As a team leader, you have a lot on your plate. Even if you have the best intentions of regularly checking in with your team, you might have a hard time doing so if you don’t set aside time for weekly reviews.
Weekly reviews are great on a personal level for increasing productivity like David Allen’s GTD methodology suggests. But the methodology should also be considered for your 1:1 meetings with employees. Translating this idea into any type of meeting will encourage transparency, connectivity, and help with monitoring progress and addressing problems. As a manger of others, you need to go into your meetings with a plan, otherwise you won’t see the sort of results you’re looking for.
This guide provides a detailed weekly review template to help you get the most out of your team review process.
How Can Managers Use A Weekly Review?
A weekly review is essentially a time management strategy ignited by externally recording tasks and reviewing them. Helping employees to clarify, review, and spark new ideas AKA get creative!
A weekly review creates a time and place for you to do the following:
- Gain clarity on how things are going
- Make sure everything is on track to be completed on time
- Get creative and find new solutions to existing problems
Weekly reviews can be conducted on a personal level, in team meetings, and most effectively for 1:1s between employees and team leaders. Our 1:1 weekly review template yields great results in order to understand how your teammates are doing.
The following are some of the greatest benefits that can result from conducting a 1:1 weekly review:
- Increased trust: Meeting one-on-one makes it easier for team members to develop trust in their managers; this helps them to feel more comfortable at work and improves their performance.
- Direct feedback: Conducting a 1:1 weekly review makes it easier for team leaders to give each team member direct feedback on their performance — nobody falls through the cracks.
- Increased engagement: 1:1 meetings are a great tool for increasing employee development, giving team members the tools they need to succeed, and boosting engagement across the board.
At first, team leaders might be a bit hesitant about dedicating time each week to 1:1 meetings with each member of their team. As long as you have a template to reference, though, it’ll be easier for you to stay on track, use your time appropriately, and get things done.
Weekly Review Template for Managers
At the end of each week, a manager should set aside time in their work planning tool for reviews. During these reviews, they should address the following things with each team member.
Point 1: “What plans did you set for yourself”?
Start with a summary of the past week. Address what each team member had planned and the goals they set to accomplish for themselves.
This is a good time for reflection and gives team members a chance to look back on their performance and their intentions over the past several days.
Point 2: “What was your progress like”?
The next step is to continue with the reflection and talk about progress.
How well did each team member’s actions over the past week match up with their goals? How much progress did they make toward accomplishing these goals and getting things done?
Remember, this isn’t meant to cause anyone to feel ashamed or guilty because they didn’t accomplish as much as they’d like. Instead, it should encourage them to be honest about their progress and identify potential roadblocks that got in their way.
Point 3: “What held you back from accomplishing what you wanted”?
If a team member didn’t accomplish all of their goals or make much progress this week, the next step in your weekly review should be to find out why.
At this point in the meeting, get curious. Ask each team member what held them back from accomplishing what they wanted to accomplish.
You should also ask how you — or other members of the team — can help them so they’re able to get more done in the coming week. Taking this approach helps your team members feel more supported and lets them know that you’re on their side.
Point 4: “What are your plans for next week”?
The fourth matter to address during the review is what each team member’s plans are for next week. Find out what their goals are, as well as which tasks are at the top of their priority list.
During this stage of the weekly review, you may be able to provide some insight. After you learn about your team members’ plans for the next week, you can help them prioritize their to-do lists effectively. This increases their chances of making meaningful progress in the coming week.
Point 5: Both sides share feedback with one another
Ideally, your weekly reviews will involve both getting and giving feedback.
It’s expected that you’ll provide feedback to your team members during these meetings. You might express your appreciation for their hard work, let them know how you think they’re doing, or tell them what you think they could improve. But it’s a two way street – so make sure you’re seeking feedback from each team member to improve your own management skills.
It’s equally important to check in with how they’re doing on a personal level. Try to gauge their emotional well-being and overall satisfaction at work. This builds trust over time and shows your team members that you care about them and want them to succeed.
Our Pocket Productivity Notebook is a great option for managers and employees to keep track of weekly plans – getting more work done in a quarter! Enjoy!
Create Your Weekly Review Template Today
Weekly reviews — especially 1:1 weekly reviews — are an excellent tool for team leaders who want to gain more insight into their team’s performance and set them up for long-term success.
- A weekly review is a weekly meeting that allows team leaders to gain clarity, monitor progress, and find creative solutions to problems;
- Weekly reviews are best conducted as 1:1 meetings because this allows for more trust, more opportunities to provide feedback, and increased employee engagement;
- Ideally, a weekly review will take place at the end of the week and follow a weekly review template;
- Team managers should address what each team member had planned, what kind of progress they made, what held them back from accomplishing their plans, and what their plans are for the coming week;
- Weekly reviews should also feature two-way feedback — team leaders should give feedback to team members, and vice versa.
For team leaders who need more help conducting effective weekly reviews, Weekdone Team Compass is a great tool to try.
Weekdone Team Compass helps teams set goals, connect their weekly plans, see each others’ progress, and report problems as they arise. It makes weekly reviews simple and effective.
Team Compass offers its own 1:1 weekly chat feature, which reminds managers to check in on employees and see how they’re doing without interrupting the workflow. Team managers also get an overview of what’s going on and gain a better understanding of employees’ workload and emotional well-being. They can then reach out easily when problems arise.
Check out Weekdone Team Compass today to learn more.