360 DEGREE FEEDBACK SURVEY

360-degree feedback is a development process that provides a safe environment for a person to receive candid feedback from peers, supervisors, subordinates, and other individuals with relationships key to his or her success.

Perhaps surprisingly, 360 feedback has been in use since 1940, and has evolved to become a very effective management tool in employee development. 360 feedback grew out of the use of a training method called “T-groups” or training groups where participants met with their peers who were encouraged to share feedback in an open session facilitated by a trained moderator. 360-degree feedback was a difficult process to administer for early adopters because of the time and effort needed to collect paper forms, collate the data, and produce a summary report. These obstacles were overcome with advances in technology that now allow the entire process to be conducted online increasing confidentiality and greatly speeding up the process. Today, about one third of all companies and 90 percent of of Fortune 500 companies use some type of 360-degree feedback.

The term “360” refers to the degrees of a circle, with an individual figuratively in the center of the circle. Feedback about a person’s behaviors and performance is provided by subordinates, peers, and supervisors. 360-degree feedback also includes a self-assessment and, in some cases, feedback from external sources, such as customers and suppliers or other interested stakeholders. Most participants will receive feedback from a total of eight to 15 people. Raters should only be those that have a close working relationship with the participant.

The survey normally includes between 40-80 questions that measure a series of competencies and behaviors most important to an organization or to an individual’s success. Competencies may include: Communication, Teamwork, Results Orientation, Planning and Organization, etc. Raters are asked to rate the participant on each statement (behavior descriptors) using a Likert scale (5-point or 7-point scales). 360 feedback surveys typically include open-ended questions to collect qualitative feedback. The surveys take between 8-15 minutes to complete depending on length.

Yes, 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 culture. Not interested in customizing, use one of our standard surveys for executive leaders, business leaders, team leaders, or individual contributors.

When an individual receives his or her feedback report, he or she is typically provided some type of coaching to analyze the report, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and develop action plans. A 360-degree feedback coaching session is a one-on-one meeting with a trained facilitator that lasts approximately 60-90 minutes. The result of the meeting is the creation of a personal development plan that the participant shares with his or her manager. DecisionWise research (as well as supporting academic studies) has found that those individuals who receive some type of coaching on their feedback, and set goals for development, experience significantly greater improvement than those who simply participate in the process and receive their reports.
As organizations rely more heavily on teamwork, cooperation, and communication to improve productivity, 360-degree feedback has become an increasingly useful tool.