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Create and manage review cycles

This page is for admins and review owners who design and run review cycles.

Before you start​

Have these decisions ready so setup is fast:

  • The purpose of the review (performance, promotion, onboarding, offboarding, project)
  • The reviewees (everyone, departments, or specific people)
  • The stages you want (self, manager, panel)
  • When it should run and whether it should repeat

Step by step setup​

  1. Go to Performance > Reviews.
  2. Open the Manage / Results tab.
  3. Click Create Cycle. Choose Template, AI Assist, or From scratch based on how much structure you want upfront.
  4. Add a title and description so reviewers understand the purpose.
  5. Open Review Settings to configure schedule, timing, audience, and access.
  6. Add stages and questions.
  7. Publish the cycle when you are ready to send it.

After creation, you will land on the review cycle editor where you can add stages, edit questions, and publish.

Manage / Results tab at a glance​

This tab shows review cycles you own, manage, or have analytics access to. You can:

  • Filter by title
  • Toggle Only Published to narrow the list
  • Open View Results for any run you have access to

Review settings deep dive​

Schedule​

  • Manual: Choose a start date and time. Optionally repeat on a cadence.
  • Onboarding or Offboarding: Trigger reviews automatically at Day 1, 30, 60, or 90.

Only owners can change the trigger type.

Stage timing​

  • One after another: Stages open in order. Each stage starts after the prior stage closes.
  • All at once (blind): All stages open together. Each stage still has its own deadline, and reviewers cannot see others' submitted responses until they submit their own.

Audience​

  • Everyone in the workspace
  • Specific departments (only people with assigned levels are included)
  • Specific people

Access and visibility​

  • Additional owners can manage the cycle and see results.
  • Leaders can view results for their reporting line.

Build stages​

Each stage defines who reviews and how long they have.

  • Reviewer type: Self, Manager, or Panel
  • Duration: Number of days reviewers have to complete the stage
  • Description: Instructions shown to reviewers

To add a stage, click New Stage in the cycle editor and fill in the details.

Panel stages​

For panel stages, choose how panel members are selected:

  • Choose now for a fixed panel
  • Manager chooses later
  • Reviewee chooses later
  • Manager or reviewee chooses later

If selection happens later, make sure that person has a stage they can access before the panel stage closes (for example, a self or manager stage).

Add questions​

Add questions to each stage. Available types include:

  • Rating
  • Yes/No
  • Single choice
  • Multiple choice
  • Open text
  • Info block

You can reorder questions in a stage, mark questions required, and allow free text comments on rating or choice questions.

Tips for higher quality responses:

  • Use 1 to 2 rating questions and 1 open text question per stage.
  • Keep questions focused on observable behavior or outcomes.
  • Use the stage description to clarify expectations and definitions.

You can also use AI to refine or calibrate questions when needed.

Publish and unpublish​

  • Publish sends notifications based on the schedule and makes the cycle active.
  • Unpublish stops future sends. People who already received it can still complete their reviews until the deadline.

To publish, a cycle must include:

  • An audience
  • At least one stage
  • At least one question per stage

The Publish button shows what is missing if the cycle is not ready.

On the Community Plan, review cycles are limited to 3 total.

Manage active runs​

Use Run Overview from the review menu to:

  • See the current run status
  • Add reviewees to the active run
  • Open full results

If a review has already gone out and you change the audience or start time, ClarityLoop schedules a new send for the next run. Existing responses remain unchanged.

Other actions in the cycle editor​

From the cycle menu you can:

  • Open Review Settings
  • Open Run Overview for the latest run
  • Clone the cycle to reuse it
  • Delete the cycle

Common pitfalls​

  • Publishing without clear instructions leads to vague responses. Use the stage description.
  • Panel selection set to "choose later" requires action before the stage closes.
  • Long stages reduce completion rates. Two weeks per stage is a solid default.

Next steps: