Questions The 12 Most Insightful 360-degree Feedback Questions

Getting your closest colleagues to open up and give you honest feedback can feel like getting blood from a stone. But locked inside every one of them are the insights you need to become more effective.

Imagine if you knew the steps you could take to to improve your impact. What if you had no doubts about where your strengths lie so you can focus on developing other areas?

The following 12 questions are the ones we've found to be most insightful across a broad range of industries and professions.

1. What is your relationship to Jane Smith? Working Together

Answering this won’t identify you. Everyone gets the same questions and they are not tagged in any way. Answers to questions are presented in a random order. The report provides a summary of the number of responses per category to provide a sense of the breadth and direction of the feedback, which can be helpful for the subject.

2. What do you expect of Jane and what do you believe they expect from you? Feedback

Thinking about your relationship, what are the formal and informal expectations between you? Are they clear to you both?

3. How is Jane performing? Feedback

You can only answer this from your own perspective. How are they doing against the expectations as you understand them? Any other relevant reflections? Why do you think this?

4. Where do you see Jane heading? Feedback

What do you imagine is the next step in their life and/or career? Do you see them staying, getting a new role, staying the same? Something else? Why do you think this?

5. How does Jane influence your experience of teamwork? Feedback

If you are in a team together, how do they contribute to the team? How do they model effective behaviours (or not)? If you are not in a team with them, have you observed the effectiveness of their team, or noticed behaviours that might influence a good team dynamic? What feedback can you give that might help them?

6. The thing I appreciate most about Jane is: Experience

Thinking not just as a professional colleague, but also as a whole person. What are the behaviours, attributes and attitudes that you appreciate about them? These may be strengths they can build on.

7. The thing I am most curious about Jane is: Experience

This is sometimes difficult to answer. We don’t always take the time to consider our colleagues as whole people. What have you observed about this person? Is there anything in the way they work or the way they are that you wonder about?

8. I'd like to see Jane doing more... Advice

What are the things that this person does really well that they could build on and do more of?

9. Jane should start... Advice

What ideas or advice can you offer for new things they could consider trying?

10. Jane should stop... Advice

Is there anything you have observed about this person that you feel is not helping? Is there a behaviour, action or attitude that might be counterproductive for them or others?

11. Jane should continue... Advice

What are the things they do well that they should continue doing as they are now?

12. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Advice

These questions work best when reviewers are confident that their answers are anonymised, randomised and treated as confidential. The answers are for you and you only to refect on. They are not for line leaders or HR teams to make performance judgements about you.

For the best experience we recommend you nominate a trusted colleague or coach to help you absorb the feedback. Doing it on your own will only end in tears. The key is in having a rich and effective conversation with them. Only then will you be able to confidently move foward taking on board the most valuable insight from the experience.

Ready? How about avoiding the admin faff that goes with 360-degree reviews?

With AdviceSheet you're seconds away from asking your colleagues all these questions. 
  • Wrap the process up in a couple of weeks - we'll manage the reminder emails.
  • Answers are saved one at a time - reviewers can take their time.
  • No sifting through spreadsheets - we'll prepare a PDF (and private web-based) report at the end.