Are you looking for a way to evaluate people in your organization more accurately? Then set up a 360-degree feedback system.
Such a system starts with a solid 360 assessment template.
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In any professional context, feedback is the oxygen that breathes life into an employee’s personal development and overall success. However, if the wind blows too hard from only one direction – that of the manager – blind spots are overlooked, and progress tends to fade.
That’s what makes a 360 feedback system so vital. To make such a system as smooth as can be, you need a solid 360 assessment: One or more objective questionnaires that allow different people who work with your employee to evaluate different aspects of his or her work.
Some 360 assessment templates focus on particular domains of someone’s work. Common themes are leadership assessments or communication skills assessments. Every 360 assessment brings value to the table. The crucial points? On one hand, assessment models that allow you to quantify feedback, in order to benchmark results against expected standards. On the other hand, you need a way to translate assessment scores into personalized and actionable feedback.
Thanks to your setup in the Report Builder, and its Aggregate Reports feature, employees get a detailed PDF report: with personalized feedback, useful tips, and an action plan.
So what exactly is meant by 360 degrees? In the context of a typical employee review, you want to make the perspective of the evaluation as wide as possible. A traditional performance review restrains itself to a single point of view, that of the manager. The reality of employee performance is that different stakeholders are affected by it (or the lack of it).
For example:
A traditional performance evaluation would be restrained to the first bullet point. A 360 assessment provides much more nuance and results in a more objective evaluation overall.
A 360 assessment provides a well-rounded view of strengths, weaknesses, and areas for development. Take the following guidelines into account when setting up your 360 feedback system:
Effective 360 assessment template questions
It’s important not to underestimate the effect your questions can have on the respondents in a 360 assessment. Here are some tips that should help you write your 360 assessment questionnaire:
Here are 30 example questions for 360 review assessments divided into 3 categories:
The following 360 assessment template questions are designed to assess various leadership competencies and behaviors using a closed-ended format, allowing raters to select response options that best reflect their perceptions of the individual being assessed.
Each question is focused on specific aspects of leadership, such as communication, decision-making, and relationship-building.
These 360 assessment template questions aim to evaluate various sales competencies crucial for success in a sales role.
Each question is structured as a closed-ended item, allowing raters to choose response options that align with their view of the individual’s performance in specific areas such as prospecting, communication, and customer relationship management.
These 360 assessment template questions are designed to assess an individual’s problem-solving skills across various contexts and situations. Each question is designed to accurately reflect respondents’ perceptions of the individual’s ability to analyze problems, generate solutions, and make effective decisions.
Overall, a well-structured and thoughtfully designed 360 feedback report will enhance the effectiveness of the assessment process and support the individual’s growth and development efforts.
Here are some best practices for structuring and designing a 360 feedback report:
Confidentiality is paramount in 360 assessments as it fosters an environment of trust and openness, encouraging honest and candid feedback from respondents. No protection of confidentiality of assessment responses means no real integrity. And that means there’s no valid feedback to work with.
You need to allow respondents to share their perspectives freely without fear of repercussions or judgment. This will lead to more accurate and actionable insights for the assessed individual.
Moreover, maintaining confidentiality demonstrates respect for the privacy and confidentiality of respondents’ opinions and ensures compliance with ethical and legal standards regarding data protection. By prioritizing confidentiality in 360 assessments, organizations can uphold the credibility of the process and promote a culture of transparency and accountability in feedback practices.
Let’s (re-)highlight some good practices:
* Out-of-the-box tip: One practice that isn’t so common but which is actually perfect to assure anonymity is to use your assessment as a meeting minutes template. In other words, in a physical interview, instead of taking free notes on what every interviewee says, you go through the same list of questions of your assessment, all the way through and complete the assessment that way.
Some sources erroneously recommend including individual rater feedback in a 360 feedback report – all the while maintaining confidentiality by anonymizing raters’ identities (e.g., using identifiers like Rater 1, Rater 2, etc.).
When might this be desirable? For instance, when your 360 assessment has a strong focus on qualitative feedback, rather than objective scores.
However, based on our experience working with thousands of clients at Pointerpro, we’re fierce adherents of using a quantitative 360 assessment template or model. The point of a 360 assessment should be to boost the assessee’s self-awareness about how they’re doing objectively on various fronts. You want to avoid skyrocketing their self-consciousness and leave them insecure about subjective details.
The qualitative feedback in the 360 report should be predominantly derived from objective, aggregated quantitative data.
That’s the power of Pointerpro’s Report Builder and its Aggregate Reports function.
The point of a report is to objectively summarize and come up with high-impact actions. Not to get lost in details.
Respondents’ more detailed answers on clarification prompts or open questions should generally be kept for HR employee development specialists and managers to understand important nuances. It will allow them to do better follow-up.
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CFO & COO at Egg Science
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Account Director at Reed Talent Solutions
“It’s a great advantage to have formulas and the possibility for a really thorough analysis. There are hundreds of formulas, but the customer only sees the easy-to-read report. If you’re looking for something like that, it’s really nice to work with Pointerpro.”
Country Manager Netherlands at Better Minds at Work
