Cycle Setup
- Use when
- You've installed your skills and want your workspace ready in ten minutes
- Output
- Your Claude Project created, the right files in place, your first skill test-run
· 8 min read · 11 skills, free
11 Claude Skills That Run Your Annual Review Cycle
Skills that run a company's annual review cycle end to end, inside Claude: they plan the cycle, build your growth matrix, prepare managers, help write an honest self-review, and keep growth alive between cycles.
01What these skills are
A full performance review cycle, as installable Claude skills
Think of it as performance review templates that come with the thinking: the review form, the self-review, the manager's prep and the growth memo, each built from your own framework.
Performance software charges you per seat to store forms nobody reads. This pack takes the opposite bet: the work of a review cycle is thinking and conversations, and both happen better in Claude than in a workflow tool.
There is one rule the whole pack is built on: Claude structures, humans judge.
No skill in this set writes a performance assessment, assigns a rating, or makes a people decision. They organize evidence, sharpen language, prepare conversations, and remember what matters.
Install only the ones for your role: 6 for the founder or people lead who runs the cycle, 3 for managers, 4 for the people getting reviewed. Files travel between people the way trust does: by a human, on purpose.
Download all 11 skills
One zip, one folder per skill, plus templates and a README. Free, no signup. The same eleven skills live in our open repo, if you would rather read them before you install them.
Install in Claude Code
Two lines, and every skill in the pack loads at once.
/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills /plugin install review-cycle-pack@polar-bear-skills
Using Claude on the web instead? Download the zip above and upload each skill from its install folder under Customize → Skills.
02The catalog
The 11 skills you get
The set is grouped by who installs it. Everyone starts with the same skill:
If you run the cycle (founder or people lead)
Cycle Planner
- Use when
- Review season is coming and you need a plan people can actually follow
- Output
- A week-by-week cycle calendar, your team context file, and a one-page company direction everyone can read
Growth Matrix Builder
- Use when
- Your team keeps asking what “senior” means here and you keep improvising
- Output
- A two-part growth matrix: transferable competencies shared by everyone, craft competencies per role, pressure-tested against your real team
Review Form Builder
- Use when
- You need review questions people will answer honestly
- Output
- A self-review form and a manager form, 6 to 8 questions each, every question with a reader and a reason
Comms Drafter
- Use when
- You need to announce the cycle without sounding like an HR department you don't have
- Output
- The kickoff memo, manager briefing, reminders, and wrap-up note, in your voice, under 200 words each
Cycle Retro
- Use when
- The conversations are done and you never want to repeat this year's mistakes
- Output
- A shareable one-page retro and the corrected input next year's cycle starts from
If you manage people
Review Prepper
- Use when
- You have reviews to write and a pile of notes, transcripts, and impressions
- Output
- An evidence sheet where every claim has an example, and a one-page growth memo built on three circles: what they want, what the company needs, where the market is going
One-on-One Companion
- Use when
- You're about to talk to one of your people, this Tuesday's 1:1 or the annual review
- Output
- A five-line brief with open threads, checkpoints due, and the right questions, or the full review conversation plan when it's the big one
If you're the one getting reviewed
Brag Doc Keeper
- Use when
- Something worth remembering just happened
- Output
- A dated, concrete entry in your pinned Brag Doc chat, so December stops being archaeology
Self-Review Prepper
- Use when
- The cycle opened and the blank self-review form is staring at you
- Output
- A self-review in your words, built from an interview about your real year, with a pass against underselling yourself
Growth Navigator
- Use when
- You want to understand your level, your next one, or where you actually want to go
- Output
- A personal growth profile: where you are with evidence, your aspiration where what you want meets what the company needs and where the market is going
03How to use it
Pick the workflow that matches your week
The skills run in the order a real cycle does. Install only the ones for your role and follow the calendar.
Run the cycle
You are the founder or people lead who plans, equips and closes it.
Build your view
You manage people and the conversations are coming.
Keep it going all year
Reviews fail in December when 1:1s failed in April.
04Setup guide
Install it in five minutes
In Claude Code · two lines
/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills /plugin install review-cycle-pack@polar-bear-skills
In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop · seven clicks
Download the pack, then open Settings
Unzip the pack: its skills folder holds all 11 skills. In Claude, click your name at the bottom left, then Settings.
Open Skills and click Add
Under Customize, choose Skills. Click Add, then Upload a skill.
Drop in a skill file
Drag the skill's file into the box, or click to browse. You can add several at once.
Pick the skill from the pack
In the pack folder, open skills, then the skill you want, and select its SKILL.md — cycle-setup is a good first one.
Check the preview and upload
Claude shows the skill's name and what it does. Click Upload.
Make sure it is switched on
The skill opens on its own page. Its toggle should be on.
Try it in a new chat
Type / and the skill's name, then say what you need.
Then try one
Run cycle-planner for our next review cycle. Team and dates: [paste them here]
Run self-review-prepper on my brag doc: [paste it here]
Run review-prepper for [alias]. Their self-review and my notes: [paste them here]
Lantern for People Ops
Turn your review cycle into posts about how your team grows
Lantern drafts a week of posts from your notes and call transcripts, in your voice. You review them and publish the ones you like.
100 free credits, about ten posts. No card needed.
Try for free05Quick reference
Where to start
| Your situation | Skill to run |
|---|---|
| Review season is 8 weeks away and nothing exists | Cycle Planner |
| The team asks about career growth and you improvise | Growth Matrix Builder |
| Six reviews to write, notes everywhere | Review Prepper |
| A 1:1 in twenty minutes | One-on-One Companion |
| A self-review form and a blank mind | Self-Review Prepper |
| Something great happened at work today | Brag Doc Keeper |
06Standards
The quality bar
Every skill in the pack holds the same standard, the one we hold in client work:
07FAQ
Questions people ask
What is in the Review Cycle pack?
11 Claude skills that run a performance review cycle without performance software: cycle planning, the growth matrix, review forms, self-reviews, the manager's prep, 1:1s and the end-of-cycle retro. Install only the ones for your role.
How do I install these Claude skills?
In Claude Code, two lines install all 11 at once. In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, download the zip, open Settings, Skills, Add, and upload the skills you want. Either way it takes about five minutes.
Do I need Claude Code to use them?
No. The skills work in Claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code. In the app you upload them yourself; in Claude Code one command installs the whole pack.
Do the skills work with ChatGPT or other assistants?
They are built as Claude Skills, and installing them is a Claude feature. Each one is a plain Markdown file, so you can read it and reuse the method elsewhere, but it will not load and trigger by itself outside Claude.
Will Claude write the reviews or rate people?
No. Claude structures, humans judge. No skill writes an assessment, assigns a rating or makes a people decision. The skills organize evidence, sharpen language and prepare conversations. Serious matters, such as legal, conduct or health, are pointed to humans.
Is the pack free?
Yes. It is free to use inside your company and in client work, and not for resale. There is no signup: the download and the install command are on this page.
08Who made this
Lantern, by Polar Bear
These skills were written by Polar Bear, a people ops consultancy that runs its own company on Claude. The pack is free, and the same skills are open on GitHub.
Lantern is Polar Bear's content workspace. It turns your notes, documents and call transcripts into drafts for LinkedIn and other networks. You review them and publish the ones you like.