Best questions to ask during 360-degree feedback review [+ bonus question]

In this blog post, we will explore questions that leaders, managers, executives, or peers might ask during the 360 assessment review process.

During 360 reviews questions should be mostly open-ended. It's important to give people an opportunity to share their opinion and thoughts freely without any limitations or restrictions. Open-ended questions will help you get a better understanding of what your co-workers think about you, how they see your behavior in different situations, and what areas need improvement the most. Questions that can be answered "yes" or "no" are closed-ended. Whereas, questions that have an option of more than one word are open-ended.

Open-ended questions you can ask during the assessment:

• What is the most important thing I should continue doing?
• What might be a good idea to stop doing?

However, if there are a large number of individuals that will participate in the survey, you might consider including more closed-ended questions. This will help you or your HR manager to process responses. Try to balance open-ended and closed-ended questions in your assessment.

These questions work both for leaders and managers.

Closed-ended questions

You might consider using a Likert scale for these questions. For example: very unlikely, somewhat unlikely, neutral, somewhat likely, or very likely.

• Do I communicate efficiently with coworkers?
• Do I prioritize well my day-to-day tasks?
• Am I a team player?
• Do I openly receive negative feedback?
• How well do I adapt to changing priorities?
• Do I always timely and efficient at providing feedback?
• Do I effective at problem-solving?
• Do I fit the description of a trusted professional who is recognized for independent thinking?
• Do I demonstrate high standards of ethics and integrity?

Open-ended questions

Here are a few questions to ask managers

• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses?
• What things do I need to continue doing?
• What might be a good idea to stop doing?
• If you were me what would you improve within next month?
• What are three or four words you would use to describe me?
• How do I demonstrate motivation and commitment to the success of the company?

While evaluating executives, there is slightly different type of questions that need to be asked. It's highly recommended to evaluate the following skills:

• How well an executive motivates others;
• How well they delegate tasks and projects;
• How well they translate core values of the company to a team;
• How well they lead changes in a company.

Closed-ended questions for leaders

• Did I take initiative when confronted with difficult questions or challenging situations?
• Did you know what was expected of you in your role when starting this job?
• Do I listen first?
• Do you know what is the next step in your career and what you need to accomplish within the next 12 months to get promoted?
• Do I as a leader hire only strong candidates?
• Do I treat team members respectfully?
• Do you have a feeling that I motivate you to develop as a professional?
• Did you receive constructive and helpful feedback from me within the past month?

Open-ended evaluation questions for leaders

• What have I done in the past few months that demotivated you?
• If you were me, what would be the first action you would take?
• How would you describe my leadership style?
• How could I be more effective as a leader?
• What values do I communicate to the team?
• How satisfied are you with my performance at work (overall)?

"What is my superpower?". Superpower - anything you do better than anyone. It could be how fast I can crack complex tasks or how well I can roll with different personalities. This question makes people think deeply about your personality. This is a very powerful question. I always put this first into assessment surveys.

• The most important questions should be posted at beginning of the survey. If you will pose all questions in one go it's very likely people won't complete the survey and never see your results;
• Ask your HR managers to help you with the survey;
• Communicate that the survey is anonymous and all replies will be aggregated by an HR manager.

I hope that this list of questions will be helpful to you as you assess yourself or your team members. However, it's important to remember that every company and position is different - so take a moment to think about the best way for you or your organization to evaluate performance in a 360-degree feedback review process. What are some questions that might help determine how well someone performs their job?