How Quarterly and Annual Reviews Work in Ninety
The primary use of the 1-on-1 tool is to facilitate quarterly or annual discussions between a leader and a team member. Annual and Quarterly Reviews follow the same four-step process:
The Manager creates the Review.
Both parties fill out the forms prior to the scheduled meeting.
The Manager starts the meeting in Ninety to see both responses in a side-by-side view.
The Review is signed and completed.
All discussions and answers are saved indefinitely within Ninety. They can also be printed as a PDF.
For the workflow of each review type, see Preparing and Running a Quarterly Review and Preparing and Running an Annual Review.
Role permissions
Owners, Admins, and Coaches can see all Reviews in their company and create Reviews for any team.
Managers can see all Reviews they're a part of and create (or delete) Reviews for their team.
Team Members can see all Reviews they're a part of and create Reviews. They cannot view all company Reviews or Review settings.
Observers do not see the 1-on-1 tool.
For a full breakdown of what each role can do across all tools, see User Roles and Permissions.
Creating a Review
Creating a Quarterly or Annual Review in Ninety kicks off the whole review process. Once created, both the Manager and Team Member are notified and can begin filling out their forms.
Anyone can create a Quarterly or Annual Review between two people. This means assistants, HR professionals, meeting facilitators, and others can quickly set up a review between any Ninety users in the company.
Navigate to the 1-on-1 tool and click the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab.
Click + Create Review (or + Quarterly Review in the upper right if reviews already exist).
On the Overview tab, title the review and add an optional description.
Choose a Time Period date range to pull in the managee's Rocks, To-Dos, and KPIs.
Set a Due Date for both parties to complete their forms before the meeting.
Confirm the Manager (this defaults to the user creating the review).
Add managees: click Select All My Direct Reports to add all of your direct reports at once (Ninety creates a separate review for each person selected), or click Add Managee(s) to add individual team members one at a time.
For each managee, select their Seat from the dropdown. If a managee holds multiple Seats, choose the Seat most relevant to this review.
Multi-seat scorecard display: If a managee holds multiple Seats, the review displays all Scorecard measurables assigned to that person — not just those tied to the selected Seat. Selecting a Seat determines which seat's roles and responsibilities are shown in the review form, but does not filter the KPI data. All of the person's measurables across all seats will appear.
Click the Settings tab to adjust any review-specific settings before creating.
Click Create Review. Ninety sends a notification email to both the Manager and each managee.
Note: Only the participants listed in a review can complete its forms.
Editing a Review
Overview tab
After you've created a Review, you can edit various fields related to the forms and meeting. For example, if you schedule the Due Date as March 10 but one of the participants has a conflict, you can change that Due Date without deleting the current Review and creating a new one.
Editable fields: Name, description, and due date (only the Manager can edit the due date). Edits can only happen before the Review as a whole is complete. A complete Review can mean a meeting was held, or forms are complete (if a meeting isn't going to be held). The Review becomes locked at that point.
Settings tab
The Settings tab is accessible and viewable by both users, but only the Manager on the Review can edit the settings.
Before someone starts the form, all the settings can be edited.
Once the Review is started, settings cannot be edited. You see the message "Review in progress, these cannot be changed."
To change the questions and commitments used in Review forms, see Customizing 1-on-1 Review Questions.
Viewing past responses
Click 1-on-1 from the left navigation.
Choose either the Quarterly Reviews or Annual Reviews tab.
Toggle Show Completed to on.
This provides a list of all previously completed Reviews with the Manager's name, the Team Member's name, the date it was completed, and the PDF form, which you can view in Ninety or print for your records.
Note: You cannot view past responses for deleted teams.
How to delete a Review
To delete a scheduled review for any reason, the Manager who scheduled the review should:
Click the ellipsis at the end of the review's row.
Click Delete from the options shown.
If the Manager who created the review is no longer at your company, contact support to remove the review for you.
Frequently asked questions
If someone holds multiple Seats, which Scorecard measurables appear in their Quarterly Review?
Scorecard data in a review is tied to the person, not the Seat. All measurables assigned to that person — across all of their Seats — will appear in the review. Selecting a specific Seat during review creation determines which seat's roles and responsibilities are shown, but does not limit the KPI data displayed.
What if a measurable has no Seat selected — will it still show in the review?
Yes. Measurables that are assigned to a person but not tied to a specific Seat will still appear in their Quarterly Review, since review data is pulled by person rather than by Seat assignment.