360 degree feedback and 360 appraisals tips and template examples

360 degree feedback and 360 appraisals tips and template examples

360 degree appraisals are a powerful developmental method and quite different to traditional manager-subordinate appraisals (which fulfil different purposes). As such a 360 degree process does not replace the traditional one-to-one process - it augments it, and can be used as a stand-alone development method.

360 degree appraisals involve the appraisee receiving feedback from people (named or anonymous) whose views are considered helpful and relevant. The feedback is typically provided on a form showing job skills/abilities/attitudinal/behavioural criteria and some sort of scoring or value judgement system. The appraisee should also assess themselves using the same feedback instrument or form.

360 degree respondents can be the appraisee's peers, up-line managers/execs, subordinate staff, team members, other staff, customers, suppliers - anyone who comes into contact with the appraisee and has opinions/views/reactions of and to the appraisee. Numerous systems and providers are available - I wouldn't recommend any in particular because my view about this process is that you should develop a process and materials for your own situation, preferably involving the appraisees in this, which like all participative approaches, often works well.

You can develop your own 360 degree feedback system by running a half-day or full day workshop (depending on extent and complexity of the required process) involving the appraisees or a sample group, during which process and materials can be created and provisionally drafted. The participative workshop approach as ever will give you something that's wholly appropriate and 'owned' instead of something off-the-shelf or adapted, which would be arbitrary, mostly inappropriate and impracticable (in terms of criteria and process), and 'not invented here', ie., imposed rather than owned.

I would recommend against restricting the 360 feedback to peers and managers only - it's a waste of the potential of the 360 degree appraisal method. To use the feedback process for its fullest '360 degree' benefit involve customers (in the broadest sense - could be patients, students, users, depending on the organization), staff, suppliers, inspectors, contractors, and others for whom good working relationships and understanding with the appraisee affect overall job performance, quality, service, etc.

Ensure respondents are aware of equality and discrimination issues, notably the Age Discrimination legislation and implications which might be new to some people. Comments such as 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks', or 'not old enough to command respect' are ageist, discriminatory, unlawful, and will create a liability for the originator and the employer.

Developing 360 degree appraisals systems process make ideal subjects for a workshops, which in itself contains some very helpful developmental benefits and experience for all involved. If you're not able to get everyone together for a workshop you should solicit input and ideas - particularly about appraisal criteria and respondents and anonymity - then draft out process and materials - then issue for approval, then pilot, review, adapt and then implement. Adapt, improve and develop on an ongoing basis.

It is my view that no aspects of 360 feedback should ever be mandatory for any appraisee or respondent. Given more than three or four similar role-types being appraised it's not sensible to produce individually tailored criteria, in which case when it comes to the respondents completing the feedback not all the criteria will be applicable for all respondents, nor for all appraisees either. By the same when designing the feedback instruments (whether hard-copy documents or online materials), it's useful to allow space for several 'other' aspects that the appraisee might wish to add to the standard criteria, and space for respondents to add 'other' comments. Open honest feedback can touch sensitivities, so be sure that appraisees understand and agree to the criteria, respondents (by type, if not named) and process.

Ensure suitable and sensitive counselling is provided as part of the informing of feedback results.

If 360 degree feedback results are to be analysed collectively to indicate the overall/total situation (ie., to assist in determining organizational training and development needs for instance), think carefully about the feedback form scoring system and particularly its suitability for input to some sort of analysis tool, which could be a spreadsheet, and therefore numerically based requiring numerical scores, rather than words, (words of course are more difficult to count and measure, and while words and description assessment enables more subtlety, they also allow more room for misunderstanding and misinterpretation).

For guidance have a look at the skills and behavioural assessment tool - it's not a 360 degree tool, but is an example of the basis of one, and some of the skills elements that can be included in a 360 degree appraisals form.

Similarly the training needs analysis tool is an example of a collective or organizational measurement tool, based on the input of a number of individual feedback assessments. This tool can easily be adapted to analyse a number of 360 degree responses.

See the 360 degree appraisal document, available in MSWord or Excel formats:

free 360 degree appraisals form template in MSWord format

free 360 degree appraisals form template in MSExcel format