Never giving your project team and project manager any feedback with a performance review is a recipe for success!
Just kidding. Failure. It’s a recipe for failure.
People need to know when they’re doing a good job. Every dog needs a bone, and giving your team positive feedback is a great morale booster.
A project management performance evaluation motivates your PMs to keep delivering, kicking as$ and taking names.
On the flip side:
You’re not Meryl Streep, and this isn’t The Devil Wears Prada. Constructive criticism is still criticism, even if it’s necessary.
If your project team members are struggling, this project manager performance review accomplishments sample and template will help you soften the blow. This will set your project team members up for success in the future.
In this template, you’ll find a project management performance review sample for every situation:
- The project management team is doing great and knocking it out of the park!
- You’re doing a pretty good job. Thanks. Keep doing that.
- WTF team?! Let’s fix these things for better luck next time.
We’ll also cover self-evaluation samples for your project manager to get their gears rolling.
Adjust that cape. Time to get you in the driver’s seat of change and motivate your project management team.
What do you write in a performance review example?
The entire point of giving a performance review is to clearly communicate positive and constructive feedback. Your project management employees need clear, helpful communication to do their jobs well.
But get this:
74% of workers leave a performance review unsure of what their managers actually think of their performance.
That’s messed up. So why does it happen?
Mostly, it’s because the reviews are seriously lacking in specific, clear language. More statistics back this up: 79% of employees think their company’s review process stinks.
If you’ve already put in place an employee’s performance evaluation review process, good job. But chances are, it could probably use some work.
The samples in this article use precise language that’ll help your project management employees know precisely what they’re doing well or could stand to improve.
And another tip:
If you don’t find what you’re looking for on this list and want to craft your own, always keep in mind that being specific will go a long way to driving change and motivating your project management team.
Project management performance accomplishments sample: Butts be sore because you’re kicking ‘em.
Use these performance review phrases when your team and project manager are exceeding expectations:
- Appropriately prioritizes, determines, and coordinates the proper measures for the project team for achieving objectives
- Adequately controls the project activities and progress with a results-oriented mindset
- Is efficient and effective in meeting deadlines when under pressure and when not under pressure
- Is supportive of the team and motivates them to cooperate and accomplish their goals
- Recognizes each team member’s contribution, strengths, and weaknesses and is fair when dealing with each person
- Adequately translates the company’s vision to the project tasks
- Understands and works within the organization and team structures with ease
- Consistently produces concise, clear status reports
- Engages in tactful communication
- Is a good listener
- Has a positive attitude and leadership skills
- Is forthcoming and professional when issues arise with project tasks
- Identifies and tackles internal and external problems with the team’s projects
- Develops effective, analytical mitigation plans
You can also get specific with numbers, results, and tasks. Consider using these employee performance review phrases during your next evaluation:
- Exceeded the original goal of X with X%
- Increased production by X% on (task)
- Excelled at developing strategies that delivered X
If you want your project management employees to keep doing a good job, tell them. Positive feedback lets your project managers know where they stand with your expectations and how to meet and exceed them.
Performance evaluation samples for when your project manager meets expectations
Use these performance review phrases when your project manager is doing a good enough job, and you’re pleased with the results:
- Knows how financial decisions affect the company’s bottom line.
- Is competent with general accounting and financial planning that directly impact projects
- Sets achievable goals and maintains a positive outlook
- Provides constructive feedback
- Is on top of technological changes and levels up their skills, positively impacting project completion
- Ensures that resources and tools needed for projects are easy to access
- Puts together teams with the right skills
- Trains team members in skills required for the project
- Is good at delegating tasks and promoting interaction between team members
- Maintains a clear and consistent team structure
- Analyzes problems, evaluates solutions, chooses appropriate fixes, and implements them.
- Adequately resolves conflicts
- Is good at nurturing lasting relationships with key stakeholders
- Manages competing priorities effectively
- Meets tight deadlines consistently.
- Understands how to apply established processes and tools to meet project requirements
- Creates clear project contracts and knows how to administer them
Performance review samples for when things go pear-shaped
Your project manager may be struggling in their role right now. But do they know why?
These project management performance review samples get specific with where things are going wrong and can compel your PMs to change how they do things:
- Focuses too much time on own work instead of working with team members, clients, and key stakeholders
- Is too quick to assume what the project is about. Delegates tasks immediately before developing a detailed plan
- Poor communication skills hamper their ability to know who does what, when, and whether deliverables are completed.
- Isn’t collaborating with other members of the project management team or clients to understand the objectives
- Isn’t mindful of deadlines
- Fails to inform key personnel and clients when the project is experiencing problems
- Doesn’t have adequate time management skills. Isn’t monitoring projects during the critical stages to determine if things are on schedule
- Won’t take ownership of the project and demonstrates an unwillingness to commit or see projects through to completion
- Doesn’t develop contingencies in case of potential pitfalls
- Does not propose workable solutions to problems
- Won’t investigate if certain factors, such as lack of training, could impact project quality
- Doesn’t intervene when projects are going off the tracks
- Doesn’t keep a close eye on performance
If your project manager is struggling, but you’ve noticed they’re trying to approve, let them know with these samples:
- Has been developing methods to improve (X)
- Thinks of new strategies to increase efficiency or improve (X)
- Continues to improve in performing (X) duties
- Has devised creative ways to solve (X) problem
What are some examples of positive feedback for a project manager?
Okay, it’s time for a palette cleanser. Use these specific, positive phrases in your project management performance review sample to motivate your employees:
- Provides continuous coaching and encouragement for the team
- Has improved admin support systems via (task)
- Is good at organizing documents for (X task), avoiding duplicate information
- Is esteemed throughout the organization for sharing concerns and opportunities
- Demonstrates a sincere interest in other team members and offering solutions to their problems
- Exceeds expectations for facilitating communication and collaboration with the team and clients
- Effectively communicates laterally, upward, and downward
- Keeps meetings organized and action-oriented by task
- Is skilled at enforcing company policies without offense
- Uses (X) to build and strengthen relationships
- Demonstrates cooperation by (X)
- Gladly shares knowledge and expertise
- Initiates and performs creative solutions like (example)
- Encourages and helps team members gain visibility and recognition by (task)
- Can turn visions into actual plans and gets results aligned with the company’s vision
- Demonstrates the ability to turn ideas into action
- Excels at contributing to the company’s goals
- Creates concise, efficient meeting agendas
- Is respectful of others time
- Finds practical, efficient uses for discretionary time
- Maintains environments that help individual employees grow
- Gives team members clear direction and responsibilities
- Is easy to contact and freely provides support
- Is quick to recognize and deal with signs of burnout in employees
Self-evaluation samples for project managers
Use these in your self-evaluation template for your PMs:
- What methods did you use to investigate and determine the key project phases?
- What do you do to mitigate your team?
- How do you communicate with key stakeholders?
- What communication methods have you used that have directly impacted project success?
- Give a real-life example of how your problem-solving skills have helped you reach project goals
- How did you communicate a critical message to your team or client?
- How do you confirm the accuracy of information from team members, clients, and stakeholders?
- What did you do to track the project’s progress?
- Describe when and how you prevented a project from falling apart
- How do you ensure that your team hits deadlines and exceeds expectations?
- What’s the biggest challenge you faced in your last project? What did you do to overcome it, and what did you learn?
- What do you think is the most essential quality to have as a project manager?
- Describe the entire project lifecycle. How have you used the lifecycle to adequately manage projects?
- What was the most challenging project you’ve ever worked on? Why was it so difficult, and what did you do to reach your goals and complete the project?
Project management performance review sample: Remember these key points
You’ve heard the phrase talk is cheap. Even positive feedback and constructive criticism will fall flat with your employees if they aren’t backed with specifics.
Typically, review cycles occur in 12-month intervals. It’s way too easy to forget what happened back in month two, whether it was a positive or negative performance.
If you see something, say something. If a PM implemented a creative solution to a serious problem, jot that down. Somebody keeps missing the mark with project deadlines? Make a note of it.
Remember to refer back to specific scenarios during performance reviews.
Even if your performance reviews occur once a year, make performance reviewing a regular thing. Discuss and record milestones and accomplishments, and challenges as they happen. Keep records of it and make sure your documents are organized.
Crowdsource your information among team leads, peers, and employees in different departments to get the complete picture of how your project management team performs in key areas.
Accurate, specific feedback gives your employees a better understanding of what they’re doing well and where and how they can improve.
How can you set your PMs up for success? With scalable project management.
Organized client folders, automated workflows, owner dashboards for accountability are just some of the systems we implement to give your PMs the tools they need to succeed.
Reach out to us today, and let’s talk.
![Project Manager Performance Review Accomplishments [Sample Included] (2024)](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/h8AAvMB+NzmkbcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=)