What is 360 Degree Feedback?

360 Degree Feedback is a way for employees to receive productive, but confidential and anonymous feedback from their colleagues. It is a process where a combination of managers and peers fill out an anonymous online feedback form which includes questions about their workplace performance. These questions are measured on a rating scale and cover a wide range of workplace competencies, skills & behaviours.

360 degree feedback is beneficial for both personal development and for line managers, who can benefit from having a wider perspective on staff performance.

Why is 360 degree feedback important?

Rather than receiving feedback from just one perspective (line manager) which is traditionally the case, as its name suggests 360 degree feedback offers multiple feedback perspectives. In modern workplaces, where employees might work in different teams in different locations, peer evaluation and assessment is imperative. If a manager is not located in the same office as all of their employees, they are not best placed to provide feedback on day to day performance.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of 360 degree feedback though is personal development for the employee. Transferable skills such as leadership, communication and teamwork can be assessed and analysed from independent, unbiased sources. When improved upon, these skills will help an individual not just in their current role, but throughout their career.

360 degree feedback is useful for development and appraisal. However, it is more commonly a development tool.

What should be included in 360 degree feedback?

The questions asked in 360 degree feedback will ultimately depend on your type of business and work culture. To get the most out of the process, it needs to be specific to your company/organisation. Although, there are some general topics which are advisable to cover. These include:

Communication Skills:

How effectively do they communicate with others?
Do they listen and consider other people’s views?
Do they provide constructive feedback to others?
Do they communicate complex information in a way that is easy to understand?

Team Skills:

Do they work well in a team?
How well do they adapt to change?
Do they treat others with respect?
Do they take other people’s views into account?

Organisational Skills:

How well do they manage their own workload?
Do they prioritise tasks to meet deadlines?
Do they host meetings effectively?
How well do they plan for the short & long term?

Interpersonal Skills:

Do they think logically when making decisions?
How well do they cope with responsibility?
Are they confident in their own abilities?
Do they learn from their mistakes?

Creative Skills:

Do they bring new ideas to the table?
Do they think outside of the box to reach solutions?
Do they always try to find solutions to problems?
Do they demonstrate a flexible ‘can do’ working style?

As specialists in the field, we offer a 360 degree feedback tool which allows you to design your own development and appraisal based surveys. You have complete control over the questions included, however we can advise & guide you on these if required, based on our own expertise.