Research states that efficient product managers can increase the revenue of a company by 34.2%. Collecting feedback from managers is really important for the overall growth of a company.

In a product manager performance review, managers are evaluated by their immediate superiors in terms of their work output, efficiency, and team handling skills, and help them set new performance goals.

Points to Consider for Product Manager Performance Review

Companies are now shifting towards making product manager reviews more frequent and informal instead of half-yearly or quarterly as they make it difficult to track progress. If you are conducting performance reviews for product managers frequently, then you can customize our once and set-up schedule for the rolling out of the survey.

But, before you know what questions to ask in the manager review, there are some points you can consider so that your process goes smoothly.

Right KPIs

Every job profile has different performance indicators. For a task-based job, it may be the number of tasks done in a given time period. For a result-oriented job, it can be the quality of output. Before the product manager performance review begins, set proper KPIs, understand the responsibilities of the manager, and make sure that the product manager evaluation is fair.

Give valid reasons for criticism

There may be cases where the product managers may not have met the targets. Don’t criticize them right away. Understand their side of the problem. Even then, if you feel that criticism is fair enough, give valid reasons. Product managers can work on your suggestions and set new performance goals for themselves.

Give them a chance to self-evaluate

Before you circulate a product manager performance review template to the team or employees, give a chance to the product manager to self-assess. This will be a nice benchmark for them to have a fair discussion during one-to-one meetings. They will be ready to put forward their point of view as well. Preferably, ask the same questions during self-assessment as you are asking during performance reviews.

Customize this template by referring to other product manager performance review examples and conducting thorough reviews.

Benefits of using the Product Manager Performance Review Template

Real-time Analysis using Dashboards

The data collected from this review, once filled out by senior management, can be analyzed through customized dashboards that automatically get created for any sort of data. Insights from these dashboards can then be shared with the product managers themselves, if required, for further improvement suggestions. In this way of maintaining complete transparency, they will also be able to understand their own performance better and act upon it immediately.

Reporting Features

Using the recurring feature plus advanced analysis and reporting features, companies can get these reviews filled out regularly at multiple intervals throughout the year and download the available Excel or SPSS report for further analysis. They can opt to do the analysis themselves using this software instead of gathering insights from the automatically created dashboards; they may also opt to use a combination of both in their analysis. These reports would be extremely helpful in gauging the current performance and identifying the scope for improvement.

Reduce Human Error

Using questions like constant sum, managers will be able to calculate performance calculations and metrics. This would save them time and bring instant results; it would also help product managers identify their shortcomings by seeing performance scores up front. This template can have rating questions for both product managers and their reviewers to rate their performance. This will help the process be more automated, removing the scope of human errors.

Blends with your workflow

This template will automatically route feedback to the right people, help companies cover micro or macro actions, and control crucial outcomes better. It will seamlessly blend with workflows through integrations with the company’s management and communication software. Managers can create personalized experiences. It allows the scheduling of automated reminders based on any conditions, workflow milestones, or specific times of the year.

Sample Product Manager Performance Review Questions

1. How effectively do you communicate the vision and strategy of the product?
2. Can you provide an instance where you successfully aligned product strategy with the requirements of clients?
3. What are your strategies for prioritizing product needs based on customer’s needs?
4. Do you always take into consideration customer feedback while designing the product?
5. Provide an example where you incorporated insights from customer feedback into product development.
6. How well do you take negative feedback from customers for one of your products?
7. As a manager, how effectively do you collaborate with other teams like designers, marketers, sales, etc?
8. How do you resolve conflicts with other departments for a product’s success?
9. Innovation has more value than experience. What do you think of this statement?
10. Were you always able to meet deadlines for a product’s deployment?
11. According to you, what are the success factors of a product launch?
12. How do you reward excellence in your team?
13. Do you take necessary actions against underperforming product KPIs?
14. As a product manager, how do you approach conflicts, priorities, or limited resources?
15. What areas do you feel you improved over the years?
16. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your performance as a product manager?

Did you like these questions? Explore more by clicking ‘Use this Template’ above and sign up for free to get started.