Skip to main content

Understanding Review Status and Progress

Learn how to monitor review progress, interpret status indicators, and quickly identify which reviews need your attention.

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Once you launch a campaign, you need to track how reviews are progressing. The review system provides visual indicators, status labels, and progress tracking to help you monitor everything at a glance.

This article explains how to read review statuses, understand completion indicators, and use the review interface to stay on top of your campaigns.

πŸ’‘ Still using our previous review system? See Classic Reviews documentation for help with one-on-one and 360 reviews.


Review statuses

Every review moves through a lifecycle from creation to completion. Understanding these statuses helps you know what's happening with each review.

Not started

What it means: The review has been created but hasn't begun yet.

What you see:

  • Status label shows "Not started"

  • No steps are open

  • Participants haven't been notified

  • No one can complete any actions yet

What happens here:
As a review admin, you can view the review details, edit participants, and adjust settings. Once you're ready, you start the review to open the first step.

When you'll see this:
Immediately after adding a reviewee to a campaign but before starting their review. Some organizations create reviews in advance and start them later.

In progress

What it means: The review is active and participants are completing their parts.

What you see:

  • Status label shows "In progress"

  • At least one step is open

  • Participants can complete their actions

  • Progress indicators show who's completed and who hasn't

What happens here:
Reviews stay in this status while moving through steps. The review is "in progress" whether you're on the feedback step, meeting step, or signature step.

When you'll see this:
From the moment you start the review until the final step is complete. Most reviews spend the majority of their time in this status.

Completed

What it means: All steps are finished and the review is done.

What you see:

  • Status label shows "Completed"

  • All steps show as complete

  • Green checkmarks or completion indicators throughout

  • No outstanding actions needed

What happens here:
The review is finalized. You and review viewers can still access all content, but no one can make changes (in the beta version).

When you'll see this:
After the last participant completes the final step (typically signing the review). The review automatically moves to completed status.


Step statuses

Within each review, individual steps also have their own statuses. Understanding these helps you see exactly where each review is in its workflow.

Step not started

What it means: This step hasn't opened yet because previous steps are still in progress.

What you see:

  • Step appears in the step list but is grayed out or marked as upcoming

  • No participants can access it

  • No completion indicators yet

When you'll see this:
For any step after the current one. For example, if you're in the feedback step, the meeting and signature steps show as "not started."

Step in progress

What it means: This step is currently open and participants are completing their parts.

What you see:

  • Step is highlighted or marked as active

  • Participant list shows who's completed and who hasn't

  • You can see partial completion (3 out of 5 feedback givers done)

  • Action buttons appear for participants

When you'll see this:
For the step the review is currently on. Only one step is "in progress" at a time β€” reviews move sequentially through steps.

Step completed

What it means: Everyone has finished this step and the review has moved forward.

What you see:

  • Step shows a completion indicator (checkmark, green badge, etc.)

  • All participants show as complete

  • The step is locked (in beta β€” can't go back)

When you'll see this:
For any step that's been finished. Once you move to the next step, the previous step shows as completed.


The review list view

The campaign page shows all reviews in a list format. Here's how to read it.

What you see in the list

Each review row typically shows:

  • Reviewee name and photo
    The employee being reviewed. Click their name to open the review detail page.

  • Current step indicator
    Shows which step the review is on (Feedback, Meeting, Signature) and the step status.

  • Overall review status
    Badge or label showing "Not started," "In progress," or "Completed."

  • Action indicators
    Icons or buttons showing if you need to take action (move to next step, send reminder, etc.).

Quick assessment

You can quickly scan the list to identify:

Reviews that need attention:

  • Low completion rates

  • Overdue participants

  • Blocked reviews waiting for a specific person

Reviews progressing normally:

  • Most participants completed

  • On schedule

  • No blockers

Reviews finished:

  • Marked as completed

  • All green indicators

πŸ’‘ Tip: Sort or filter the list by status, step, or completion rate to focus on reviews that need your attention most.


The review detail page

When you click into a specific review, you see the detail page with comprehensive information.

Left panel: Steps and overview

The left side shows:


​Review overview
Who's being reviewed


​Step list
All steps in the workflow with their status:

  • Which step is current (highlighted or marked active)

  • Which steps are complete (checkmarks)

  • Which steps are upcoming (grayed out or pending)

Progress summary
For each step, you see:

  • How many participants are involved

  • How many have completed their part

  • Any blockers or issues

This gives you an instant snapshot of where the review stands.


Middle panel: Participant details

The middle section shows detailed participant information for each step.

What you see:

Participant names and roles
Who's involved and what they're doing (feedback giver, note taker, meeting participant, signature participant).

Completion status per person
Individual indicators showing who's done and who's not:

  • βœ“ Green checkmark or bubble β€” This person completed their part

  • ⏳ Pending indicator β€” This person hasn't completed yet

Actions available
Buttons or links to:

  • Edit participants (add/remove people)

  • View what someone completed

  • Send individual reminders

  • Change the note taker


Campaign-level vs. review-level progress

It's important to understand the difference between how the whole campaign is doing versus how individual reviews are progressing.

Campaign-level progress

This shows aggregate data across all reviews in the campaign:

Where you see it:
The campaign overview page or dashboard.

What it tells you:
How the entire campaign is performing. Are most reviews done? Is the campaign on track? Do you need to send bulk reminders?

Review-level progress

This shows the status of one specific employee's review:

Metrics you might see:

  • "Step 2 of 3: Review meeting"

  • "3 of 5 feedback givers completed"

  • "Waiting for manager to write summary"

Where you see it:
The individual review detail page.

What it tells you:
What's happening with this specific review. Who's completed their part? What's blocking progress? What step are we on?


How to quickly identify reviews needing attention

Use these strategies to focus on reviews that need your action:

Look for low completion rates

Reviews showing "1 of 5 completed" or "0 of 3 completed" several days after the step opens likely need attention.

What to do:

  • Check who hasn't completed

  • Send targeted reminders to specific people

  • Investigate if there's a blocker (confusing instructions, missing access, etc.)

Identify reviews stuck on one person

If a review shows "Waiting for manager" or only one person remaining, that's your bottleneck.

What to do:

  • Send a direct reminder to that person

  • Contact them personally if reminders aren't working

  • Consider if you need to change participants (if someone's unavailable)

Monitor specific steps

If many reviews are stuck on the same step, there may be a systemic issue.

Example: If 20 reviews all show "0 of 1 note takers completed," managers aren't writing summaries.

What to do:

  • Send bulk reminders for that step

  • Check if instructions are clear

  • Investigate if managers need training or support

  • Consider extending the deadline


What participants see

Participants have a different view than admins. Understanding what they see helps you guide them.

For participants with pending actions

When someone needs to complete a step, they see:

An action button
Clear button saying "Give feedback," "Prepare for meeting," "Write summary," or "Sign review."

Their task only
They see only their own part, not the full review detail view that admins see.

For participants who completed their part

Once someone completes their action:

Confirmation
They see confirmation that their part is submitted.

No more action buttons
The action button disappears or changes to "Completed."

Limited visibility
They can view what they submitted but typically can't see other participants' content (based on visibility settings).

Next step notification (if participating)
If they're involved in future steps, they'll be notified when those steps open.


Frequently asked questions

Can I manually mark someone as complete?

No. Completion is tracked based on actual submission. You can't manually override this. If someone completed their part outside the system (like in a document), you'll need to have them enter it in the system or note it in the review summary.

What happens if someone starts their task but doesn't submit?

They show as incomplete until they submit. If they saved a draft, it's stored but doesn't count as complete. Remind them to submit, not just save.

How long do reviews typically stay "in progress"?

This depends on your timeline and workflow. Simple check-ins might be done in a week. Complex annual reviews with multiple steps might take 3-4 weeks. Plan your timeline based on how many participants and steps you have.


Related articles

Did this answer your question?