Performance Calibration: Distribution Caps Checked Across the Whole Team, Every Time

Ratings, caps and a team list that keeps moving

Calibration takes each manager's ratings and makes them consistent across teams. The inputs are spread out. Managers write their write-ups in Notion, one page per employee, and team membership lives in Notion too. The rating matrix, the distribution caps and the promotion rules are in Google Drive, along with the draft rating sheet HR prepares for the committee. Calibration sessions are on Google Calendar.

The cycle is rarely stable. The committee changes ratings in session, managers revise write-ups, someone leaves, a revised matrix arrives, and a reorg moves people between teams the week before closeout. The common failure is checking only the people who changed. A cap applies to a whole team, so one moved rating, or one person changing teams, can put the entire team out of bounds.

Who works in the room

Calibration has its own Kylon room. Nova is the default agent for questions about a rating or a team, Ada takes the checks, and Ryan takes scheduling and mail. Nova works in Notion through the people partner's own account, checked on every call, and writes only after the partner approves the change in the thread. When the committee's decisions arrive, Ryan opens a thread for Nova that lists each employee and decision in the committee's own words.

Calibration from draft sheet to team closeout

Employees withdrawn from the cycle, such as people on leave, are listed in the room guidelines, and no agent touches their records at any stage.

Ratings change in session, people change teams

Write-up revisions are additive. When a manager revises a write-up, Nova creates a new Notion page for that employee carrying the revised rating rather than editing the original, so the committee can see both. Then it re-checks the employee's whole team against the caps, because one rating moving up can push the team over a line.

A reorg changes the count each cap is measured against. Three people moving from Platform to Data changes both teams, so Ada reads team membership from Notion at the moment of the check, not from the list the cycle started with, and re-checks both teams in full. Closeout docs are built the same way. If the committee needs another session, Ryan proposes a time on Google Calendar and drafts the invitation note in Gmail for the people partner to send.

What the checks catch

• An employee withdrawn from the cycle who appears on a sheet or summary, left untouched and flagged
• A distribution cap checked only for the people who changed, rather than for the whole team
• A closeout built from the team list at the start of the cycle instead of current Notion membership
• A revised write-up that overwrote the original page instead of adding a new one
• A promotion on the draft sheet for someone below the tenure the promotion rules require

What stays with people

• Every rating and promotion decision, which belongs to the calibration committee
• Approving every change to a Notion page or the rating sheet
• Deciding how to resolve a team that ends up over a cap
• Sending every note to managers and signing the per-team closeouts

Integrations in this workflow

Kylon is not a performance management system and does not replace one. The write-ups stay in Notion and the rules stay in Drive; the room is where the checks and the committee's decisions meet.

• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• Google Docs
• Google Drive
• Notion
• Slack

• Notion holds the write-ups, one page per employee, and current team membership
• Google Drive keeps the rating matrix, the distribution caps, the promotion rules and the draft rating sheet
• Google Docs holds the calibration summary and one closeout doc per team
• Google Calendar carries the calibration sessions for each team and the committee
• Gmail carries notes to managers and the committee, as drafts the people partner sends
• Slack is where managers ask about their team's status between sessions, and Ryan brings those questions into the room

Where to start

One department's calibration is a good first cycle. Connect the Notion workspace that holds its write-ups, share the Drive folder with the matrix and caps, and build the room guidelines around one rule: agents check and prepare, the committee decides every rating, and any change re-checks the whole team.

“A cap is about the team, not the person who moved, and every re-check now treats it that way.”

Set it up with your agent

Open a new Room, add your agent and paste this prompt. It connects the tools, builds the App with you and asks for your rules one step at a time, and nothing goes out until a person approves it.