Managing Reviewers and Their Expectations

The application process has ended. You worked hard to make sure that all of the information your applicants needed was clear and easy to find. You publicized your opportunity through emails and newsletters and mentioned it in meetings. You answered many questions, including frantic last-minute ones the day of your deadline. And, congratulations, you received twice as many applications as expected!

Now it’s time to start the review process.

Complex application materials, a scoring rubric, and the number of levels of approval or review can make even simple review steps challenging for reviewers to handle.

Reviewers are busy

Reviewers usually need to fit your reviews into their already busy workload. Sometimes they might only be able to block off a couple of hours on their calendar. Or want to study printed versions during their commute. Since reviewing can be a time-sensitive or infrequent task, your reviewers need to quickly understand what they are supposed to do and how to do it, especially as they are balancing other projects and duties at the same time.

Good communication is key.

It is important to include all pertinent information in the initial message to reviewers, so they aren’t scouring their inboxes to piece together all the information they need.

Standardizing the information and format of the messages you send helps reviewers and you. Instead of “reinventing the wheel” for every review process, create an email template. Using a consistent format for your reviewer emails helps reviewers quickly know what they need to do and saves you time.

This initial email helps set reviewers’ expectations for their role in the process and is a great place to thank them for their time.

InfoReady helps by providing several email templates for reviewers. All email templates in InfoReady can be modified ahead of time in the Notifications section of the competition (either before or after you launch the competition). You can add any type of content to the email template, such as how the reviewers were selected, and what to do if they cannot complete the assigned reviews.

Aside from modifying email templates, you have the option of making further edits to the email content when assigning specific reviews. Lots of flexibility!

Consistent Place for Reviews

When you use a single platform like InfoReady to collect reviews, your reviewers have consistent access to an intuitive system. Internal reviewers can log in with their institutional credentials via Single Sign-On (SSO). The Reviews section appears right at the top of the page when they log in. On-screen instructions guide them to view their pending reviews (effectively their to-do list). External reviewers can quickly set up accounts to access the system.

Clear Reviewer Instructions

Reviewers benefit from clear instructions in multiple places. With InfoReady, you can provide important information in email notifications and review form instructions. Craft these messages before you start the review process to ensure a smooth flow of information.

Take Control of the Process

With InfoReady, you can design the flow of the review process and create the forms for reviewers to submit their feedback in the Routing Steps section.

For each unique routing step, you can add information to the Reviewer Instructions text box, such as a rubric. Anything entered in this area appears at the top of the review form, before any of the review questions. This introduces reviewers to the evaluation criteria before diving into the first set of application materials. You can also add specific instructions for the individual review questions.

Throughout the review process, you have control of review assignments and completed reviews. If a reviewer can’t complete a review on time, their assignment can be deleted. If they need to change their review, you can make edits at any time. You can also download real-time reports of review status and content, which is essential for collecting feedback by the deadline and passing it along to decision makers. You may find it useful to include this type of information about logistics in the instructions.