HR
What Is a Performance Review in Jira?
A performance review (also called a performance appraisal or employee evaluation) is a structured conversation between a manager and an employee that assesses accomplishments, identifies growth areas, and sets goals for the next period.
Running performance reviews inside Jira makes particular sense for software, product, and operations teams who already track work there. Managers can link the review issue directly to the sprints, epics, and stories the employee contributed to — making goal achievement visible and objective rather than relying on memory.
What should a Jira performance review template include?
A well-structured template covers seven areas:
- Employee & reviewer information — who, when, and what role
- Goal review — rated assessment of goals set in the previous cycle
- Core competency ratings — consistent evaluation across the team
- Strengths — specific, example-backed observations
- Areas for improvement — constructive, behaviour-based feedback
- Development plan — concrete action items with owners and dates
- Goals for next period — measurable targets for the next review cycle
Jira Template (Copy & Paste)
How to use: Copy all text inside the box → open a Jira issue → click the Description field → paste. Then fill in the blank fields directly in Jira.
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👤 Employee Information
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Employee Name:
Job Title:
Department:
Manager / Reviewer:
Review Period: e.g. Q2 2025
Review Date:
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📊 Rating Scale
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Use this scale when rating goals and competencies below.
1 – Did not meet expectations
2 – Partially met expectations
3 – Fully met expectations ✓ solid performance
4 – Exceeded expectations
5 – Significantly exceeded ✓ role model
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🎯 Goal Review
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Look back at the goals set last review. How did it go?
Goal 1
What was the goal? →
How well was it achieved? (rate 1–5) →
What's the evidence or story behind this rating? →
Goal 2
What was the goal? →
How well was it achieved? (rate 1–5) →
What's the evidence or story behind this rating? →
Goal 3
What was the goal? →
How well was it achieved? (rate 1–5) →
What's the evidence or story behind this rating? →
Overall score for this period (average of the above): ___ / 5
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💼 Competency Ratings
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Rate 1–5 and add a brief comment with a real example where you can.
Quality of Work
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Collaboration & Teamwork
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Communication
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Problem Solving
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Initiative & Ownership
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Adaptability
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
Leadership (leave blank if not applicable)
Rating: ___ / 5
Comment:
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✅ Key Strengths
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What did this person do really well? Share 2–3 highlights with a real example each.
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📈 Areas to Grow
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Where could this person improve? Be specific and kind — focus on behaviours, not traits.
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🗺️ Development Plan
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Turn the growth areas above into real steps. Add a date and a person responsible.
Step 1
What will happen? →
What support is needed? (training, mentoring, shadowing, etc.) →
By when? →
Who owns this? →
Step 2
What will happen? →
What support is needed? →
By when? →
Who owns this? →
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🎯 Goals for Next Review Period
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Set 2–4 goals for the next cycle. Make each one clear enough that you'll both know
when it's been achieved.
Goal 1
What is the goal? →
How will success be measured? →
Target date: →
Goal 2
What is the goal? →
How will success be measured? →
Target date: →
Goal 3
What is the goal? →
How will success be measured? →
Target date: →
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💬 Employee's Own Words
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This section belongs to the employee. Managers — please don't edit what's written here.
What are you most proud of this period?
What was tough, and what did you learn from it?
How well did you feel supported by your manager and team?
Anything else you'd like to share?
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✍️ Sign-off
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Signing here means this review was discussed together — not that everyone agrees
with every rating.
Manager name:
Signed on:
Employee name:
Signed on:
HR / Skip-level:
Signed on:
💡 Please save a copy of this review to the employee's HR record.
How to Save This as a Reusable Jira Template
Jira does not have native issue templates built in. To save this template so any manager can apply it in one click — without copy-pasting every cycle — use the Easy Templates for Jira app.
Once installed:
- Paste the template into any issue description
- Click "Save as Template" in the Easy Templates panel
- Name it (e.g. "Performance Review — Quarterly")
- From now on, any manager can apply it to a new issue in one click
Free 30-day trial · Free forever for up to 10 users
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Jira for employee performance reviews?
Yes. Jira is highly flexible and supports custom workflows, fields, and issue types that make it well-suited to HR processes like performance reviews. Teams can link reviews to the actual Jira work completed, making appraisals more evidence-based.
What rating scale should I use?
The template uses a 1–5 numeric scale because it balances precision with simplicity. You can also use descriptive labels (Exceeds / Meets / Partially Meets / Does Not Meet) or a 1–10 scale. Choose whichever your HR policy already uses so data stays consistent across systems.
How often should performance reviews be done in Jira?
Most modern agile teams prefer quarterly or semi-annual formal reviews, supplemented by lightweight monthly 1:1 check-ins. Running quarterly reviews in Jira aligns well with OKR cycles and makes it easy to track progress against goals set in the previous review.
Rather than relying on someone to remember to create the review issue each cycle, you can automate it entirely. Easy Templates for Jira supports scheduled, time-based issue creation — so a new Performance Review issue, pre-filled with this template, can be created automatically on a recurring schedule (e.g. the first Monday of every quarter) and assigned to the right manager without any manual work.
There are two ways to set this up:
- Scheduled / time-based creation — use a Jira Automation rule with a Scheduled trigger to call the Easy Templates REST API on a recurring date. See the scheduled issue creation guide →
- Event-triggered creation — trigger the review issue automatically when a specific event happens in Jira (e.g. an onboarding Epic is completed, or a probation period issue is closed). See the Automation & REST API guide →
Can employees fill in their own section?
Yes. Section 9 (Employee Self-Reflection) is specifically for this. In Jira, you can grant the employee edit access to the issue, then restrict editing to the manager once the self-assessment is complete. Alternatively, use the Jira comment section for the employee's input.
How is a performance review different from a 1:1 template?
A 1:1 template captures the agenda and notes for a regular (weekly or bi-weekly) informal check-in. A performance review is a formal document covering an entire review period — goals, competencies, development plans, and official ratings. Reviews happen less frequently and are often tied to compensation or promotion decisions. Both are valuable and complementary.
Is this template free?
Yes, completely free to copy and use. To save it as a reusable one-click template inside Jira, use Easy Templates for Jira — free 30-day trial, free forever for teams up to 10 users.
Template by AppLiger — makers of Easy Templates for Jira More free templates: appliger.com/jira-templates