Setting up your first rubric is one of the most consequential things you'll do in Pando. Every assessment, every calibration conversation, and every level progression runs through it. This article walks through the recommended sequence — from decisions to build.

Before opening Pando, map out the distinct roles you need rubrics for. You don't need a rubric for every job title — you need one for each meaningfully different set of expectations.

Ask: Which roles have different core skill sets? Which roles share the same expectations?

Common starting groupings: Individual Contributors (ICs), Managers, Senior/Staff ICs, Leadership. Sales, Engineering, Design, and Operations often need separate rubrics even within IC tracks.

Core competencies are the org-wide behaviors that apply to everyone. Settle on these first — they'll appear across all rubrics.

Aim for 2–4 core competencies. These should be behaviors that genuinely apply to every role, not a generic list of virtues.

See Core vs. domain-specific competencies for how to think through this.

For each role rubric, add 3–5 competencies that are specific to that role's function and required skills. These are what differentiate an Engineering rubric from a Sales rubric.

See How many competencies should a rubric have? for guidance on scoping.

If your organization has named values, decide now whether they belong as competencies on the rubric or as custom questions in your assessment cycles.

Short version: Values that describe behaviors that progress with seniority → competencies. Values that are baseline expectations for everyone (Integrity, Honesty) → custom questions.

See Values as competencies vs. custom questions for the full decision framework.

Competency names in Pando are global — if the same name appears on two rubrics, it must have the same description. If you need different descriptions for different roles, use distinct names.

See Rubric competency naming rules before you start naming.

Once your structure is clear, go to app.pando.com/rubric and build it out.

See How to edit a rubric in Pando for step-by-step mechanics.

Your first rubric doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to be good enough to run your first assessment cycle and generate real signal. You'll learn more from one live cycle than from two months of planning.

Plan to revisit after your first cycle: What was hard to rate? What felt redundant? What was missing? That's where your second version starts.

For questions, contact support@pando.com or use the in-app chat.