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I am often approached by HR colleagues who have been asked to deliver 360 feedback sometimes referred to as multi-rater feedback for their clients but don’t know where to start. Sometimes this is because the client themselves doesn’t really understand why they want to roll 360 feedback out, it has just been recommended or positioned as a good idea or that it will provide valuable insights.
When we don’t know why the 360 is being delivered it is really hard to know which examples of questions or reports are going to be helpful. Therefore, the purpose of this blog is to provide some 360 feedback examples and questions that will help you to determine whether 360 degree feedback is the right decision for your organisation and, if so, how to select the best questions. I have also provided some links to some 360 feedback examples for managers, other team members and relevant templates and reports at the bottom of the page.
So, first of all, why does your client want to carry out a 360 feedback process explore what skills or behaviours are they looking to measure? Also, consider what role level and the desired outcome. For example, 360 Feedback can be used effectively to measure leadership skills as perceived by others, peers, direct reports and more. The results of their selected respondents giving feedback can provide constructive feedback across their behaviours from their leadership style to their communication skills together with active listening. This is employee engagement feedback helps with awareness and provides actionable feedback.
Starting with managerial feedback, a top-down approach is typically always recommended, once the leadership have been through the process and received their report and identified professional development for themselves and to support the wider SLT team dynamics they understand the benefits and will champion the concept, promoting team input with a positive attitude towards providing honest feedback to support employee development. This is a good opportunity to remind the wider business whilst gathering feedback this is anonymous feedback.
Once you understand what skills or behaviours are they looking to measure, It is helpful to think about behaviours or skills in the context of a person’s performance in a specific role or seniority to maximise relevance e.g. People Manager, Sales Leader or Individual Contributor and to consider 360 feedback examples at this point. This will enable you to select the questions accordingly. However, it can feel daunting when we are starting with a blank sheet of paper and this is why we included six 360 questionnaire templates within our brand new Actus 360 NOW tool to provide inspiration and help you to get started quickly and easily. You can use these as a starting point but, generally it is more powerful if you can align the feedback questions and categories with the specific requirements within your company or that of your client.
As alluded to above, generic 360 feedback examples are a good starting point, however, if your client already has a competency or values framework then you can customise your 360 questionnaire by using the behavioural statements within it. If you are struggling to find existing behavioural content within your company or client and don’t have the time to start from scratch then you might find inspiration by downloading our free competency dictionary.
You can use this to prioritise the categories of behaviour that you want to encourage in your organisation (I would suggest that 6 is about optimum) and then select three or four behavioural statements behind these. In case you are wondering, a behavioural statement is something observable – that someone demonstrates physically or verbally. What is key however is ensuring that you are only asking for constructive feedback on one behaviour per statement. This often means simplifying and prioritising what you are looking to understand from that question.
Moving on from 360 degree feedback examples there are wider considerations, such as clarity on good feedback will stem from clear questions. This example was taken from a clients competency framework: Planning and Organising which was defined as ‘Thinking ahead, managing time, priorities and risk and developing structures and efficient approaches to deliver work on time and to a high standard’. While it might be efficient to ask this statement as one 360 feedback question, the reality is that the response could be quite confusing. If someone receives a lower rating against this statement they may not know what the development area relates to. Is it about delivering work on time or the quality of the work? Is it about their ability to prioritise, manage risk or develop structures?
Try to simplify and prioritise decision making the most appropriate statement for the role in question, taking into account the seniority of the role that the questions are aimed at. It is possible to take the same competency or value and choose statements that are appropriate at different levels for different management roles for example:
Individual Contributor: “Plans ahead and delivers work on time”
Team Leader: “Manages people, team meetings and resources to deliver work on time”
Senior Manager: “Establishes efficient systems and processes”
It can be harder than it looks to ask just one question per statement. So sometimes we might find ourselves adding a little more complexity to avoid having a ridiculously long set of questions. e.g. Senior Manager: “Establishes and embeds efficient systems and processes”
However, keeping the principle of one question per statement in mind when you are designing your 360 will make the feedback easier to understand.
Your 360 template doesn’t need to be set in stone! If a question seems to duplicate the same page or cause confusion, don’t be afraid to adapt or change it. The only challenge with this is measuring trends in behaviours over time, nevertheless it is more important that the questions are relevant and clearly understood.
Some 360 feedback example templates don’t include categories or free text boxes and I believe this is a missed opportunity. Categories are really useful to guide the respondent as to the context of that particular question and are helpful for identifying overall patterns and gaps in terms of development needs (See the spidergraph on the image above for an example of this). Free text provides the opportunity for the respondent to provide context for their response. Try to incorporate both in your 360 template.
Delivering feedback is a combination of skill and methodology, especially when part of a structured process like 360 degree feedback. Effective feedback is a balancing act between highlighting strengths and addressing areas for improvement. Positive feedback builds confidence in the employees and reinforces behaviours that can contribute to success. Constructive, negative feedback, or constructive criticism can identify opportunities for growth by providing an opportunity for personal and professional development. A well-executed feedback process doesn’t just improve individual performance. It enables a culture of continuous learning and development within the company.
Positive feedback should be specific, timely, and applied to real examples. For instance, rather than saying, “You’re doing a great job,” a more impactful statement could be, “Your attention to detail in last week’s report made the data easier to understand and impressed the client.” This level of specificity helps employees understand what behaviours to replicate. On the other hand, constructive criticism should focus on behaviours rather than personal traits, be framed in a supportive tone, and include actionable suggestions.
Ultimately, feedback is most effective when it is part of an ongoing all-year conversation. Through feedback, employees should feel empowered to act, with clear pathways for development receiving feedback and support from their organisation. Whether through training, one-on-one support or coaching or mentoring. 360 feedback can serve as a launchpad for positive personal and professional growth. By embedding feedback into your culture and processes, you not only enhance individual and team performance but also position your company for long-term success.
Actus offers a whole suite of free HR resources. Please see the various links below. You can also tune into the HR Uprising Podcast where I share lots of tips. Including how to set up and deliver a 360 process. You can also read more about 360 feedback by downloading our free e-book below.
E-book: The Complete Guide to 360 Feedback
Using a tool like 360 feedback to help benchmark behaviours and promote self-awareness is an incredibly powerful method of increasing performance. Enabling career development and increasing retention. This question directory can be used to save you time when designing a 360-feedback template. As part of an appraisal form or when actively seeking input and inspiration for a values survey or refresh.
Infographic: 360 Feedback Resources
Download the Actus 360 Question Directory
Listen to the HR Uprising Podcast
Actus Performance Management Software offers robust functionality to support comprehensive performance and talent management. Designed to improve team dynamics, facilitate quality conversations and continuous performance management year-round, Actus accelerate performance across your organisation.
Our performance management system offers a range of add-on modules. From 360 Feedback, Engagement surveys, Learning and Talent Management that can be added on to provide one fully integrated and cost effective solution that can scale, with your requirements.
Actus 360 Now is an off-the-shelf, simple and intuitive add-on product. Actus 360 NOW is the complete solution to manage and deliver 360 feedback. Here is what’s included:
By integrating tools like 360-degree feedback into regular performance discussions, companies can create a feedback-rich environment. This drives development, innovation and engagement. Feedback, when used in the right way can become, not just a tool for evaluation and performance review but a catalyst for transformation, helping employees and organisations thrive.
Actus 360 Feedback Software offers a simple, efficient and user-friendly solution for managing 360 degree feedback. We offer a range of 360 solutions that can be adapted to meet any organisations diverse requirements. From our off-the-shelf product Actus 360 NOW or our complete 360 Feedback & Survey tool. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to hand over the whole process look at our 360 Managed Service and Consultancy. Find out more below…
Book a Demo for Actus 360 Now
For those customers who want more support than our self-service package… we offer the full 360 Feedback and Survey module which is ideal for mid-sized businesses and Professional Services Teams. It includes everything within 360 NOW supplemented with additional features – see more here.
For those customers who wish to seek feedback on multiple projects on a small scale or for those without the resources to launch and manage 360 Feedback Software themselves, Actus is also able to provide this as a managed service – see more here.
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