3 Fresh 360 Review Templates For Better Feedback

Even the wisest of rulers do not rule alone, seeking feedback from multiple perspectives is an essential part of personal development.

As far back as ancient China, Confucian writings emphasized the importance of moral character, self-improvement, and reflection. Leaders and scholars would often seek feedback from trusted advisors and peers to ensure they were adhering to these principles. Emperor Taizong, who laid the foundations of the “Golden Age” of the Tang Dynasty commissioned a document urging officials to provide candid feedback on his role. 

It should be no different in the modern world of work. In a 360 review, advice is sought from a wide set of collaborators in order to provide the person receiving the feedback diverse perspectives on how to improve. 

While 360 reviews can be a scary prospect, when handled well, they give us greater self awareness and help us improve our work. Unlike other feedback processes, they also help us receive feedback not just from our leaders, but also from those we lead, helping us remove blind spots. 

This article gives you 3 fresh 360 review templates to help you collect feedback on behalf of yourself or another, so you can bring about your own golden age. Each template has been crafted with a distinct approach and emphasis, so you can pick the one that best suits your situation.

Before we start, remember that 360 reviews aren’t only about giving constructive feedback, they’re also a time to share some kudos about where your colleague or peer excels. That’s why all of our templates not only include prompts for improvement areas, but also prompts to encourage people to celebrate successes.

Here are the prompts for the open-ended feedback 360 review template:

Trust: What examples can you give that have helped or hurt you trust this colleague’s ability to assist you with your own work?

In-Focus: What appears to have this colleague’s attention over other efforts? Give some examples.

Out-of-Focus: What isn’t getting as much attention as perhaps it should?

Values: Share examples of a company value this person has brought to life.

Questions: What questions might you have about the work of the role(s) this colleague performs?

This template’s prompts are purposefully open-ended so you can collect a great range of feedback from your peers. This is an adaptable template you can use in any situation. You can even customize it further to suit your own needs. 

Here are the prompts for the feedback on progression 360 review template:

Roles & Skills: What should this colleague do more of or less of to grow professionally or better the company?

Collaboration: What should this colleague stop, start, or continue doing when working alongside others?

People Matters: How has this colleague best helped develop others around them? How can they do better? What should they stop?

Questions: What questions do you have about this colleague’s roles, work, development, or performance in general?

Try using this template in situations where the feedback recipient wants to build traction to apply for a promotion. You can specifically frame this around “what does the candidate need to do to reach the next level”. You can also use this feedback when someone has come into a role with the goal of rapid growth. Since this template also asks questions about helping other team members grow, it is also helpful for people working in a management capacity.

Here are the prompts for the feedback on development 360 review template:

Remarkable: What does this colleague do that you find remarkable? What do you brag about them to other people?

Obstacles: What do you see getting in this colleague’s way?

Challenges: Assume you’re working with this colleague for the next 10 years. What behavior isn’t a big deal now, but will get challenging over that time?

Opportunities: What areas would you like to see this colleague develop in? How could they be more helpful to you or the organization?

Try using this template when the feedback recipient is looking for general feedback about their development, and not necessarily aiming for promotion. This template is highly suitable for people working in an individual contributor role without managing others, since it focuses on aspects of their job they do exceptionally well. 

Having a structured approach to your 360 review is vital if you want it to run smoothly and you want to achieve high quality, usable data at the end. Parabol gives you the structure your 360 review process needs by guiding you through the feedback process step-by-step. 

With special features like the option to make comments anonymous/non-anonymous, the ability to add take away tasks for a future career development plan, and the ability to group similar feedback into themes, Parabol will make your next feedback session 10x easier. 

Further reading: How to Run a 360 Review Process in Parabol