20 Questions You Should be Asking in 360-Degree Performance Reviews

What is a 360 Degree Performance Review?

A 360 performance provides a thorough assessment of an employee's effectiveness, productivity, contributions, and work behavior using feedback from around six to twelve people, as well as an employee self-evaluation. It is an important aspect under the performance appraisal system. It is a type of professional feedback that enables both the company and the person to identify their strengths and areas for improvement.  

Businesses, for many years, have used the 360 degree feedback questions and performance reviews method because it works. Countless performance management system guides have said this before, but it begs to be said again: 360 degree feedback questions and performance reviews, if done right, seriously boosts your employee engagement strategies, spots training needs, and help employees progress through the leadership ladder. Also, by using a performance management system to set goals and track progress, and 360 degree feedback to gather input from a variety of sources, organizations can identify areas where employees need to improve, provide targeted feedback and coaching, and create development plans to help employees achieve their goals.

“It frees you as an individual and as an organisation from being held hostage by the views of your bosses,"

says Bruce Sevy, a 360 evaluator of PDI Ninth House, Minneapolis.

Let's come clean - The HRIS wasn't built for performance management. In the times where companies like Deloitte, Accenture, Adobe, are dumping traditional performance reviews and adopting AI in performance management, it has become incredibly important to integrate 360 degree feedback questions that hold great value and insights as to your employee’s performance.

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What are the benefits of a 360 Degree Performance Review?

1. Provides diverse feedback from a variety of sources
2. Increases individual responsibility and group teamwork
3. Enables you to determine the places of improvement
4. Reduces prejudice and discriminating tendencies
5. Helps contribute to an employee's professional advancement

Key differences between a 360 degree feedback questions and formal performance review

Things leaders do differently in a 360 feedback questions in comparison to a formal performance review:

• Leaders choose the participating co-workers who should respond to the questions
• Leaders ask co-workers to offer their honest observations
• The completed report is submitted to the leader within a team setting or 1-on-1 meetings
• Leaders are offered some context and guidance to interpret the responses
• Leaders receive a customised leadership competencies for succession planning (I.e., identifying potential employees for leadership positions)

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Also Read: 9 factors to consider before choosing a Performance Management System

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How to write 360 degree feedback questions?

Note: The sample for 360 feedback questions are used to collect a specific collection of data. Thus, the feedback questions cannot be left open-ended. Since the responses may be biased, scattershot and will offer no useful interpretation. MCQs, yes/no questions, or drop-downs should be used.

The following are some instances of open-ended questions:

• What are the employee's strengths?
• How well does this co-worker manage their time and workload?
• What is the one thing this employee should start/stop/continue doing?

Rather, you should inquire, for example:

• Is the employee on time with his or her work?
• Does he reply to your emails within an hour of receiving them?
• Had he gotten more than 50 leads in the previous month?
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Also Read: 5 Elements of an effective Performance Management Software

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Closed-ended 360 degree feedback review questions

Closed-ended 360 degree feedback questions are better for winning quantitative data. Have your employees select their level of agreement or disagreement with any of the following statements using the options "strongly disagree," "disagree," "neutral," "agree," and "strongly agree":

1. This co-worker properly prioritises their task and meets deadlines.
2. Do they communicate with the team in a clear and effective manner.
3. Does this co-worker possesses great leadership qualities.
4. Is this co-worker excellent in interpersonal skills.
5. This co-worker always provides comments in a timely and effective manner.
6. This co-worker place a high value on work collaboration.
7. Is this co-worker inventive and proactive.
8. Is this co-worker willing to hear both positive and negative feedback.
9. Is this co-worker following the company's principles to a T.
10. This co-worker appreciates a variety of viewpoints, even if they disagree from their own.

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360 assessment questions for leadership

To cultivate excellent leaders is a luxury. It is noteworthy that by 2025, millennials will represent 3/4th of the global workforce. For successful 360 degree feedback questions you must map out well-defined plans for identifying and retaining employees with leadership traits.

1. Do you think this employee is trustworthy, ethical, and honest?
2. Does this employee inspire others to achieve and guide to objectives and key results?
3. Has this individual demonstrated initiative in leading team projects or assignments?
4. Do you think this person understands and embodies our company's mission and values?
5. Can you trust this employee to keep his or her promises and fulfill his or her responsibilities?
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360 degree feedback questions for managers

Managers can use and act on 360 degree performance review questions for managers to a) learn if others' perceptions of them differ from their own, b) identify a weakness to fix , and c) understand if their leadership is affecting the productivity and engagement of their direct reports, thus improving themselves and the company in the process.

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1. Is this manager capable of resolving issues and conflict management?
2. Is this manager considerate of others opinions while making critical decisions?
3. Do this manager's activities encourage others to grow and develop?
4. Is this manager giving you constructive and helpful feedback?
5. Do you believe this manager provides clear direction that is in line with the company's strategy?