Good 360 Degree Feedback Questions for Performance Reviews

Feedback in the workplace is more than a function in a performance review; it’s a key promoter of workplace engagement. About 80% of employees who’ve said they’ve received feedback in the past are fully engaged in their organization, according to a Gallup study. Learning where you bring value and how to improve from your colleagues and supervisors can motivate you to grow continuously beyond your role.

That’s where 360-degree feedback reviews come in handy. 360-degree feedback allows employees at every level of an organization to get a complete picture of an individual’s overall performance and level of engagement.

This article provides in-depth insights into 360-degree feedback performance reviews and the essential questions to include in your survey / review.

What is 360-Degree Feedback?

As one of several performance review types, a 360-degree feedback system is a survey that allows anyone to receive anonymous feedback from any member within the organization, including colleagues and managers. A full 360-degree assessment will also include completion of a self-evaluation. On average, a good 360-degree feedback performance management process will include 10 individuals throughout the organization who regularly interact with the individual.

Ultimately, this review style gives a well-rounded overview of an employee’s strengths while identifying areas of improvement or skill gaps.

360-Degree Feedback Questions

When setting up your 360-degree feedback performance reviews, you’ll need to carefully consider which questions you’ll want to include to help you evaluate an individual’s performance. It’s best to have a balance of open-ended and closed-ended questions to obtain a more accurate, complete picture of an individual’s performance.

Having both types of questions will help you gather the following information on an individual:

• Closed-ended questions: specific, short answers that provide information that can be analyzed as quantitative data (duties completed, training attended, etc.)
  
  • Example: “Yes or No” questions or questions using the Likert Scale (strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, etc.)
• Open-ended questions: detailed, open-ended answers that provide qualitative information about an employee’s performance (how do they process/document information, signs of leadership when no manager is present, etc.)

With a full understanding of the types of questions in a survey, you can now begin designing the questionnaire. These questions should focus on highlighting the abilities and identifying areas of improvement.

A comprehensive 360-degree feedback performance process can help measure these traits of any individual in the organization:

• Communication skills
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Leadership and management skills
• Accountability
• Decision-making skills
• Growth & development
• Alignment with company values

To help get you started on your 360-degree performance review, here’s a comprehensive list of the essential 360-degree survey questions you’ll want to include: 

Questions Regarding Communication

 Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Does the individual communicate their ideas clearly and efficiently?
2. Does the individual listen to others and gain different perspectives?
3. When the individual doesn’t understand something, do they ask for clarification?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. What does the individual do well when communicating with others?
2. What are some ways the individual can learn to improve their communication skills?
3. Can you provide an example of a time when the individual demonstrates effective or ineffective communication?

Questions Regarding Collaboration & Teamwork

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Does the individual have a positive relationship with the team to achieve their goals?
2. Does the individual demonstrate respect for other viewpoints and contributions?
3. Has the individual supported their colleagues when a challenge arises?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. How does the individual support collaboration efforts with the team?
2. Can you provide an example of a time the individual resolved a disagreement within the team?
3. Can you provide an example of how this individual contributes to teamwork?

Questions Regarding Leadership & Management

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Has the individual demonstrated initiative and ownership towards projects?
2. Does the individual bring a positive influence to the team without formal authority?
3. Do other team members ask the individual for help often?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. What leadership traits does the individual showcase?
2. How does the individual’s leadership style impact the team?
3. What are the ways the individual can improve when leading a team?

Questions Regarding Accountability

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Does the individual often follow through with their commitments?
2. Does the individual take ownership of their mistakes and learn from them?
3. Would you rely on the individual in high-pressure situations?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. Can you explain a time when the individual went above and beyond expectations?
2. How does the individual proactively solve problems before they escalate?
3. Can you provide an example of a time when the individual took ownership of a challenge or particular outcome?

Questions Regarding Decision-Making

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Does the individual make informed decisions based on available information?
2. Does the individual consider the impact of their decisions on the team and the organization?
3. Can the individual demonstrate critical thinking and sound logic in complex or uncertain situations?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. How does the individual measure the success or failure of their decisions?
2. How does the individual handle making a decision when there is ambiguity or incomplete information about a problem?
3. Can you provide an example of a decision the individual made that had a positive or negative impact on a project?

Questions Regarding Growth & Development

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Does the individual seek out feedback from their colleagues or supervisors?
2. Does the employee take the initiative to learn new skills for their development?
3. Does the individual set goals and deadlines to help progress in their role or professional development?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. Has the individual shown interest in learning new skills beyond their job description?
2. What skills can the individual improve on, or are there noticeable skill gaps?
3. Can you provide an example of when the individual applied feedback or new skills learned into their day-to-day work?

Questions Regarding Alignment with Company Values

Here is a list of closed-ended questions: 

1. Do the individual's behaviors align with the organization’s values?
2. Does the individual treat others with professionalism and respect?
3. Does the individual act ethically and with integrity in the workplace?

Here is a list of open-ended questions: 

1. How does the individual’s role and efforts contribute to the overall mission and values of the organization?
2. Has the individual shown instances of conflict between the organization's core values and processes?
3. How well have the individual’s daily actions reflected the core values of the organization?

Incorporating 360-Degree Feedback Questions into a Self-Evaluation

The questions above provide an overall broad evaluation of an individual’s character and work ethic regardless of their role in the organization. These same questions can be used when writing a self-evaluation performance review. Simply switch “individual” with “you” and you’ll have a thorough, self-evaluation performance review.

Assessing Results from 360-Degree Feedback Surveys

After building your questionnaire and distributing the survey amongst members of the organization, you can now gather performance insights based on the feedback.

To maximize the value of the 360-degree feedback review as an HR professional, you’ll want to focus on the following for a complete performance picture using feedback from their peers:

• Focus on recurring themes or patterns in respondents' answers
• Recognize the strengths and achievements given
• If using closed-ended questions, quantify answers and correlate them with competencies
• If using open-ended questions, use answers to support the quantitative data
• Translate feedback into an employee development plan
• Identifying behaviors that are beneficial to the role and the organization, and behaviors that need to be addressed and eliminated
• Help set goals to improve skills or behavioral gaps analyzed in the results
• Determine the most effective learning method to help the individual overcome their weaknesses identified (coaching, training, mentoring, shadowing, etc.)

With a lot of data to analyze and employee development plans to consider, managing it all in one place makes the review process simple. A comprehensive performance management solution can help you digitally organize continuous peer feedback forms for a successful review process while providing real-time analytics based on the survey results. Additionally, leveraging a learning management system can help employees and managers during their development process with targeted training courses and goal tracking.

Get Help Building a Process for 360-Degree Feedback

When the time comes to evaluate your workforce, you’ll want to choose a performance review type that will go beyond the standard employee-to-manager assessment. Implementing a 360-degree feedback review allows several members of the workplace, including the employee being evaluated, to be actively engaged in the process to assess all aspects of performance.

However, managing the entire performance review process can quickly become time-consuming. If your organization needs help managing a 360-degree feedback review, contact us today, and we’ll help elevate your employee performance.