## Why It Matters

The template is what turns a review from a free-form opinion into structured, comparable evidence. Every reviewer in a cycle answers the same questions on the same scale, which is exactly what an auditor means by "assessment against documented expectations" — and what makes review N comparable to review N+1 a year later. A blank Google Doc can't do either.

Templates are versioned, and cycles pin the version they ran against. Your evidence records cite — and literally contain — the question set that was in force, even if you rewrite the template next quarter.

## Creating a Template

Go to [Performance > Templates](/performance/templates) and press **New template**. A template has:

| Field | Notes |
|-------|-------|
| Name | e.g. "Startup competency review" |
| Rating scale (max) | The top of the 1–N rating scale; any value from 3 to 10 |
| Questions | Any mix of rating and text questions, each with an optional competency tag |

Each question is a prompt plus a kind:

- **Rating** — answered on the template's 1–N scale. Rating questions are **required**: a review can't be submitted while any rating question is unanswered.
- **Text** — a narrative answer. Text questions may be left blank.

The optional **competency** tag ("Communication", "Technical judgment", "Security ownership") groups questions by the capability they probe. Blank prompts are dropped on save, so you can sketch freely.

> [!TIP]
> For CC1.4, include at least one question that assesses security responsibilities — e.g. a rating question tagged "Security ownership": *"Handles credentials, access, and customer data according to policy."* Job descriptions with security responsibilities are part of the CC1.4 evidence set, and this bakes the assessment into every review.

## Publishing

A new template starts as a **draft** and can't be used by a cycle until you tick **Publish this template so cycles can use it** — and publishing requires at least one question. Retire a template by archiving it; a template that any cycle has used can't be deleted, because evidence records cite it by name and version.

| Status | Usable by new cycles | Editable |
|--------|:--------------------:|:--------:|
| Draft | No | Yes |
| Published | Yes | Yes (bumps version once in use) |
| Archived | No | — |

## Versioning: Snapshot at Activation

Two mechanisms keep evidence honest against template edits:

1. **Version bumps** — once any cycle uses a template, changing its questions bumps the template's version number. The form warns you: "Changing questions after a cycle uses this template bumps its version."
2. **Snapshot at activation** — when a cycle is [activated](/docs/performance-review-cycles), Kit stamps the template version *and copies the full question set into the cycle*. Reviewers answer the frozen copy; the finalized evidence record embeds those exact questions.

The practical consequence: edit templates whenever you like. Draft cycles pick up the latest questions automatically; active and finalized cycles are unaffected, and each evidence record shows "Template v3" style provenance an auditor can verify.

> [!NOTE]
> Don't create a new template per cycle. Reuse one template across cycles so ratings stay comparable period over period — version history handles evolution.

## Role Expectations Complement the Template

Template questions are shared by everyone in the cycle; the per-person half of "documented expectations" is the **Role expectations** field set on each participant when you add them to a cycle. Together — shared competency questions plus a per-person role summary, both snapshotted into the evidence — they satisfy the auditor's "assessment against documented role expectations" without maintaining a separate job-description system.

## Quick Checklist

- [ ] Create one template with 4–8 questions — mostly ratings, one or two narrative prompts
- [ ] Tag questions with competencies, including a security-responsibility question
- [ ] Set a rating scale you'll keep (1–5 is the convention auditors see most)
- [ ] Publish it
- [ ] Reuse it next cycle; let versioning track changes

## Next Steps

- [Review Cycles](/docs/performance-review-cycles) — put the template to work
- [Writing Reviews](/docs/performance-writing-reviews) — how reviewers answer the questions