How to Use ClickUp for People Management

ClickUp can replace scattered people management tools by giving HR leaders and managers a single workspace for performance reviews, one-on-ones, goals, and engagement. This how-to guide walks you step-by-step through setting up a clean, scalable system.

The instructions below are inspired by the structure and capabilities highlighted in the Peoplebox alternatives guide, but focused on building an actionable workflow you can implement today.

Step 1: Plan Your ClickUp Workspace Structure

Before building anything, design a simple workspace structure. This avoids chaos later and makes reporting easier.

Define Spaces in ClickUp for HR and People Ops

Create separate Spaces to keep your people-related work organized.

• HR & People Ops: Policies, onboarding, offboarding, HR documentation.
• Performance & Development: Reviews, feedback, goals, and career paths.
• Leadership & Strategy: Company OKRs, leadership rituals, and people analytics.

Each Space in ClickUp becomes a container for Lists and Folders where your people programs live.

Map Folders and Lists to Your Processes

Inside the Spaces, mirror your current people programs so everyone understands where to work.

• Performance & Development Space
  • Folder: Performance Reviews
    • Lists: Annual Reviews, Mid-Year Reviews
  • Folder: One-on-Ones
    • Lists: Managers, Individual Contributors
  • Folder: Goals & OKRs
    • Lists: Company OKRs, Department OKRs, Individual Goals

This ClickUp structure keeps each process discoverable and easy to scale as your headcount grows.

Step 2: Build People Management Lists in ClickUp

Next, create Lists to track people-related work as tasks. Each task can represent a person, a review cycle, a one-on-one, or a specific goal.

Create a People Directory List in ClickUp

Start with a central List that acts as a lightweight HR database.

1. Create a new List called People Directory in your HR & People Ops Space.
2. Add a task for each employee.
3. Add custom fields to store key data, such as:
   • Role / Title
   • Department
   • Manager
   • Location
   • Start Date
   • Employment Type

With ClickUp custom fields, you can filter and group people by department, role, or location to support reporting and workforce planning.

Set Up a Performance Review List in ClickUp

For each review cycle, create a dedicated List so you can track progress and completion.

1. Create a List named 2025 Performance Reviews within the Performance Reviews Folder.
2. Create one task per employee who will be reviewed.
3. Use custom fields such as:
   • Manager Name
   • Review Status (Not Started, Self-Review, Manager Review, Calibration, Completed)
   • Overall Rating
   • Promotion Recommendation
4. Add task templates for self-reviews and manager reviews to standardize questions.

This makes ClickUp a central hub where HR and managers can quickly see who is on track and where nudges are required.

Step 3: Manage One-on-Ones Using ClickUp Docs and Tasks

Regular one-on-ones are a core use case where ClickUp can replace standalone meeting tools and spreadsheets.

Create a One-on-One System in ClickUp

Build a workflow that combines recurring tasks and Docs.

1. Create a List called One-on-Ones in the Performance & Development Space.
2. For each manager-direct report pair, create a recurring task (weekly or biweekly).
3. Attach a ClickUp Doc to each recurring task and use it as a shared agenda.
4. In the Doc, add sections like:
   • Wins since last meeting
   • Challenges and blockers
   • Feedback (manager & employee)
   • Career and growth topics
   • Action items
5. Use checklists or subtasks within the main task for action items, assigning owners and due dates.

This structure enables a history of conversations, clear follow-ups, and accountability without leaving ClickUp.

Standardize One-on-One Templates in ClickUp

To keep meetings consistent across managers, convert a well-designed one-on-one task into a task template.

1. Open your best example one-on-one task.
2. Include a recurring schedule, custom fields, and Doc sections.
3. Save it as a template and name it Standard One-on-One.
4. Instruct managers to use this template when onboarding new team members.

Standardization across ClickUp Lists helps HR compare experiences across teams and ensures everyone has similar support structures.

Step 4: Track Goals and OKRs with ClickUp

Next, create a clear line from company goals to individual objectives by using ClickUp to manage OKRs.

Set Up Company and Team OKRs in ClickUp

Use a dedicated Space or Folder for OKRs to avoid confusion with project tasks.

1. Create a Folder called OKRs in the Leadership & Strategy Space.
2. Create separate Lists for:
   • Company OKRs
   • Department / Team OKRs
   • Individual Goals
3. For each objective, create a task with:
   • A clear objective statement in the task name
   • Custom fields for owner, timeframe, confidence score, and alignment (company, team, or individual)
   • Subtasks or checklist items for key results, with measurable metrics
4. Use task relationships to link team and individual goals back to company-level objectives.

With this setup, you can build dashboards in ClickUp that show progress on OKRs across the organization.

Create Goal Review Rituals in ClickUp

Regular cadences keep goals from becoming shelfware.

• Set recurring tasks for monthly or quarterly OKR reviews.
• Include a comment template asking owners to:
  • Update metrics
  • Adjust confidence scores
  • Note risks and blockers
• Use views grouped by owner or department to quickly review in leadership meetings.

This reinforces ClickUp as the single source of truth for both goals and execution.

Step 5: Use ClickUp Views and Dashboards for People Insights

Once your Lists and tasks are in place, use views and dashboards to surface insights about people programs.

Configure List and Board Views in ClickUp

Views let you see the same data from multiple angles without duplicate work.

• List View: For HR admins to see all records and fields at a glance.
• Board View: For managers to move items through stages like review status or onboarding steps.
• Calendar View: To see review due dates, one-on-one meetings, and key people milestones.

By grouping and filtering with custom fields, ClickUp becomes a lightweight analytics layer over your people data.

Build Dashboards in ClickUp for Leadership

Dashboards give executives a snapshot of the health of people programs.

• Add widgets to track:
  • Percentage of completed reviews by department
  • Number of overdue one-on-ones
  • Goal progress by team
• Use charts to visualize trends over time.
• Share dashboards with leadership to support data-driven decisions.

Dashboards grounded in ClickUp tasks ensure reporting is always connected to real work in progress.

Step 6: Automate Repetitive People Workflows in ClickUp

Automations can save HR teams hours of coordination work each week.

Example Automations for People Operations in ClickUp

Consider setting up these common automations.

• Performance Reviews
  • When a review task moves to Self-Review, notify the employee.
  • When a task reaches Completed, auto-add a comment requesting feedback on the process.
• One-on-Ones
  • When a one-on-one task is created, auto-assign to both manager and direct report.
  • Before the meeting date, send a reminder to add agenda items in the attached ClickUp Doc.
• New Hires
  • When a new employee is added to the People Directory List, auto-create an onboarding checklist and assign owners for each step.

These automations help keep everything moving without constant manual follow-up.

Step 7: Continuously Improve Your ClickUp Setup

As you expand your people programs, refine your setup based on feedback from leaders, managers, and employees.

Collect Feedback and Optimize ClickUp Workflows

Make improvement an ongoing process.

• Create a List called People Ops Feedback to capture suggestions from teams.
• Tag tasks with themes like reviews, goals, or one-on-ones.
• Review feedback on a regular cadence and implement changes in your Spaces, Lists, or templates.

You can also learn from external experts. For example, consulting partners like Consultevo specialize in optimizing work management setups and can help fine-tune complex ClickUp environments for larger organizations.

Next Steps: Turn ClickUp into Your People Hub

By carefully planning your structure, standardizing templates, and using views, dashboards, and automations, you can turn ClickUp into a powerful hub for people management. Start by building the core Lists outlined above, then layer on reporting and optimization as your team grows.

If you are currently evaluating tools similar to Peoplebox, the ideas here give you a practical path to implement a robust, flexible system fully inside ClickUp while keeping all your work, goals, and people initiatives connected in one place.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

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