What is 360° feedback?

What do my coworkers think of me, and how does that compare to what I think about myself?

That is the question 360° feedback tries to answer. By anonymously surveying one's closest circle of peers and coworkers, 360° feedback (also known as multi-rater feedback) helps individuals gain a more realistic view of their own performance. This empowers them to improve upon their weaknesses and exploit their strengths, leading to more productive and capable workers.

360° feedback is vital to improving professional performance. Recent studies show that close to 90% of all Fortune 500 companies use 360° feedback of some form when conducting employee evaluations. This is because 360° feedback is the most effective way to appraise performance. Instead of traditional "top-down" evaluations, 360° feedback evaluates individuals through the eyes of those who work most closely with them. This can include managers, peers, and even customers. By acquiring this "360° view", 360° survey subjects are well-prepared to improve their own performance and productivity.

360° feedback targets specific issues and competencies to ensure powerful results and improved performance. The question on a 360° survey are uniquely designed to highlight specific issues faced by professionals of various levels of experience. Subjects are rated by coworkers on dozens of competencies ranging from communication and conflict-management skills to integrity and trustworthiness to self-knowledge and business acumen (and everything in between). And these days, many products (like Dynamic360°) offer the option of writing your own questions and competencies, allowing the subject to gain highly-detailed and relevant information about his performance.

360° feedback can be used for managers and non-managers alike. There are no rules on who can and cannot benefit from 360° feedback. The method is used by various levels of management to develop leaders in every type of organization imaginable. Better yet, the market now offers various products uniquely designed to meet the needs of different types of individuals in a variety of professional settings. CompleteSurvey, for example, offers specialized products for leadership consultants, large enterprises, small businesses, and even nonprofit organizations (to name a few).

360° feedback is available to organizations of all sorts and sizes. While 360° feedback used to be reserved for industry-leaders and top-performing employees, many companies now provide powerful 360° feedback tools at lower prices. These surveys can often be done from one's own computer and are administered entirely online, making the process easy and all the more effective. Visit CompleteSurvey's products page for an example of the various 360° products available today.

But enough talk...why not try a free 360° feedback demo for yourself?

 

Click a screenshot below to expand.