Use 360 Performance Reviews for Honest Feedback
360 performance reviews are one of the best ways to get the honest feedback that traditional reviews miss. Your vision is to have open communication with your employees and have them feel comfortable telling you when there are issues, and 360-degree reviews will help you get there.
This article covers what a 360 review is, why it is beneficial, the five steps to run one, and the few drawbacks to watch out for, with a free 360 results summarizer that finds blind spots and hidden strengths in the scores.
Why You Need 360 Performance Reviews
Here is the dilemma. You are a manager, and you have heard rumblings of tension between departments. From your perspective, employees are completing their work, and they seem to be working together fine to do it.
When you talk with employees, they are always upbeat and positive, and everything seems to be functioning just fine. You know something is going on, but you cannot quite put your finger on it.
After all, you are the manager. Would your employees not tell you if something were wrong? Would they not just come right out and say it if they disagreed with recent decisions? Or would they? Most often, employees do not feel comfortable giving direct feedback like that, so what are you to do?
One solution is to start using 360 performance reviews. You start getting more well-rounded and honest feedback by changing how you review your employees.
What Is a 360 Performance Review?
A 360 review is a different approach from the traditional performance review. Instead of feedback from one manager, it collects feedback from many people and perspectives. The method is used both to review employees and to have employees review you as a manager.
Have you ever considered having your employees involved in your own review? Read on to see why it is beneficial. It works whether the business is small, medium, or large.
| Traditional review | 360 review | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gives feedback | The manager only | Six to twelve people: manager, peers, direct reports, and sometimes customers or vendors |
| What it captures | What the manager sees | How the person works with everyone around them |
| Anonymity | None | Usually anonymous |
| Risk of bias | Higher, since it rests on one opinion | Lower, since it combines many views |
How Does a 360 Review Work?
There are many 360 review software options to help with the process, Lattice and Trakstar among them, but software is not required.
A 360 review uses feedback from six to twelve people rather than the manager alone, and a scoring scale of one to five across several areas is often used to report it. In addition to the score, leave room for details. If an employee is rated a 1 for communication, you will need to know why.
The STAR method works well here: the person giving feedback shares an example and describes the situation, the task, the action taken, and the result. I find this the most useful, because concrete examples help the employee grow in a way a feeling or hearsay never will.
The feedback comes from direct reports, peers, and managers, giving an all-around view of how the employee is performing from multiple perspectives. Most often the feedback is anonymous, and the manager may choose to share all or some of it.
How to Run a 360 Performance Review in 5 Steps
Step 1: Choose the Key Areas to Review
Think about the feedback you need and decide on the key areas. These could include leadership ability, willingness to work with teams, communication, quality of work, and how conflict is handled.
Step 2: Decide Who Will Give Feedback
Managers, peers, and direct reports are the usual groups, but do not forget vendors and customers as options for roles that work closely with them.
Step 3: Decide Whether the Survey Is Anonymous
Decide whether the survey will be anonymous, and send it accordingly. This is where software comes in handy if you want anonymity, though a trusted third party can collect responses too.
Step 4: Have the Employee Complete a Self-Review
Ask the employee to complete the same survey about themselves. Comparing their answers with everyone else’s shows where the gaps are, which is often the most valuable part of the whole review.
Step 5: Share the Results and Set Goals
Choose the information you are going to share and have an open conversation. This is a great time to set goals so the employee can work toward improvement before the next round of reviews.
8 Benefits of 360-Degree Reviews
A 360 performance review gives you several benefits that a single point of view cannot.
| Benefit | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|
| Find training needs | Weak areas that show up across several people point to where your organization needs additional training. |
| Build accountability | Knowing how the team sees them helps a team member understand how their actions affect others, which drives accountability and team development. |
| See more of the picture | Employees have different relationships with each other than with you, and you will not see every interaction as the manager. |
| Reduce bias | Combining many views reduces discrimination and bias, and surfaces strengths a single manager may miss. |
| Improve yourself as a manager | It creates a psychologically safe way for employees to give you feedback on your decisions. |
| Get more honest input | Anonymous feedback is more candid, since some people struggle to be upfront face to face. |
| Spot organizational problems | Declining motivation may turn out to be an organizational issue you can fix, not a problem with individuals. |
| Support promotions | Honest input from every area of the business helps set goals for someone working toward a promotion. |
Drawbacks of 360 Performance Reviews and How to Avoid Them
Those are significant benefits. There are just a few things to be mindful of.
| Drawback | How to avoid it |
|---|---|
| Biased rater selection | Choose raters carefully so results are not tilted toward people who only see the employee when they are frustrated. |
| Frustration when feedback is ignored | Tell raters what happens next, and follow through, because some people get upset if their feedback is not acted on. |
| Feedback that is too general | Ask for STAR-style examples so the feedback supports real improvement and goal setting. |
| Recency bias | Remind raters to think about the entire review period, not just the last two weeks of issues. |
Free 360 Review Results Summarizer
Once the surveys are in, the hardest part is making sense of them. Enter the average score each group gave for each competency: the self-review, the manager, peers, and direct reports. The summarizer averages everyone else’s view and compares it with how the employee rated themselves.
A gap of one point or more in either direction is flagged. When the employee rates themselves higher than others do, it is a blind spot. When others rate them higher, it is a hidden strength worth recognizing. Anything others rate below 3 is a development area.
In the example, communication and handling conflict are blind spots: the employee rated both a 4, but others averaged about 2.9 and 2.6. Leadership comes out as aligned at about 3.9, and handling conflict is the lowest-rated area. Copy the summary to Excel, where the averages and findings stay live formulas, or print it for the review conversation.
360 Review Results Summarizer
Enter the average score from 1 to 5 that each group gave for each competency: the employee’s self-review, their manager, their peers, and their direct reports. The summarizer averages everyone else’s view, compares it with the self-review, and flags blind spots (the employee rates themselves higher) and hidden strengths (others rate them higher). Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
Try 360 Performance Reviews in Your Next Review Cycle
Try a 360 review survey in your next round of reviews and see what you learn. The first cycle usually surfaces at least one blind spot and one hidden strength that a traditional review would have missed.
Updoot’s performance reviews support two-way feedback and keep every review, goal, and follow-up in one place. Updoot is business management software for $5 per user per month. Learn more about how I can help.
Written by Nicole Hullihen
Sources and Further Reading on 360-Degree Reviews
What Is a 360 Review? (Indeed)
The Pros and Cons of 360 Reviews (Lattice)
The STAR Interview Response Technique (The Balance)
360-Degree Performance Reviews (SHRM)
Opens in Google Drive. View and download for free.
Related Reading
Feedback You Need as a Leader →
How to Do a Performance Review Step by Step With Template →
The Importance of Employee Feedback and How to Use It Effectively →
Frequently Asked Questions About 360 Performance Reviews
What is a 360 performance review?
A 360 review collects feedback on an employee from several people, typically their manager, peers, and direct reports, and sometimes customers or vendors, instead of from the manager alone.
How many people should give feedback in a 360 review?
Six to twelve people is typical, which is enough for a balanced view while keeping individual responses anonymous.
Should 360 feedback be anonymous?
Usually, yes. Anonymous feedback tends to be more honest, especially from peers and direct reports. Software or a trusted third party can collect responses.
What should a 360 review ask about?
Common areas include communication, teamwork, quality of work, handling conflict, and leadership, each scored 1 to 5 with room for specific STAR examples.
What is a blind spot in a 360 review?
A blind spot is an area where the employee rates themselves noticeably higher than others do. It is often the most useful finding to discuss.
What are the drawbacks of 360 reviews?
Biased rater selection, frustration when feedback is not acted on, feedback that is too general, and recency bias. Careful rater choice, STAR examples, and follow-through prevent most of them.
Can managers be reviewed with a 360 review?
Yes. Having direct reports review their manager is one of the most valuable uses, because it gives leaders honest feedback they rarely hear otherwise.