Performance Review Template
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Performance Review Template
Free editable Word guide you can copy, fill in, and share with your band. Also readable on this page.
How to use this guide
Template for conducting band member performance reviews. Filled honestly, one page per member turns a tense hour into named wins, chosen growth edges, and dated next commitments.
Cadence: complete one page per member each quarter or after a tour leg, file the pages together, and open the following session by reading last period's commitments aloud.
Unspoken scorekeeping becomes politics. Structured review—under any name—is kinder long-term than silent resentments that explode on tour.
What to cover
Cover five dimensions — reliability, musical development, ops contribution, stagecraft, and collaboration — then flip it: what does the band owe this person in coaching, gear budget, or saner scheduling? A conversation that only criticizes without naming the support on offer produces fear and quiet job-hunting, not improvement.
Bound the scope to a defined stretch — last quarter or the tour leg that ended Sunday — so the hour stays about recent evidence instead of becoming a lifetime trial. Older grievances that never made the agenda in their own season forfeit the right to dominate this one.
How to run it
Run these conversations on a fixed cadence with shared standards, citing specific moments — the load-in one member handled alone in Tulsa, the bridge that fell apart twice in June — while keeping the tone calm and aimed at behavior rather than character. Vague character verdicts invite defensiveness; timestamped examples invite problem-solving.
Finish with one change per person, each carrying a name and a deadline, and book the following session before anyone leaves the room. A conversation without written outcomes is theater that burns trust while posing as professionalism, so put the agreed items on a single page and open next month by reading them aloud.
Tone and cadence
Aim every comment at something that can change in the coming quarter, because 'your timing drifts when tempos exceed 150' is actionable while 'you seem checked out lately' is just a fog machine. Forward-looking specifics let people succeed at the follow-up instead of bracing for it like a sentencing.
Quarterly, or once after each tour leg, suits most groups: constant evaluation turns the band into a politics simulator, while total silence lets pressure build until it vents mid-soundcheck. Pick a rhythm, put it on the calendar, and treat skipping it like skipping a paid gig.
Fill-in: Review notes
Period: ________
Wins: ________
Growth edges: ________
Support needed: ________
Next commitments: ________
Putting it into practice
Put a review date on the calendar this quarter.
FAQ
Is a performance review too corporate for bands?
The name is optional; the function is not. Unspoken scorekeeping becomes politics. Structured review is kinder long-term.
What should a review cover?
Reliability, musical growth, contribution to ops, stage craft, and collaboration—plus support the band owes them.
How do we review peers without a hierarchy?
Round-robin prompts or facilitator-led shares. Avoid anonymous smear channels.
What outcomes can a review produce?
Praise, skill plans, role changes, or exit paths. Reviews without outcomes are theater.
