Manager Calibration Session Template
Calibrate managers on what matters: leadership behaviors, team outcomes, and people development — not technical output. Includes a manager-specific rubric and behavior anchors that distinguish management excellence from individual contribution.
About This Template
Managers are often evaluated like individual contributors — with criteria designed for the work they do on projects, not the work they do leading people. This template is for running a separate calibration session for people managers, using a rubric that measures what managers are actually accountable for: team results, people development, and organizational health.
Mixing manager and IC calibration produces systematic errors: managers who write code get compared to engineers who write code, and vice versa. Separate sessions prevent this.
When to UseRun manager calibration as a standalone session, separate from IC calibration. Typical format: IC calibration first (3–4 hours), manager calibration separately (2 hours). Both feed into the same final rating system.
Session Agenda
👥 Manager Calibration Session Template — Agenda
Manager Rubric Alignment
Review the manager-specific evaluation rubric: team outcomes, people development, operational effectiveness, and organizational influence. All calibrators must agree on what 'Exceeds' looks like for each dimension before individual reviews.
Manager Reviews
For each manager: skip-level presents team health data (engagement, attrition, performance distribution), leadership 360 data, and operational results. Group calibrates against the manager rubric — not the IC rubric.
Span of Control and Scope Normalization
Managers with different team sizes and scopes must be calibrated with context. A manager running a 20-person team faces different challenges than a manager with 4 direct reports. Adjust expectations accordingly.
Manager Development Priorities
For each manager: identify the top 1–2 development priorities. Management coaching investments produce multiplicative returns — every manager who improves makes their whole team better. Log development commitments as accountable actions.
Facilitator Notes
The Manager Rubric (Required Pre-Read)
- Team outcomes: Did this manager's team deliver on its commitments? Track record vs. targets, project completion, and business impact of team's work.
- People development: Are team members growing? Look at: promotion rate on the team, internal mobility, team member performance trajectory over time, and exit interview feedback from departed team members.
- Operational effectiveness: Is the team running well? Indicators: 1:1 frequency and quality, performance review completion rate, OKR/goal clarity, meeting efficiency.
- Organizational influence: Does this manager make the company better beyond their team? Cross-functional collaboration, mentorship outside their team, contributions to company-wide people initiatives.
Common Errors in Manager Calibration
- Evaluating managers on individual technical output — this is the most common mistake. If a manager is calibrated on their own code or deals rather than their team's results, you're calibrating a senior IC, not a manager.
- Attributing team results entirely to the manager. Before giving a manager credit for a strong team performance, ask: how much of this is driven by individual team members? How much is management leverage?
- Ignoring attrition as a leading indicator. A manager with high voluntary attrition — especially regrettable attrition — is underperforming on people development regardless of team delivery metrics.
Data Prep Checklist
Complete before the session. Attendance without completed prep is not accepted.
📋 Pre-Work Checklist
- Reviewed team health metrics for each manager: voluntary attrition rate, engagement score vs. company average, performance distribution on team
- Pulled 360 or upward feedback data for each manager being calibrated
- Reviewed goal/OKR completion rate for each manager's team
- Identified any managers with team attrition significantly above company average — flag for calibration discussion
- Prepared an assessment for each manager on each rubric dimension (team outcomes, people development, operational effectiveness, organizational influence)
FAQ
Related Calibration Templates
Annual
Annual Calibration Kickoff Template
Run IC calibration first — then this manager calibration session.
HiPo Program
High-Potential Identification Template
Identify which managers have senior leadership potential.
All Templates
View All 16 Templates
Browse every calibration session template by meeting type.
Calibrate managers on what they actually control
Confirm surfaces team health data, upward feedback, and organizational influence signals so manager calibration is based on leadership evidence — not project proximity.
