How to conduct a 360-degree performance review (with example questions)

360-degree performance reviews are essential for a well-rounded view of an employee’s performance. By collecting feedback from an employee’s team, these reviews encourage professional development and enhance team collaboration. 

In this guide, we’ll share how to conduct your own 360-degree performance reviews and 20 example questions that you can include for better feedback and insights. 

A 360-degree performance review (also known as a 360 performance review) is a feedback system that measures employee performance based on feedback from managers, peers and direct reports. It provides comprehensive feedback about an employee’s performance, contributions and conduct. 

Depending on your team’s structure, the process can involve five to 15 people and may include a self-evaluation. You’ll gather feedback from team members who the employee interacts with regularly, such as their: 

You can use the feedback that you’ve gathered to determine how the employee contributes to their team dynamics and highlight areas of improvement.

Conversely, traditional performance reviews focus on employee performance. These private, one-on-one meetings typically occur once a year between employees and their managers. During these meetings, managers provide feedback about the following focus areas:

Although providing a single source of feedback can be efficient and time-saving, this provides limited insight. You may need to supplement your feedback with employee metrics to provide a more comprehensive picture of the employee’s performance.  

You have plenty of options when it comes to conducting 360-degree performance reviews. Here’s how to complete 360-degree evaluations with a survey:

The right questions give you actionable data. We recommend using a mix of quantitative (scored) and qualitative (open-ended) questions that cover key competencies, including:

When gathering input from team members, supervisors and customers, tailor questions to their relationship with the employee and their regular interactions. The goal is to gather constructive, actionable insights to help the employee grow and succeed. 

You can also use a 360-degree performance review template to structure your questions. We’ll provide a few sample 360-degree performance review questions further down.

Confidentiality encourages candid feedback and fosters trust in the process. Use the following methods to ensure confidentiality and encourage willing participation: 

Prepare employees through training sessions to ensure that they understand how to use the feedback constructively. During these sessions, you should cover the following:

Eventually, participating in HR and performance surveys will become just another aspect of the job. 

Send your survey with clear deadlines and instructions. Ensure that you send the right survey to the right individuals. A manager’s survey will look different from a client’s survey. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of methods that you can use to disseminate your surveys. 

The results are in and you now have data to review. As a first step, you need to clean the data. Remove identifying language and start to organise by answer type. Use crosstabulations to divide your data into smaller groups based on shared characteristics such as department or role.

Some of the data may be statistically significant. Use methods such as frequency distributions and factor analysis to find trends. With a data pool of this size, you’re more likely to identify trends than statistical significance. 

Organise the data and compare it to the employee’s self-assessment. Interpret all results and compile overarching feedback. If you use the right 360-degree employee evaluation survey template, interpreting your results will be a breeze. 

It’s now time to present the results to the employee. The exact format will vary depending on where the individual is in their employee lifecycle and department. The important thing is to follow this three-fold feedback process:

These goals could look like a well-structured plan or follow a goal model. 

To improve the productivity and soft skills of employees, they will require support throughout their development. Mid-development evaluation surveys can help to assess progress, but it’s vital to follow up on performance reviews regularly. 

Let the employee know when to expect each follow-up and ask for their input on how follow-up sessions can be most helpful. 

No review process is perfect. Here’s what you need to know about the pros and cons of 360-degree performance reviews:

This method allows for a holistic review and more comprehensive employee performance management.

Employees who receive feedback from multiple sources get a more comprehensive view of their performance. Individuals who interact with employees in various roles provide unique insights into their skills, strengths and areas for improvement.

Consistent feedback from multiple sources also strengthens the credibility of the input. For example, a manager may have limited insight into an employee’s client communication skills, but a client will notice and highlight superior attention to detail and customer communication.

These reviews play a valuable role in supporting an employee’s career development. They offer comprehensive feedback to guide recommendations about performance and areas for growth. Regular check-ins ensure that employees stay on track and make effective progress towards their objectives. This is an excellent method for closing the employee experience gap. 

360-degree evaluations foster accountability and a collaborative-minded attitude. Constructive criticism within the team can enhance communication and support collective growth, thus enabling members to work more effectively. Downward feedback offers insights into performance and prepares employees to succeed. 

Traditional one-to-one meetings give few objective insights into employee performance. 360-degree performance reviews provide a diverse data set that may uncover employee, department or company-wide needs. 

There are some key challenges associated with the 360-degree feedback process, including the following:

These answers will almost always be subjective; therefore, there is always room for bias. Additionally, many employees may need more experience of evaluating performance, making it challenging to provide consistent or effective ratings. Proper training on how to take these surveys and what they mean can help survey-takers offer honest, reliable answers. 

Poor-quality surveys will deliver poor-quality data. Proper survey design is key for an effective 360-degree performance review process. Use the following tips to ensure a well-functioning survey:

360-degree performance reviews require more effort than traditional evaluations. From designing the survey to gathering and analysing feedback from multiple sources, the entire process can take several weeks to complete (although potentially longer).

The open-ended questions are particularly prone to misinterpretation. A short answer, an answer with errors or one that requires background knowledge to understand can skew your results. Proper training on how to take these surveys will help to avoid this conundrum. 

Promote a culture that embraces feedback as a growth tool. Encourage employees to see 360-degree performance reviews as opportunities for insights rather than criticism. Clear communication about their purpose helps to ease any concerns.

360-degree performance reviews enhance collaboration by highlighting the impact of individual actions on the team, improving communication, resolving conflicts and fostering unity. It’s important to incorporate this valuable feedback into an employee’s career development plan by setting actionable goals based on the insights gathered. 

For example:

Each question in your review should be practical, actionable and relevant to the 360-degree performance review process. Use these questions to help you design your survey and get the most out of performance reviews. 

A downward review, also known as downward feedback, is a process where managers or supervisors give feedback to direct reports. This feedback is a central part of a 360-degree performance review process.

These questions should cover topics that are frequently discussed during employee performance management conversations. 

Upward reviews allow employees to assess their managers’ efficiency, openness and communication. The impact of managers on the employee experience is significant, and their team should evaluate their performance. A manager performance survey must be strictly confidential to ensure reliable results. 

Many employees work closely with their peers and develop effective work partnerships. Peers can provide insights into collaboration and support, and even areas for improvement. This information can help individuals to make small work adjustments and accelerate their careers.

Peer feedback questions must provoke actionable and thoughtful responses.

Self-evaluations require honesty, confidence and humility. It’s challenging for a person to describe both their weaknesses and strengths accurately. This self-reflection exercise must strike a balance between self-praise and self-awareness. 

Before self-evaluating, encourage the employee to reflect on the past few months. Prompt them to consider their recent successes and any recent failures, as well as to think about what they’ve been struggling with and how they’ve achieved their goals.

If carried out effectively, 360-degree performance reviews can lead to greater employee self-awareness, stronger team dynamics and improved overall performance. Use 360-degree feedback templates to launch successful performance reviews and improve organisational efficiency.