12 Apr 180° and 360° Feedback 

180° and 360° feedback describes the process of collecting feedback about an individual’s performance from sources from different areas of the business hierarchy. For example, a manager may be reviewed by other managers, members of their team and partners, as well as reviewing their own performance. The information then provides detailed analysis of an employee’s performance, from the perspective of various areas of the organisation. This can then be used to evaluate an employee’s performance in comparison to their peers and how they believe they are performing.

Once you have decided who the feedback will be collected from, you must then decide the parameters which will be measured. Generally, to give the most detailed insights, categories will be predetermined and a rating (out of 5, for example) will be given. These categories may include, communication, positivity or work ethic. This allows quick and easy comparison, and can easily be put into an insightful diagram. The individual is then often give then chance to add specific comments to the review, which will be added to the overall report. The feedback should ideally be kept anonymous, particularly when reviewing upwards, as to ensure there are is no bias.

The difference between 180° and 360° feedback is that 360° feedback includes feedback from team members the individual is responsible for.

Job Feedback (1997), by Manuel London, is one of the most comprehensive studies arguing that multisource feedback is the most effective type. Various studies have shown that when an individual’s personal assessment is most closely correlated with their peer’s assessment of them, they have gone on to perform the best.

Manuel London. (2004). Job Feedback: Giving, Seeking, And Using Feedback For Performance Improvement. The Academy of Management Review 29.3 (2004): 512. Web.