Where To Start: Questions The 360 Design Team Needs to Ask

These four sets of questions will help your design team ensure they cover the crucial issues in 360 planning.

Fundamental questions

• Do we intend to run the survey every 6 months, every year, or less often?
• Would an Internet-based tool be valuable to us?
• Will some employees need paper versions?
• Do we want to provide administration or hire a service bureau to manage the service?
• Do we need consulting support to design the project or questionnaire, provide training, coach Subjects and responders, and/or provide statistical analysis?
• What is the budget in money terms?
• What is the budget in effort terms?
• Do we wish full 360-degree feedback, upward feedback only, self-only, or supervisor-only?

Questionnaire

• Do we want to use benchmarked, validated questionnaires or questionnaires that reflect our organization’s culture, location, industry, and employee group?
• Should the questionnaire force a reply to each question or allow a “Not enough info” response?
• Do we want to use a second scale to ask how important each skill is for the Subject’s work?
• Do we want to invite unstructured (or narrative) comments?
• Do we want everyone invited to offer them?
• Do we want them displayed in the Subject’s report, or reserved for a coach to see?
• Do we want to offer questionnaires and reports in languages other than English?

Subjects and Responders

• Who will and will not be within the group of Subjects being assessed?
• How large a responder group do we want, per Subject?
• When will we schedule introductory training workshops: The Art of Receiving Feedback (Volume 2) and The Art of Giving Feedback (Volume 3)?
• If we were to upload Subject and responder data from our HRIS, spreadsheet, database, or contact program, would it make for easier administration?
• Who should select responders for each Subject: administrators, supervisors, Subjects?
• How do we want to gather that information?
• Do we want automatic emails sent to responders inviting them to answer the questionnaire?
• On what dates should pre-announcements, catalysts, and reminders be dispatched?
• Should recipients who don’t want to participate be allowed to opt out from receiving further emails?
• How will we get notifications to those without email access?
• How will we encourage high response rates?
• How will we deal with inadequate response rates?

Reports

• Who will generate reports?
• How will we maintain the confidentiality of reports?
• Do we want to merge responder groups that have few responses, in order to maintain confidentiality of responders?
• Do we want reports to provide a summary of best-rated and lowest-rated skills, or encourage Subjects to discover them for themselves?
• When will we schedule The Receptivity Workshop for Feedback Subjects (Volume 4)?
• Will we use Coaching Sessions for Individual Subjects (Volume 5)?
• Would a guide to development available to all Subjects increase their opportunities for positive change?
• Do we want to provide support to help Subjects comprehend their reports: workbook, supervisor, external coach, etc.?