
| **Cycles**, **Forms** | Admins and owners | Review cycles with their rounds, and review forms |

**To do** shows 20 tasks at a time, soonest due first, and the arrows by **Rows** move between
batches. It shows no total; the same tasks count toward the number on **Inbox**. **You lead**
pages the same way.

## Turn it on

Performance starts turned off in every workspace and is not tied to a plan.

1. Go to **Settings → Modules** and switch on **Performance**.
2. Optional: open **Settings → Review settings** to choose how long reviews are kept after
   their round closes (24 months by default) and whether anytime feedback is **Always named**.
3. Create a cycle under **Performance → Cycles** with one of your forms or a built-in one.

Turning it off asks **Disable Performance?**, with **Disable module** and **Keep enabled**. It
hides Performance for everyone, and a link into it shows **Performance is turned off**.
Nothing is deleted, and the retention period in **Review settings** still applies.
While it is off, the nightly job skips the workspace, so no round opens or closes and no
reminders go out, and connected assistants lose the Performance tools.
See [Turn modules on or off](/docs/admin/modules/).

## Worked example

Northlake reviews its Platform team for Q3 2026. Marta, the admin, switches Performance on
and creates the cycle Platform Q3 2026 with self, peer, manager and upward reviews. When the
round opens on 1 October, Tomasz finds a self review on **To do**, and Ewa, Tomasz's manager,
finds the review of Tomasz to write. Jakub, who leads the team, reviews four direct reports, and
those four answer upward questions about Jakub. Jakub reports to Marta, so Marta leads Jakub's
review.

> [!AGENT]
> Is the Performance module turned on in our workspace? If it is, list my performance review tasks with their due dates.

## Related

- [Set up a review cycle](/docs/performance/set-up-a-cycle/)
- [Write a review](/docs/performance/write-a-review/)
- [Who sees what in Performance](/docs/performance/who-sees-what/)