Summary
The 360 review process gathers insights about an individual’s performance from supervisors, peers, and external stakeholders for the purposes of coaching and development. Forbes states that more than 85% of all Fortune 500 companies use the 360 degree feedback process as a cornerstone of their overall leadership development process. Despite it being a common practice, 360 feedback is consistently met with confusion on how to initiate, gather, and deliver feedback effectively.
WorkDove’s 360 feedback tool brings clarity to this process with streamlined peer, upward, and external feedback that helps team members grow. For even greater efficiency, we are providing simple and adaptable 360 feedback templates and best practices below.
360 Degree Best Practices
The 360 review process often elicits feelings of fear and anxiety about both giving and receiving feedback. Perhaps employees have received harsh and unhelpful feedback in the past. Perhaps they provided well thought-out feedback for a colleague only to learn that the organization did not have a process for engaging with it and making adjustments based on the feedback. In either scenario, trust in the 360 review process has been broken.
Before sending out 360-degree feedback request forms, it is important to embrace these best practices to ensure 360s are a positive, beneficial, and developmental experience for everyone in the organization.
- Test with a pilot group- Consider forming a small group of 5 to 35 people and have them provide feedback on each other, debrief, and adjust the process as necessary. A pilot group can actively work out any gaps or potential issues.
- Include performance objectives and core values- For 360 feedback forms to be more holistic, it is recommended to include the individual’s performance objectives and company core values. This helps managers and HR leaders to glean even more data on employees without having to develop anything new.
- Use a star-rating scale- When giving a star rating is appropriate based on the format of the question, star-rating scales are recommended. The most critical aspect, however, is that each star has a distinct definition so all participants are held to the same standard.
- Use 360 review software- While digital 360 review tools are not required to have a successful 360 process, user-friendly and customizable software is highly recommended. Choose a tool that is a natural fit to the organization’s culture and will be relatively easy to train. For example, WorkDove’s 360 tool includes automated workflows, detailed reports and dashboards, and seamlessly integrates with performance reviews.
360 Review Templates
Leveraging 360-degree feedback templates will help to reduce HR’s workload and will give a helpful starting point that can easily be customized to fit the needs of your organization. Below we have highlighted 4 types of 360 review templates with a total of 6 templates available to download.
Manager/Supervisor 360 Template
360-degree feedback for managers/supervisors, otherwise known as upward feedback (link to upward feedback blog), grows leaders by providing insight into how their management skills and leadership styles are being perceived by more junior team members. This particular type of 360 review is often found in organizations who value a culture of continuous improvement and aspire to embrace a growth mindset.
WorkDove’s manager/supervisor template includes 10 questions to gather employee perceptions about the leader’s general leadership style, coaching abilities, and communication skills.
Self-360 Template
When employees complete self-360 reviews, it not only helps to increase their self-awareness at work but it also equips their managers with additional tools for coaching. Giving managers insight into how their employees perceive their own efforts allows them to peer behind the curtain and into the mind of the employee to ask more directed coaching questions and guide their development more effectively. There is also power in showing employees a comparison and contrast between how they view themselves and how their peers/clients/leaders perceive their efforts.
WorkDove’s self-360 template includes 9 questions that help the individual assess their productivity, team contribution and dynamic, and potential areas of improvement.
Peer-to-Peer 360 Template
Giving and receiving peer feedback increases accountability overall. Holding team members accountable, and likewise being held accountable, fosters an environment that is others-focused and that places high value on integrity.
WorkDove’s peer-to-peer 360 template includes 10 questions that help to gather insight about the employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and general work efforts.
Skills-Based 360 Template
Skills-based 360 review templates help create a culture of growth by encouraging all employees at every level to continuously pursue development of their skills. This type of 360 degree feedback ultimately leads to better business outcomes by working to uncover blindspots and actively incorporate needed training for specific skillsets.
WorkDove offers 3 separate skills-based templates focused on communication and leadership skills, leadership effectiveness, and team building and collaboration.
WorkDove 360 Feedback Tool
Improve collaboration and ensure alignment with WorkDove’s 360 tool. Seamlessly collect continuous feedback and further develop your employees with powerful reporting that helps HR leaders to visualize data and make more informed business decisions. If your organization is interested in simplifying the 360 review process, speak with one of our experts today!
