What is 360 Degree Feedback?

Definition:

360 degree feedback is also known as multi-rater feedback or 360- degree assessment is a process that allows an employer to collect anonymous comments and feedback about an employee from a variety of people with whom they have professional relationships. It includes their colleagues, junior, senior and also clients whom they interact with.

It is planned to allow a variety of people to voice their opinions in order to give a comprehensive picture of the person’s strength, weakness and his overall performance.

Due to the feedback being collected anonymously it provides a more honest and candid input from the participants. It is mostly utilized as a development tool. Additionally, those at the top of the organizational hierarchy typically employ it.

What Is the Purpose of a 360 Degree Feedback?

• Identify own strength and weakness: The 360 degree feedback helps an employee understand his/her strength and weakness by comparing it to the feedback provided by his/her colleagues. This can help them in their professional as well as professional growth.
• Performance Development: by collecting feedback from multiple sources the employees can identify the areas of development and allow them to focus on specific skills and behavior that can enhance their performance.
• Leadership development: 360 degree feedback is best used for developing leaders. This feedback process provides them with insights of their leadership style, effectiveness and ability to achieve results. This can refine their leadership skills and help them become more effective in their roles.
• Improving team performance: 360 degree feedback helps teammates and colleagues identify there areas of improvement for example they can highlight communication issues and come up with a plan to improve communication process within the team or leadership gaps that need attention like micromanaging.
• Identifying and retaining Talents: Organizations can identify high performing employees using 360 degree feedback and also understand areas of improvement so that HR can work on introducing new training programs for existing employees.

How do you do a 360 DEGREE Feedback?

1. Define the purpose and Objectives: It is necessary to prepare beforehand the purpose and objectives for doing a 360 degree feedback.
   – Is it for personal development, performance appraisal or leadership development?
   – Is it for identifying and fostering better team work and collaboration among employees
   – Is it to identify potential leaders and successors within the organization?
   – is to help an individual to understand their role and impact in the organization?
   – is to resolve conflict by providing feedback?
2. Select the participants: before starting the feedback process you need to identify the individuals who will provide feedback and provide them with adequate training and resources so as to ensure consistency in the feedback process. Typically the person involved in the 360 degree feedback process are:
   – Supervisor
   – Peers
   – Subordinates
   – Clients
   – Potential Clients
3. Develop a questionnaire: Create a list of questions that the participants need to answer or fill during he feedback process. This question can be a mixed of both qualitative and quantitative questions. Typical questions includes questions related to their skills, competencies, behavior, individual and team performance.
4. Ensure Anonymity: to ensure the participants provide a more honest and holistic feedback the HR needs to assure participants that their response will be kept confidential and will be access by them only.
5. Administer the feedback process: Use a survey tool to maintain confidentiality and distribute the questionnaire across participants. This not only ease the process of collecting feedback but it also ensure that the feedback process is not last and participants are notified when the window is open for feedback and deadlines reminder.
6. Collect Feedback: Set up a deadline for collecting feedback. Notify people and ensure that all responses are collected securely and confidentially.
7. Analyze the data and Prepare a report: After collecting all the feedback its time to analyse the data. This process involves calculating the average score for each questions and review any comments related to qualitative questions. After analysing the data prepare a report both for the person being assessed and the higher authority to highlights the strengths, weakness and areas of improvement. Also add graph, numbers and any specific comments for easy presentation.
8. Share feedback: Schedule a call with the participants and present the finding of the report to them. Provide a constructive feedback and actionable insights for them to work on. Identify specific goals and areas of improvement by providing them training opportunity.

How Often Should 360 Surveys Be Used?

The frequency with which 360-degree feedback should be conducted depend on organizaion to organization. However here are some common intervals you can consider:

• Annual feedbacks: Usually its a normal practise to conduct an annual feedback process in every organization as it allow employer enough time to plan and develop a feedback process and communicate with the manager to discuss the process.
• Semi Annually: Some organization conduct feedback process twice a year as it helps provide continuious feedback and support ongoing development efforts.
• One time Feedback: Some organization opt for conducting 360 degree feedback once in 2 or 3 years. This evaluation works better for leadership development programs, promotion or succession planning.

360 feedback question examples by type

1. Leadership and Management Skills:
   – How well does your manager set up goals and expectations for your team members?
   – To what extent does your manager provide constructive feedback to team members after each project?
   – How well does the manager demonstrate the ability to lead and inspire their team?
2. Communication and Interpersonal Skills:
   – Is your manager open to different ideas or view points?
   – To what extent does the employee communicate his/her progress and ideas with the team ?
   – Does the employee communicate effectively with the team and clients?
   – How effectively does the employee resolve conflicts with clients and address any issues?
3. Teamwork and Collaboration:
   – How well does the individual contribute to team goals and collaborate with others?
   – To what extent does the individual share knowledge and resources with team members?
   – How effectively does the individual build and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues?
4. Problem-Solving and Decision-Making:
   – How well is the employee in analyzing and solving the problem?
   – To what extent does the employee contribute in decision-making processes during meetings?
   – How effectively does the individual make decisions that align with organizational goals and values?
5. Customer Focus (if applicable):
   – How well do you think the employee understand and meet customer needs and expectations?
   – To what extent does the individual handle customer inquiries and issues with professionalism and responsiveness?
   – How effectively does the individual build and maintain positive relationships with customers or clients?
6. Adaptability and Change Management:
   – How well does the employee respond to change and adapt to new situations?
   – To what extent does the employee embrace change and encourage others to do the same?
   – How effectively does the employee help their team navigate and succeed in times of change?
7. Accountability and Responsibility:
   – How well does the employee take ownership of their action and meet deadlines?
   – To what extent does the employee demonstrate a strong work ethic and commitment to their role?
   – How effectively does the employee take responsibility for their mistakes?
8. Leadership Development:
   – What areas do you believe the employee should focus on to further develop their leadership skills?
   – Are there specific leadership behaviors or qualities you think the manager should enhance or refine?
   – Do you have any recommendations for leadership training or development for the individual?