Help

How to use Mirror

Use Mirror to prepare a thoughtful development conversation with a reviewee. It gathers what stakeholders know, appreciate, and advise, then shapes their input into an editable portrait. The reviewer edits it, and the stakeholders then convene as a group to agree on one consolidated view they own before it goes to the reviewee, who should recognize how well they are known and receive targeted suggestions for development.

For the reviewer

01
Create a reflection
Enter the person's name, role, the reflection period, and any context that will help stakeholders understand the frame. Then add the people you'd like to invite to provide input.
02
Invite stakeholders
Each stakeholder gets a private link. Copy the link and send it to them directly. Four to ten stakeholders is usually enough to get the full picture.
03
Collect reflections
Stakeholders respond to five prompts about strengths, contributions, how the person has grown, growth opportunities, and advice. Their responses are attributed, so follow-up is easy.
04
Synthesize
When you're ready, Mirror reads every response and drafts a portrait of the reviewee organized around themes: strengths, contributions, growth, and opportunities.
05
Edit, then convene the stakeholders
Read the synthesized reflection and edit it until it feels fair and useful. The Mirror Companion can help while you edit. Treat the opening summary as a rough draft: it exists to give the group something to react to, and should be rewritten or dropped based on the session. Then bring the stakeholders together, live, to work through the draft and hammer out one consolidated view they all own. Individual sign-off is not enough: reviewed separately, people tend to have no comments and no one ends up owning the message.
06
Finalize and deliver
Incorporate what the group agreed on, circulate the final version so stakeholders see their conclusions reflected, then deliver the brief to the reviewee so they can see how well they are known and receive targeted suggestions for development.

For the stakeholder

You have been asked to share what you notice about the person being reviewed. Your perspective will help prepare a thoughtful development conversation, whether you work with them, advise them, or know them in another capacity.

Your link is unique to you. When you open it, you'll answer five short prompts. There are no wrong answers; specific examples and honest observations are the most helpful.

The prompts are phrased as if you are speaking directly to the person being reviewed:

What is this person especially good at that is important to the organization?
Describe abilities, qualities, habits, or behaviors that consistently make them valuable. Provide one or two specific examples where those strengths were evident.
What are this person's key contributions during this review period?
Describe one or two accomplishments for which this person was primarily responsible.
How has this person grown over the performance period?
Describe changes you have observed in their skills, judgment, or impact since the start of this period.
How can this person grow to be even more effective?
Describe what they should do differently or more of. Provide one or two specific examples of what the growth would look like.
Please enter any other input or advice you would like to share.

Your responses will be visible to the person organizing the review, attributed to you, so they can ask follow-up questions if needed. The reviewee normally sees only the synthesized portrait. Whether your authorship is ever shared is decided by the facilitator and the leader holding the conversation — and we suggest they keep it private at least until after the development conversation, because what matters is what the group said, not who said any one line.

Common questions

Do I need an account?: No. The links themselves act as access keys, so stakeholders can respond without signing in. Reviewers can see every reflection they have created from the All reviews page.
Can I add more stakeholders after I send the first links?: Yes. Open the review, click Edit details, and add more names. New stakeholders will get their own links.
Can stakeholders just review the draft on their own?: No. Convene them together before anything is final. Reviewed separately, people tend to come back with no comments and the result is a message no one owns. In a live session the group works through the draft section by section, resolves differences, decides what to drop and what to present as a genuine difference of view, and confirms wording everyone can stand behind. The opening summary in particular is only a rough draft; expect the group to rewrite it or drop it.
Are responses anonymous?: That is for the facilitator and the leader holding the conversation to decide, agree with stakeholders up front, and honor. Mirror records who wrote what, so either posture works. Our suggestion, even where anonymity has not been promised: keep authorship private until after the development conversation. What matters is what the group said, not who said any one line.
How many stakeholders can I invite?: Four to ten works well; you can add up to twenty-five when a wider net genuinely helps.
When is a reflection credit used?: Creating a reflection holds a credit, so it shows as used right away. The credit is only spent when you generate the first synthesis. If you delete a reflection before any synthesis has run, the credit is returned and you can start over. Deleting after synthesis does not return it.
Who owns a reflection, and how do roles get assigned?: The account that creates a reflection owns it and is the one charged the credit. The owner can invite a Facilitator, Development Leader, or Administrator by email on the setup page or later from the reflection hub, and can hand ownership to another Mirror account. One person can hold more than one role.
How long does Mirror keep reflections?: Mirror is not a system of record. A reflection is a working space for one cycle. Once you have led the development conversation and saved the brief where it belongs, use Close out on the reflection hub: that clears the stakeholder reflections, the portrait, and any Companion history, and keeps only the participant, the period, and the stakeholder roster so the next cycle can start from that list. Nothing in a kept roster indicates what anyone said.
Can I reuse last cycle's stakeholders?: Yes. When you enter a participant's name during setup and you have run a reflection for them before, Mirror offers that roster to start from, and you can add or remove names before continuing. A new cycle uses a fresh reflection credit.
What if more responses arrive after I synthesize?: You can re-run synthesis at any time. Mirror will read all current responses and overwrite the previous portrait with an updated one.
Who can see the raw responses?: The facilitator running the review can see every response, attributed by name. The reviewee sees only the synthesized portrait and brief unless the facilitator chooses to share more. Mirror never releases individual responses on its own.
Can the companion help while I prepare or edit?: Yes. The Mirror Companion is an AI side panel available while you synthesize, review responses, or edit a brief. It can see the current reflection and will answer questions about themes, tone, missing ideas, or how to phrase something fairly. Each account has a pool of companion messages that grows as reflections are added to it, so heavier use is possible on larger engagements.
Can Mirror reflections be stored in a system of record (like ADP) as a performance assessment?: Mirror output can be retained in a system of record if you choose, but we do not recommend treating it as a performance assessment. Mirror is intentionally designed to support professional development. It does not evaluate performance against assigned responsibilities, objectives, standards, or a performance plan.
Is Mirror a 360 review?: No. A 360 collects ratings from many directions and returns scores. Mirror collects written perspectives from a small, deliberately chosen group and produces one reflection the group agrees on and can stand behind. There are no scores, rankings, or comparisons to other people.
Does the Participant contribute their own view?: Yes, and we recommend it. The Participant can answer the same prompts about themselves. Mirror then shows where their view and the group's view align, where others see more, and where the Participant emphasizes something the group did not — usually the most useful part of the conversation.
How long does an engagement last, and do unused Mirrors carry forward?: An engagement runs for one year from its start date. Unless an extension is arranged, access ends when the engagement expires and any purchased but unused Mirrors expire with it.
Can I use Mirror for a whole team at once?: Yes. A team set runs a reflection for each member of a team in one pass, drawing from the same organization's pool. Teams and divisions inside one organization always share that organization's Mirrors.

Begin a reflection ← Back home