360° Review Template for Managers [Free Download]

Feedback is a game-changer for professional growth. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been leading for years, there’s always more to learn. That’s why businesses need to embrace many types of feedback beyond traditional performance reviews, from quick check-ins to 360-degree (360°) reviews.

360° reviews aren’t used as widely in the world of business when compared to the standard end-of-year performance review, but they can be a fantastic method of feedback.

Unlike conventional feedback, they aren’t dictated by a chain of command. Direct reports can also review their manager, or peers can review their colleagues. Feedback should come from a variety of sources from all levels of the company.

These kinds of reviews have been widely used at leading international companies, including Google. However, you don’t need endless company resources to see their benefits. Give 360° reviews a go with your team today, starting with our downloadable review template.

What is a 360° review template?

A 360° template acts as a survey for gathering feedback on employee performance at work. When distributed to those giving feedback, team members can answer questions in relation to the individual they’re reviewing.

What’s the difference between a 360° review and a performance review?

There are similarities and differences between a performance review and a 360 review. One isn’t better or more important than the other. You’ll need both to get the best picture of how your team is performing. Here’s how the review types differ:

Performance review

• Focuses on assessing past performance, providing a retrospective evaluation.
• Primarily directed at the manager and often not shared directly with the employee in its raw form.
• Influences evaluations that typically impact compensation or pay decisions.

360° review

• Focuses on future growth, highlighting strengths to maintain and areas for improvement.
• Directed at the individual, often delivered via a coach or directly to the individual, not the manager.
• Guides learning and development opportunities, helping prioritise areas for personal and professional growth.

How do you use this 360° feedback template?

This template is designed to transform how you gather feedback about an individual at work. Ideally you would hand out several copies of this template to different team members with a knowledge of the individual’s work performance. For example, they could be someone who worked on a project with the individual, their line manager or a direct report.

Once the responses have been noted on the copies of this template, you can collect them and then the individual who has been reviewed can go through the results with a HR professional or their manager.

Remember to repeat the feedback process in cycles, so you can track progress and see whether the feedback has been acted upon.

This template has been designed with multiple choice questions and identical responses, which you can collate into simple, measurable statistics. There’s also open-ended questions for more detailed written answers.

Using a template creates standardisation and fairness for reviews 

How can a 360° feedback process help employee development?

The feedback that comes from 360° reviews is unlike standard line manager feedback. Since it’s solicited from different parts of the business, it’s easier to get a wider view of an employee’s performance in all aspects of their work.

An employee’s manager can’t be across everything, but when you bring in the views of direct reports and peers, you get a much broader perspective.

That’s if the feedback is done effectively, of course. It’s important to choose the right reviewers for 360° feedback. They need to be relevant to the individual and have real experience of working with them. The more they know, the better feedback they can provide.

For the individual receiving this feedback, seeing the results is a key opportunity for professional development – to see where they’re doing well and where there’s room for improvement. This is only effective, of course, if the feedback is done well.

How to give constructive feedback to your direct reports and team members

Of course, there are ways to give 360° feedback effectively, and ways to do it ineffectively. There are a few key elements that makes for great feedback:

• Always be specific – those being reviewed should understand where you’re coming from, even if they don’t fully agree. If you’re too vague, the feedback is unlikely to be helpful and may actually be misinterpreted.
• Be balanced – even if the employee has plenty to work on, make sure you recognise where they’re thriving too. And that also works in reverse, so if you’re finding that you’re focusing purely on praise, still include development areas.
• Make it actionable – you should always provide feedback that the individual can act upon.
• Keep it concise – don’t overwhelm the employee with huge swathes of feedback. Get to the point and stay focused.

For those who are taking the employee through their feedback survey results, whether that’s a line manager or review administrator, it’s important to give the employee a chance to respond to the 360° feedback.

They may be able to explain crucial points of context that are missing or raise further points for discussion.

When to use a 360° review

You should use a 360° review to help your employees develop and grow. The timing will depend on your performance management cadence but we recommend having a 360° review annually. 

This gives your employees time to implement the feedback they’ve received as part of the review, while also giving you time as the manager to provide guidance and support. While you may not be the one completing the 360° review, you should still be heavily involved in the process. 

The timing will depend on how your company structures the year, but having them mid-year can help employees make the most of the second half of the year. It also ensures that a whole year’s worth of strategy doesn’t get wasted if the employee isn’t meeting expectations. 

Of course, a 360° review should form one part of performance management, alongside weekly or fortnightly one-to-ones and regular goal-setting sessions.

Who should participate in a 360° review process?

There are a few people who should be involved in a 360° review process to make it as robust and representative of reality as possible.

These include:

• Yourself, as the manager
• Peers, as they can offer insight into the employee’s teamwork
• Direct reports (if the employee is in a leadership role), as they can provide insight into their leadership approach
• Any other relevant managers
• External stakeholders (if relevant), like clients and/or vendors the employee’s worked with

Having the right mix of feedback sources can help round out the review process. It’s important to select participants based on how frequently they interact with the employee. You should also ensure you have a sufficient number of feedback sources (at least three) to get diverse perspectives and prevent bias from creeping in.

Top benefits of using a 360° review template

There are a range of benefits from using a 360° review template, as opposed to trying to start from scratch. We’ve developed a 360° review template to help you get the results you’re looking for.

Key advantages of using our 360° review template include:

• Consistency and fairness across the company, if you need to compare employee performance
• Ease of comparison over time, so you can track an employee’s progression from one 360° review to the next
• Improved feedback quality, so you can provide structured, actionable suggestions to the employee
  

The goal of a 360° review is to empower employees to achieve their full potential within their role, rather than to discipline them. By using a templated review process, you can help fast-track your team’s development and improve your company’s productivity. 

Asking different team members about an employee’s productivity can provide valuable perspective and insights 

Common pitfalls of 360° reviews and how to avoid them

While 360° reviews can be very helpful for your business and your employees, they can also present problems if not performed correctly.

Some of the problems you might run into include:

• Asking vague questions that don’t align with desired outcomes
• Biased feedback from people, leading to warped perceptions
• Lack of anonymity resulting in hurt feelings or inter-personal issues
• A lack of follow-up on the feedback provided in the 360° review

To get the most out of a 360° review, the employee should be given the chance to respond to the feedback provided during the session. You should also look to schedule regular follow-ups between the employee and those involved in the 360° review. 

Linking KPIs or OKRs to the feedback provided in the session can also encourage meaningful buy-in and follow-up, rather than letting the feedback provided in the session fall on deaf ears. Ultimately, the effectiveness of a 360° review relies on the investment from everyone involved, so make sure it’s part of a wider performance management process.

360 reviews are a great way to identify development opportunities for your team

How to interpret and act on 360° feedback results

Once feedback has been collected from a 360° review, it’s important to interpret it and then act on it. 

As the manager, you should look to:

• Analyse any trends that are appearing from the feedback provided
• Identify areas of improvement that will benefit the employee
• Hold follow-up conversations with all relevant stakeholders

The work isn’t done once you’ve held the 360° review. Instead, the review and the subsequent conversations should act as a chance to set out goals for the employee to help them turn their areas of improvement into strengths. 

These can be tied back to measurable KPIs (if results are tangible) or be monitored by yourself or other management (if they’re more qualitative measures/results).

Aligning 360° reviews with company values

Your company’s values should be embedded in everything you do and this includes 360° reviews. Are you a company that prioritises innovation and flexibility? Your 360° reviews should reflect this and may involve gathering feedback from all levels of the company. Your company’s values should also reflect the questions that are being asked within the review and how findings are actioned upon. 

By aligning your review process with your values, you can strengthen your company’s culture. You can also ensure  everyone’s aligned on what goals you’re working towards in the short, medium and long-term future. Evaluating performance based on your company’s values also ensures people are (and remain) cultural and performance-based fits for your company. 

Centering your values makes them part of every conversation within your company, so those values are a driving force when employees are looking to improve their performance. 

If your employees can look to your company’s values to assess themselves then it’s more likely they’ll take on the feedback provided within the 360° review. And if they can see all levels of the company living out those values, they’ll be inspired to do the same.

What should managers be evaluated on in 360° performance reviews?

It’s crucial that the traditional feedback channels in a business hierarchy are upended from time to time. Managers always have space to improve and their leadership can make a significant difference to employee engagement.

Did you know that 57% of employees have left a job because of their manager? So it’s important that managers get (and act on) feedback too.

One large aspect of a manager’s role is likely to take precedence in reviews, and that’s their people leadership skills. Reviews should principally cover their approaches in dealing with people and problems, as well as their clarity of communication and ability to motivate.

It’s important to also evaluate managers in how they give feedback themselves and whether they’ve facilitated growth amongst their direct reports.

Get started with your 360-degree feedback survey

Ready to unleash your team’s potential, and build new feedback channels in your business? Download our template today and begin the 360° review process. 

Don’t forget, you can also use Employment Hero to facilitate further growth opportunities, whether that’s through regular daily feedback or an end of year performance review. Our feedback features include custom surveys, shared company feedback channels and 1:1 questionnaires

Best of all, it’s easy to collate the results.

Find out how Employment Hero can help you build a strong culture of constant growth with our range of feedback features.