# Upward feedback

> Anonymous feedback from a manager's direct reports, released as totals once collection closes

Upward feedback lets the people a manager leads review them anonymously, as part of the manager's own review.

## How it works

A cycle collects it when **Upward review** is ticked under **Who writes** and its form asks questions of **Upward**. When a round opens, each manager under review is asked about by their active direct reports who have been in the company at least the cycle's **Minimum days in the company**. If fewer reports qualify than the cycle's **Minimum responses** (3 by default, never below 3, set once when the cycle is created), nobody is asked; when at least one qualified, the review says **No upward feedback this round**. Collection closes the night after self and peer reviews are due, and all answers are released together after that.

## Give upward feedback

1. Open **Performance → To do** and choose the **Write a review** task. The form reads **Your answers are anonymous**.
2. Answer the questions. The form takes no links, because a link can name people.
3. Choose **Send anonymously**. Your answers cannot be changed afterwards.

Instead, you can choose **Decline**, then **Decline request**. No reason is asked, and anything you wrote is deleted. Upward answers cannot be extended or returned to draft. Nobody sees who wrote what, admins included, but distinctive wording can still identify you.

## What the manager and reviewer see

- **While collecting:** the manager sees **Collecting until [date]**, with no count. Their reviewer and admins see how many have answered, counted once a night, never live.
- **After collection closes:** the manager, their reviewer and admins see the results. If fewer people answered than the minimum, the review shows **Not enough responses to show**. Otherwise each question shows only where at least the minimum answered it. Ratings show as counts per point, with **Not sure** beside them but never counted toward the minimum. Comments and written answers show without names, in an order unrelated to who wrote them.
- **People who were asked** see only how many answered.

The manager gets **Upward feedback about you is ready**, and their reviewer **Upward feedback for a review you write is ready**.

## Release early

An admin can end collection before its date:

1. Open **Performance → Cycles**, then the cycle, then the open round.
2. In **Upward reviews**, choose **Release now** and confirm.

Anyone who has not answered can no longer answer, and results go out at once wherever enough people answered. This cannot be taken back.

## Worked example

Northlake's Q3 2026 cycle uses the Standard 360 form with **Upward review** on, **Minimum responses** at 3 and **Minimum days in the company** at 90. Jakub's four reports on the Platform team all joined more than 90 days before the round opened on 1 October, so all four are asked. Three send answers by 11 October, the last day of collection, and one declines. On "Sets clear expectations", two chose Meets and one Exceeds, so Jakub and Marta, Jakub's reviewer, see those counts. On "Supports my growth", two picked a point and one chose **Not sure**, so that question reads "Fewer than 3 answers, so this is not shown."

> [!AGENT]
> Help me draft my anonymous upward feedback for Jakub in SquadBear. I pick every rating and send it myself.

## 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/)