A Complete 360-Degree Feedback Guide for Microsoft Teams & Outlook

Feedback isn’t just a kindness today, but a necessity for growth and development if not the main building block for it. When it comes to feedback that has it all, there is no other tool to talk about than 360-degree feedback.

As a mechanism that provides insight into all accounts such as strengths, weaknesses, and growth opportunities, 360-degree feedback is an invaluable method. Unlike what we’re used to from traditional performance appraisals, 360-degree feedback gives a wide range of perspectives to peers, managers, subordinates, and even external partners.

Let’s dive deeper into the world of 360-degree feedback, what it is, why it’s important, how it works, and why it’s integral to personal and organizational learning and development!

What Is 360-Degree Feedback?

360-degree feedback is a well-rounded performance evaluation approach that collects feedback from several sources around an individual’s workplace. 360-degree feedback differs from the traditional performance reviews that typically gather feedback from only the supervisor in charge.

As the term 360-degree implies, this type of feedback seeks out input from multiple perspectives ranging from peers, subordinates, managers, and other relevant parties to one’s work. It’s not only different in perspective types but also in terms of the overall viewpoint of what 360-degree looks into.

With the 360-degree feedback method, employees are evaluated through a holistic viewpoint which will include their performance, behavior, and competencies. The collection of this information from such sources usually occurs via anonymous surveys, asking questions regarding the employee’s behaviors, such as leadership, problem-solving, and crisis management.

Since this approach to performance evaluations has such a wide-angle view of an individual, it becomes a powerful tool that can guide employees and organizations alike to thrive in their industries and reach long-term success.

Why Should You Practice 360-Degree Feedback?

As we mentioned, the holistic view that 360-degree feedback provides is an invaluable asset to any employee and organization simply because it promotes self-awareness, supports employee growth, and uncovers blind spots. Let’s take a closer look into the types of benefits 360-degree feedback provides.

What Are The Benefits of 360-Degree Feedback?

1. Holistic Viewpoint: As opposed to the traditional feedback format that is received from a single supervisor perspective, 360-degree feedback seeks out multiple sources from multiple position levels. This way, the evaluation gains a more well-rounded outlook into the individual’s performance and their impact on the organization.

2. Enhanced Self-Awareness: Since a diverse range of sources provides insights, the level of self-awareness that can be gained through 360-degree feedback is inherently more valuable due to the fact that it will lead to a more thorough understanding of one’s self. This way, an individual can receive data about their performance and use it to grow and develop as an individual.

3. Promotes Accountability and Ownership: When individuals are able to receive feedback from multiple sources, they are that much more likely to take accountability for their performance and development. Knowing that the feedback they receive not only comes from their manager but also from their peers and teams that they lead themselves will add a more serious sense of responsibility with regard to their role and to their career growth as a professional.

4. Strengthens Relationships and Communication: Engaging in 360-degree feedback cultivates open communication within the organization. It lays the ground for a workplace in which employees are valued and get opportunities for constructive interactions about their performance. This helps strengthen relationships, builds trust, and fosters a culture of continuous development within the organization, not to mention encouraging employee engagement.

5. Supports Succession Planning: An effect of encouraging talent development is the support of succession planning. 360-degree feedback is a very detailed source of information on the talent within an organization which gives the perfect space to strategize in terms of succession planning. It not only helps identify high-potential individuals but also helps spot areas for improvement as well as advancement opportunities.

6. Drives Organizational Performance: A combination of all these benefits is the ultimate cultivation of organizational performance. As individuals grow and develop, the organization itself becomes more equipped in their industry and are better prepared to lead their sector. Through this process, 360-degree feedback helps align individuals’ goals with organizational objectives, driving performance improvement at all levels.

How To Implement 360-Degree Feedback?

The best and easiest way to implement 360-degree feedback is to use the right tool. There are plenty of incredible feedback platforms out there but when it comes to integrating 360-degree feedback into Microsoft Teams and Outlook, we strongly recommend that you try the highest-rated performance management application in the Microsoft Teams App Store: Teamflect.

Step 1: Download Teamflect

Whether you are inside the Microsoft Teams App Store or the Outlook App Store, simply search for Teamflect.

Since Teamflect uses your Microsoft Account to log-in and draws your organizational chart directly from Entra ID (Formerly Azure AD), you won’t need to spend any extra time setting up or adding users manually!

Step 2: Go To The Feeback Module and Choose My 360 Degree Feedback

Once you’ve added Teamflect as an app inside Teams, you need to choose the feedback module and go to the tab “My 360-Feedback”. From there you can reach all of your feedback templates that are ongoing or previously conducted surveys.

Step 3: The Actual Feedback

360-Degree feedback inside Teamflect is comprised of three main sections:

• Self-assessment
• Feedback from providers
• Results

The self-assessment section involves the individual the particular 360-degree feedback cycle is centered around answering feedback questions about themselves and contributing with their own perspective.

The “Feedback Providers” section includes feedback received from:

• Managers
• Sub-ordinates
• Peers
• External parties

When a feedback request is sent, the feedback providers receive an easy-to-complete 360-degree feedback template through Microsoft Teams or Outlook and deliver their feedback with ease. Once complete the only step left is analysis.

Step 4: Analyze Feedback With Analytics and AI

Once the surveys have been filled out you’ll be presented with an in depth analysis of the results to your 360-degree feedback.

While you can read the results yourself, you can also choose to summarize the results with our built-in AI feature and make the process easier and more efficient.

Additional: Integrate 360-degree Feedback into Performance Appraisals

360-degree feedback can be integrated into different facets of performance management with ease to provide leaders and employees alike with a more complete perspective on each other.

When using a complete performance management solution like Teamflect, you can integrate 360-degree employee review questions into performance appraisal, integrating perspectives from direct reports, peers, external parties, and managers, into an individual’s performance appraisal.

Best Practices For 360-Degree Feedback

Here are some essential practices to keep in mind when you’re conducting your 360-degree feedback!

Clear Purpose and Goals: Defining your purpose and goals with the method is integral to having a smooth process with real actionable results. Only then you can receive the benefits it offers for personal and professional development within the organization.

Anonymity and Confidentiality: Keeping anonimity throughout your 360-degree feedback processes will allow fairness in your process. This will help cultivate trust and openness in your feedback journey.

Reliable Assessment Tools: Seek tools that are valid, raliable and one that appropriately matches your organizational culture. Make sure that the feedback tools are easy to use and accessible like Teamflect, so that your workforce engages with it.

Self-Assessment: While it may be overlooked at times, self assessment is yet another important element of 360-degree feedback. By incorporating a self evaluation into the mix, employees and managers alike will have a chance to see how aligned the individual truly is and how self aware they are of their performance.

Action Planning and Follow-Up: Participants need to be encouraged to develop action plans with their administrators according to the results they receive. Without creating a road map to development, there is no real purpose to collecting and analyzing feedback in the first place. Otherwise, individuals cannot work towards their individual goals, contirbuting to organizational success.

A Culture of Continuous Feedback: For long term success through feedback, the process of 360 degree feedback must be embedded into the culture of your organizaiton. With this consistency, your workforce will be constantly developing, your organization purposefully striving for success, and the attraction of top talent and employee retention in the process as a result of a thriving entity.

What Are The Challenges To 360-Degree Feedback?

1. Bias and Subjectivity: Even after your best efforts to ensure anonimity, there could still be some remaining concern on biases whether conciously or unconsciously. Since feedback can be influenced by many factors such as personality, past expereiences or others, it’s important to minimize their effects that could jeopardize the accuracy and fairness of your results.

2. Resistance and Defensiveness: There may be individuals in your team that are resistance to the feedback they are receiving. Fear of judgment can be factors into this which is why it is crucial to make sure the organizaiton is building trust, respect, and accountability through open communication.

3. Time and Resource Intensive: A well rounded approach such as the 360-degree feedback method will inevatibly take time to collect and analyze. This will require significant and intentional effort, resources and administrative support which can be difficult to arrange during certain circumstances.

4. Competency Framework Alignment: One of the most important parts of 360-degree feedbcak is making sure that the evaluation of the workforce matches that of the organization’s objectives. Ensuring this alignment can be a challenge and any misalignments between the priorities of an organization and the feedback criteria may result in inactionable feedback, using resources in vain in the end.

5. Limited Developmental Support: 360-Degree feedback doesn’t just end with the collection and analysis of the results. The most important part starts when you take action upon your insights. However, if there are inactionable results or lack of evelopmental support either due to resources, budgeting or administrative support, it can be hard to actually reap the rewards of the 360-degree feedback method.

Sample 360 Degree Feedback Questions

To give you an even better idea of what 360-degree feedback is all about and what it might look like, here are 20 sample questions that you can implement in your own evaluations and if you please, some example templates for 360-degree feedback.

• How effectively does [individual’s name] communicate ideas and information to others?
• To what extent does [individual’s name] demonstrate active listening skills during conversations and meetings?
• How well does [individual’s name] collaborate with team members to achieve shared goals and objectives?
• How would you rate [individual’s name]’s ability to provide constructive feedback to others?
• Does [individual’s name] demonstrate empathy and understanding towards the needs and perspectives of others?
• How effectively does [individual’s name] manage conflict and resolve disagreements within the team or organization?
• To what extent does [individual’s name] demonstrate initiative and take ownership of their responsibilities?
• How well does [individual’s name] adapt to change and navigate challenges in the workplace?
• Does [individual’s name] effectively prioritize tasks and manage their time to meet deadlines?
• How would you rate [individual’s name]’s ability to delegate tasks and empower team members?
• Does [individual’s name] demonstrate leadership qualities and inspire trust and confidence among team members?
• How well does [individual’s name] demonstrate resilience and bounce back from setbacks or failures?
• Does [individual’s name] exhibit a growth mindset and actively seek opportunities for learning and development?
• How effectively does [individual’s name] demonstrate technical proficiency in their role or area of expertise?
• To what extent does [individual’s name] demonstrate strategic thinking and contribute innovative ideas to the organization?
• How well does [individual’s name] manage stakeholder relationships and communicate effectively with clients or external partners?
• Does [individual’s name] demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their interactions and decision-making?
• How would you rate [individual’s name]’s ability to handle pressure and maintain composure in challenging situations?
• Does [individual’s name] demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in their actions and decisions?
• How effectively does [individual’s name] contribute to a positive and collaborative work culture within the organization?

Closing Words

In its essence, 360-degree feedback is an invaluable tool that can help idiviuals and organizations thrive together. If implemented effectively, 360-degree feedback will encourage self awareness, strengthens relationships and supports talent development.

As a method that will not only empower your workforce but also your organization, once you avoid the common pitfall of 360-degree feedback, the power of the approach will be iminent and help individuals and the collective to strive to new heights of success.