Choose questions for the conversation
This library contains 100 prompts in ten themes. Select a small set that fits the role and the purpose of the conversation. Do not turn all 100 into a compulsory form. Ask for specific examples and listen for context before interpreting the answer.
Contribution
- Which piece of work made the greatest difference?
- What result are you most proud of?
- Which contribution was least visible to others?
- What evidence best demonstrates your impact?
- Where did you improve an existing process?
- What did you help someone else achieve?
- Which outcome differed from your expectations?
- What would not have happened without your contribution?
- Where did you use your strengths most effectively?
- What should we understand about the context of your results?
Goals
- Which goal was most meaningful?
- Which goal needs to change?
- What progress did you make against the original baseline?
- Which dependency affected your progress?
- Was the success measure useful?
- What did you stop doing when priorities changed?
- Which goal was unclear at the start?
- How did your work connect to team priorities?
- What would make the next goal more realistic?
- Which new priority deserves attention?
Collaboration
- Who helped you succeed?
- Where did a handover work well?
- What information was difficult to get?
- How did you resolve a disagreement?
- Which relationship needs more attention?
- Where did you support another team?
- What would collaborators say made working with you easier?
- Which shared decision could have been clearer?
- How did you make space for a different perspective?
- What could improve coordination next time?
Feedback
- What feedback changed your approach?
- Which feedback was difficult to interpret?
- What example helped you understand a strength?
- Where would you like more specific feedback?
- How did you follow up on an agreed change?
- What feedback have you given your manager?
- When did you ask someone to challenge your thinking?
- Which assumption did you revise after listening?
- What feedback would be useful from project colleagues?
- How could we make feedback easier to act on?
Learning
- What did you learn from a setback?
- Which new skill did you practise?
- Where did you apply something you learned?
- What would you approach differently now?
- Which experiment produced useful learning?
- Who helped you develop a capability?
- What knowledge would you like to share?
- Which task stretched you constructively?
- Where do you need more practice?
- What learning opportunity would fit your next project?
Support
- What blocker can your manager help remove?
- Which decision needs clearer ownership?
- What information do you need sooner?
- Where was the workload difficult to sustain?
- Which tool or process caused avoidable friction?
- What support was most useful?
- What support arrived too late?
- What should your manager start doing?
- What should your manager stop doing?
- What should your manager continue doing?
Quality
- What does good work look like in your role?
- Which quality expectation was unclear?
- Where did you prevent a problem?
- What rework could have been avoided?
- How did you test whether an output was useful?
- Which trade-off required a careful judgement?
- Where did you improve consistency?
- What would a receiving team change about your output?
- How did you respond when an error was found?
- Which quality habit should you strengthen?
Leadership
- How did you help others understand a decision?
- Where did you delegate effectively?
- What did you learn from someone with less formal authority?
- How did you create clarity during change?
- Which conversation did you postpone?
- How did you help a colleague grow?
- Where did you take responsibility for a difficult outcome?
- How did you invite challenge?
- Which leadership behaviour needs practice?
- What example shows the effect of your leadership?
Development
- Which capability matters most for your next step?
- What work would let you practise it?
- Who could coach or mentor you?
- What would progress look like in a month?
- What development action is within your control?
- What support must the organisation provide?
- Which strength could you apply in a new setting?
- What opportunity would you like to explore?
- How will you gather feedback on your development?
- When should we review the plan?
Reflection and next steps
- What important context have we missed?
- Where do our perspectives differ?
- Which fact in the review needs correcting?
- What feels clearest after this conversation?
- What remains unresolved?
- What is the most useful next action?
- Who owns each agreed follow-up?
- What could prevent us following through?
- How should we stay in touch about progress?
- What would make the next review more useful?
Put the answers to work
Summarise what is agreed, note where perspectives differ and choose a practical next step. Use the performance review template to record the conversation and the review guide to prepare.
Take it into your next conversation.
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