Latest / New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics / How New Managers Can Navigate Their First Performance Reviews
Transcript
- Lucas: So it's late July 2026, which means a lot of companies are either wrapping up mid-year reviews or kicking off the second-half performance cycle. And for new managers — especially those promoted in the last six to twelve months — this is often the first time they're sitting on the other side of the table, evaluating their own team members. Luna: Yeah, I remember my first review cycle as a manager. I was more nervous than the person I was reviewing. I had no idea how to calibrate what 'good' looked like. Lucas: That's exactly what we're diving into today. And I want to anchor on a real case. There's a woman named Sarah — first-time manager at a mid-sized software company, inherited a team of six with mixed tenure. Some folks had been there years, others were relatively new. Her first review cycle was a mess of anxiety and second-guessing. Luna: What went wrong? Lucas: She made the mistake most new managers make. She treated the review as a verdict — like she was a judge delivering a sentence. She gathered all her observations alone, wrote up ratings, and then presented them to each person. It felt like a one-way street. A couple of her directs got defensive, one cried, and Sarah walked away feeling like she'd damaged relationships. Luna: Oof. And I think the instinct to 'get it right' by preparing everything in advance is natural. But it backfires when you haven't socialised any of it beforehand. Lucas: Right. So the first frame shift for new managers is this: a performance review is not a verdict. It's a conversation. And the best conversations start with context. Sarah's second cycle, she took a different approach. About three weeks before the review, she sent each person a short email saying, 'I'm starting to gather notes for your review. I'd love for you to reflect on a few things: What were your biggest wins this period? What challenges did you face? What support do you need from me going forward?' She asked them to come to the review with their own self-assessment. Luna: That's smart. It shifts the dynamic from 'here's what I think of you' to 'let's compare notes and align.' Lucas: Exactly. And the second thing Sarah did — she gathered input from peers and stakeholders. She reached out to three people who worked closely with each direct report and asked a simple question: 'What's one thing this person does that helps the team succeed, and one area where you'd like to see growth?' Luna: That prevents the 'solo manager blind spot' — where you only see someone through your own limited interactions. Lucas: Totally. Now, a quick honest thing — and this ties back to why we can spend time on episodes like this. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, that's the place. No pressure at all. Luna: Yeah, it's a small group that keeps this ad-free and focused on practical stuff. Appreciate everyone who does. Lucas: So back to Sarah. With that peer input and the self-assessments, her reviews became two-way conversations. She'd start with 'Tell me about your biggest win this quarter,' then share what she'd heard from others. She framed it as data points, not accusations. And she used a structure called start stop continue. Luna: I love that framework. Can you break it down? Lucas: Sure. Start means 'What should this person start doing that they're not doing now?' Stop means 'What should they stop doing because it's not effective or it's hurting the team?' Continue means 'What are they doing well that you want to see more of?' It's concrete, behavioral, and it's future-focused. Instead of just saying 'You need to improve your communication,' you say 'I'd like you to start sending a weekly update to the team so everyone knows where you are on project X.' Luna: That's so much more actionable than 'be more proactive.' And it also helps anchor the rating. If someone gets a 'meets expectations' but you can point to three things they should continue and one thing to start, it feels fair. Lucas: Exactly. And the rating itself — new managers often agonise over whether to give a 'needs improvement' or a 'strongly meets.' Sarah's mistake the first time was avoiding any negative rating. She gave everyone a solid 'meets' because she didn't want conflict. But one person on her team was genuinely underperforming, and by not naming it, she delayed their growth and frustrated the rest of the team. Luna: That's the 'nice manager trap.' You think you're being kind, but you're actually being unfair to the people who are carrying the load. Lucas: Right. So her second cycle, she gave one person a 'needs improvement.' But she paired it with a specific development plan: 'Over the next 90 days, I want to see you hit these three milestones. I'll check in every two weeks. Here's the training budget if you need it.' That's coaching, not punishing. Luna: And what about the person who exceeded? Did Sarah overcorrect in the other direction? Lucas: She didn't. She gave one person 'exceeds expectations' and used the start stop continue to outline how they could grow further — maybe take on a stretch project or mentor a junior teammate. She also made sure to calibrate with her own manager and HR to ensure her ratings were consistent with the rest of the department. Luna: Calibration is huge. New managers often don't realise that their rating for a 'strong' performer might be a 'meets' in a different team where everyone is strong. Context matters. Lucas: Huge. So let's talk about one more pitfall: recency bias. A direct report might have crushed it in the last month, but struggled the first five. Or vice versa. Sarah's first review was heavily influenced by the most recent project. So she learned to keep a running document — once a month, she'd jot down one or two observations per person. That way, when review time came, she had six months of data, not just one memory. Luna: That's a great habit. And it makes the review feel less like a gotcha. The person can see you've been paying attention all along. Lucas: Exactly. The final piece I'll mention is the delivery itself. New managers often read from a script or talk too much. Sarah learned to ask open-ended questions and listen more than she spoke. She'd say, 'How do you think this period went?' and then really listen. She'd share her perspective, but she'd always tie it back to the data she'd collected. Luna: And what about the emotional side? Some people cry, some get angry. How do you handle that as a new manager? Lucas: Sarah had one person who got defensive when she mentioned an area for improvement. She'd prepared for that. She paused, said 'I can see this is hard to hear. My intention is to help you grow, not to criticise. Let's take a step back if you need.' She didn't back down on the feedback, but she acknowledged the emotion. That's a skill you have to practice. Luna: It's like the old saying: 'Feedback is a gift.' But it's a gift you have to wrap carefully. Lucas: Exactly. So let's land this. For any new manager heading into their first review cycle: prepare by gathering input, use a framework like start stop continue, avoid recency bias with ongoing notes, calibrate with your own manager, and treat the review as a conversation not a verdict. And if you're honest and specific, you'll build trust even when the message is tough. Luna: And maybe the most important thing — don't wait for the review to give feedback. The review should be a summary of conversations you've already been having all year. Lucas: That's the ideal. Reviews shouldn't contain surprises. If you've been giving ongoing feedback, the review is just a formal recap. So that's the long-term goal. For now, if you're three weeks out from your first review, start collecting those notes today. Luna: Great episode. I'm going to send this to a couple of new manager friends. Lucas: Do it. And as always, we'll be back with another conversation soon.