What would it be like to get honest feedback from everyone you work with? How could you use that feedback to improve your performance? That’s what 360 Degree Feedback is all about.

360-Degree Feedback provides a complete picture of your performance from all angles, like a mirror. It provides a safe environment for a participant to receive candid, anonymous feedback from peers, supervisors, direct reports, and other individuals whose relationships are key to the participant’s success.

People have been using 360 Degree Feedback since 1940. It was first used to help train pilots during World War II. It grew out of the use of a training method called ‘T-groups’ (training groups) where participants met with their peers who were encouraged to share feedback in an open session facilitated by a trained moderator.

Over time, the process evolved to consist of answering questions from a survey or assessment that evaluated the participant on behaviors and workplace competencies identified as necessary for success within a given organization. For many years, the 360 Degree Feedback process was difficult to administer because of the time and effort needed to collect paper forms, tabulate the data, and produce a summary report.

For many years, the 360 Degree Feedback process was difficult to administer because of the time and effort needed to collect paper forms, tabulate the data, and produce a summary report. However, advances in technology have overcome these logistical obstacles, and today about one-third of all companies and nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use some type of 360 Degree Feedback to help develop their employees and leaders

As leaders rise through the ranks of their organizations, they tend to receive less feedback about themselves and their performance. This is because colleagues and associates may be afraid to displease those in leadership positions above them. As a result, employees often give superficial feedback about a leader’s performance.

A 360 Degree assessment solves this problem by providing a confidential way for subordinates to provide upward feedback and for leaders to test their views of themselves, discover their strengths, and become aware of blind spots in their working relationships.

360-degree feedback can help leaders and organizations:

• Identify their strengths and weaknesses.
• Discover blind spots in their working relationships.
• Get honest feedback from their colleagues, managers, and other stakeholders.
• Build trust and rapport with their colleagues and manager.
• Create a more positive and productive work environment.

The 360 degree feedback process is a powerful tool for self-improvement. To get feedback, participants and their raters answer questions about the participant’s working style. Raters are people the participant works with every day, such as their supervisor, direct reports, peers, coworkers, and customers.

Results are aggregated so that no individual scores are shown except for those from a person’s direct supervisor. Ideally, the report is provided to the participant during a coaching session with an internal or external coach who helps the participant interpret the results and create a personal development action plan.

One of the most common questions about 360 degree feedback is whether it should be used for development purposes or as a performance evaluation method. The answer is that it can be used for both purposes, but it depends on the goals and needs of the organization.

Personal development is often a main purpose of a 360 degree assessment. In this case, participants use the feedback to create a development plan that is tailored to their individual needs. Participants may choose to share their results and plans with their supervisor or personal coach, but this is entirely optional. The only person who automatically sees the report is the participant.

When used for leadership development, 360 degree feedback is focused on the future – how can I improve moving forward? The goal is to help participants identify areas where they can improve their leadership skills and effectiveness. Personal growth and improvement are driven by the participant, at a pace and in a manner of their choosing.

Using 360 Degree Feedback for performance reviews is an effective way to drive results and to measure how individuals are performing in their jobs. Research has shown that employees prefer multi-rater feedback (i.e., asking several people for their input) because they believe it offers a more complete picture of their performance and is, therefore, more fair.

As a result, many organizations have started using multi-rater feedback for performance reviews instead of a traditional once-per-year, top-down appraisal system. When used for appraisal, the primary difference is that the multi-rater results are shared with supervisors and others within the organization, instead of being kept confidential. Additionally, in the context of performance evaluations, personal growth and improvement are driven by both the participant and the supervisor. Supervisors have a great deal of input into how improvement should take place and at what pace.

Increases Employee Engagement

When employees feel that their voices are being heard and that their feedback is valued, they are more likely to be engaged in their work. 360 degree feedback can help to create a culture of feedback where employees feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback.

Increases Self-awareness

Self-awareness means understanding your personality, working style, leadership and management approaches. Additionally, you should consider your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, motivations, thoughts, and emotions. Our research shows people generally score themselves lower than their supervisor and direct reports score them.

Clarifies Behavior

The very act of evaluating behaviors conveys what is important to the organization. Additionally, it allows you to see if you are focusing superfluous effort on a behavior you are already doing well, possibly at the expense of improving a weaker behavior.

Measure “The How”

Opposed to measuring only “what” gets done, 360 Degree Feedback considers how things get done. 360 Degree Feedback assessments measure skill and style. By focusing on process, you are giving yourself the best probability of creating the desired outcome.

Promotes Constructive Dialogue

Dialogue is the first step in moving from measurement to improvement. Ideally, that dialogue would explore strengths and weaknesses and continue with goals and a plan for improvement.

Improves Working Relationships

Performance feedback is something that is often one-sided or altogether missing. By introducing a mutual exchange of feedback into a relationship, another touchpoint for support is created.

Encourages Personal Development

Honest and reliable feedback is necessary to test perceptions and expose blind spots. 360 Degree Feedback is a positive disruptor that forces an individual to examine how others experience them in the workplace.

Increases Accountability

The enemy of accountability is ambiguity. You can’t tell someone to “be a better leader” without providing specifics. 360 Degree Feedback assessments clarify behaviors and allow you to make a judgment on whether that behavior has been demonstrated.

Enhances Performance

360 Degree Feedback is one of the most powerful tools in a leader’s personal development arsenal. But it is only effective if participants are provided proper support and held accountable to their commitments. It makes little sense to take a 360 Degree Feedback assessment without a follow-up plan on how to use the results.

It’s important to understand which features to look for when selecting a 360 Degree Feedback Software platform. You shouldn’t have to spend weeks configuring software settings to run your 360 initiatives when you could automate the entire process. Here are some of the ways the intuitive Spectiv platform powered by DecisionWise helps save time.

Rater Selection

Participants can quickly build a rater list by entering the names and emails of their raters or by choosing from a pre-populated list of employees uploaded by the HR team members. Customized FAQ options allow you to put important content at the fingertips of each rater.

Rater Approval

We recommend that participants actively involve themselves in rater selection. We also recommend that an HR team member or a manager approve the raters to ensure an accurate representation of raters. Rater approval can be turned on or off for each participant.

Administration

After the raters have been approved, the platform automatically sends the assessment to the participant and to all of the selected raters. Reminders are sent to those who have not completed the assessment, and the assessment will remain open until the chosen closing date. The closing date can be overridden where necessary to include delayed raters.

Reports

Dynamic online or PDF reports include simple-to-read reports with multiple modules that can be turned on or off. All standard reports include DecisionWise benchmark data. Create your own benchmarks with the easy norm tool, see gaps between rater groups, and include recommendations for improvement with the DecisionWise resource library.

A 360 Degree Feedback Assessment (sometimes referred to as a 360 Survey) includes a variety of questions that measure competencies and behaviors crucial for an organization’s or an individual’s success.

Leadership competencies are the foundation of an organization’s employee experience. Each organization has a unique culture that is built based on pro-social, behaviors and competencies that support the organization.

Competencies from the DecisionWise library may include: Results Orientation, Collaboration, Engaging Leadership, Communications, etc.

A leadership derailer is an overused strength or a behavior that gets in the way of a leader’s progress. It’s a weakness that will limit a person’s growth and upward progress if not addressed.

Derailers identify specific areas where  leaders can take action. They often give us the “why” behind the results, and they provide a leader with a sense of their emotional intelligence when dealing with others.

Raters are asked to rate the participant on each competency by evaluating 4-5 behavior statements (i.e., behavior descriptors) using a standard survey scale (5-point or 7-point). 360 feedback surveys typically include open-ended questions to collect qualitative feedback, as well. 360 feedback surveys are often referred to as assessments since they help gauge an individual’s potential. Completing a standard 360 feedback assessment typically takes 8-15 minutes, depending on its length.

DecisionWise can work with you to customize your 360 Feedback questions. We map our questions to your leadership competencies, giving you the best survey for your ideal culture.

The results collected from the 360 Feedback process are summarized into an individual report. Scores are separated by different rater groups (self, manager, peers, direct reports, etc.). Only the self-scores and the results from a participant’s manager are broken out individually. Scores from peers and direct reports are averaged together to protect confidentiality.

A report typically shows summary results for each competency. The most significant insight is found by comparing self-perceptions to the perceptions of others. This way, an individual is able to clearly see their blind spots. Open-ended comments are randomized and listed verbatim and provide valuable context and color.

When an individual receives their feedback report, it is strongly recommended that they be given a 60 or 90-minute coaching session to help them analyze the report, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and develop an action plan.

A 360 Degree Feedback Coaching session is a one-on-one meeting with a trained coach that lasts approximately 60-90 minutes. The result of the meeting is the creation of a personal development plan that a participant can use as roadmap for future growth. DecisionWise research (as well as supporting academic studies) has found that individuals who receive some type of coaching on their feedback, and then set goals for development, experience significantly greater improvement than those who simply participate in the process and receive no coaching.