360-degree assessment is a key element of HR strategies because it provides a complete picture of professional skills and behaviors that a single source of feedback, such as the manager or self-assessment, cannot offer.

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If you are involved in development, performance, and leadership, this method is one of the most effective tools for understanding how a person is perceived by those who work with them every day, identifying recurring patterns, and building truly targeted growth plans.

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Unlike traditional evaluations, 360-degree assessments bring together multiple perspectives: managers, colleagues, direct reports, and internal stakeholders. The result is a set of data that helps HR and managers more accurately interpret strengths, areas for improvement, consistency between "how I see myself" and "how others see me," and actual leadership qualities.

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In this guide, we will look at how the 360 method works, what it measures, when to use it, and what steps are essential to make it a reliable development tool.

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What is 360° assessment?

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360° assessment is an evaluation methodology that collects structured feedback from multiple perspectives: managers, colleagues, collaborators, internal stakeholders, and self-assessment. The goal is to obtain a more comprehensive evaluation that is less subject to the biases typical of top-down assessment.

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In fact, unlike a traditional assessment, which is based almost exclusively on the manager's observation, 360° feedback offers a much more comprehensive view because it measures how the person actually acts in the work context, not just how they are "perceived" by a single evaluator.

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Thanks to this method, we can observe skills and behaviors more accurately because it is based on everyday interactions: how the person communicates, makes decisions, collaborates, manages conflicts, demonstrates leadership, or keeps commitments.

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To summarize in a few points, 360° assessment is used to:

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• assess transversal and behavioral skills with greater objectivity;
• identify gaps between internal perception ("how I see myself") and external perception ("how others see me");
• provide useful insights for individual development plans;
• improve the quality of performance reviews;
• support growth paths, job rotation, and leadership programs.

If you want to learn more about how traditional assessment works, you can read this comprehensive guide to skills assessment.

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How the 360° assessment works: the step-by-step process

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To be truly effective (and useful to HR and managers), a 360° assessment should not be perceived as just another internal questionnaire.
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On the contrary, you will need a clear process that is shared and linked to the company's competency model, otherwise you risk generating only noise and frustration.

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A good 360° always goes through certain recurring phases:

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1. define what to evaluate (skills and behaviors);
2. choose who evaluates whom (rater mapping);
3. design and send questionnaires;
4. collect and aggregate data;
5. return the results and transform them into development plans.
   
   

1. Define the skills to be assessed

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As we have said, the 360° assessment method only works if it is clear what we are evaluating and how we are observing it.
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For this reason, the starting point is always the corporate competency model.

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As HR, the first step is to select from the template:

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• core competencies valid throughout the company (e.g., collaboration, results orientation, responsibility);
• any specific skills required for the role or population (e.g., team leadership, stakeholder management, leadership skills for managers).
  
  

Once the competencies have been chosen, it is necessary to decide how they will be assessed. Scales such as the following are usually used:

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• from 1 to 5 (or from 1 to 7)
• from "never" to "always"
• from "well below expectations" to "well above expectations"
  
  

The important thing for HR is that the scale is consistent across all questions, clearly explained at the beginning of the questionnaire (what does 1 mean, what does 5 mean) and linked to behavioral criteria, not generic judgments.

We would add that, in order to be truly effective, each skill must be translated into observable behaviors, for example:

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• “shares relevant information with the team clearly and in a timely manner”;
• “listen to different points of view before making a decision”;
• “is able to give constructive and specific feedback to employees”;
• "Meet agreed deadlines and give advance notice in case of critical issues."
  
  

In the 360°, you are not asking colleagues to express a general opinion about the person, but to answer the question: "How often do you see this behavior in reality?"

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2. Select who evaluates whom: the rater map

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A fundamental part of the 360° assessment is the choice of raters, i.e., the people who will provide feedback on the performance and behavior of the person being evaluated.
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The quality of the entire process also depends on this: choosing the wrong raters means obtaining distorted, incomplete, or useless data.

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In a complete 360°, the most common sources of evaluation are:

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• direct manager, i.e., the person who has the greatest visibility on daily performance. In many companies, their feedback is given greater weight;
• peers, who can provide valuable insights on collaboration, communication, and managing internal relationships;
• direct reports (if the role is managerial), useful for assessing leadership, delegation, support, and the ability to help others grow;
• Internal or cross-functional stakeholders, such as project teams, representatives from other departments, and internal partners who interact frequently with the person.
  
  

HR must help managers and those involved to build a balanced mapping. We recommend having at least 5–8 raters in total, to ensure different perspectives without overwhelming the process. It is also very important to avoid raters who are in conflict or have deteriorated relationships, as well as to always guaranteeanonymity (except for the direct manager, if required by policy).

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A golden rule? If a rater has not been truly collaborative in the last 3–6 months, it is best not to include them.

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3. Design and send the 360° questionnaire

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Once competencies and raters have been defined, HR must construct the 360° questionnaire, which is the heart of the process. As we have said, the goal here is not to "judge," but to collect behavioral evidence in a clear, quick, and comparable way.

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An effective questionnaire has three key elements:

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1. clear rating scales: the most commonly used are 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. It is important that each level has a concrete description;
2. Behavioral indicators: don't ask "Is he a good communicator?", but observe what he does: does he listen actively? Does he adapt his language to the person he is talking to? Does he handle difficult conversations?
3. Targeted open-ended questions: these should be few in number (2–3) and development-oriented, for example: "What behaviors most support your effectiveness?" or "What behaviors, if improved, would have the greatest impact on performance?"

4. Collect and analyze data

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Once the compilation phase is complete, the most delicate task for HR begins: analyzing the 360° data in an objective, readable, and useful way for development.

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The platform (or HR, if the process is manual) must:

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• aggregate responses while maintaining the anonymity of raters, which is essential for obtaining honest feedback;
• divide the results into groups of evaluators (managers, peers, collaborators, self);
• calculate averages, ranges, and differences between internal and external perceptions;
• highlight recurring patterns and areas of inconsistency.
  
  

In fact, in 360°, strength does not lie in individual judgment, but in the intersection of perspectives.

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The data must be interpreted with a very specific focus: behaviors, not opinions.

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Here are the four guiding questions that every HR professional should ask themselves:

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1. Which assessments show the greatest alignment between the different sources?
   → confirm stable and recognized strengths;
2. Where do significant gaps emerge between self-assessment and external feedback?
   → these can often suggest areas of low awareness or underestimated behaviors;
3. What behaviors recur most frequently in open notes?
   → these are the most valuable indicator for getting an idea of the personalized development actions to be implemented;
4. Are there differences between groups of raters? (e.g., managers vs. peers)
   → These help us understand how behavior changes in different work contexts.
   

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5. Provide 360° feedback

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One of the most delicate stages of this process (and, let's face it, also one of the most overlooked) is the moment when feedback is given.

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A good 360° without effective feedback becomes a pointless exercise; with effective feedback, however, it becomes one of the most powerful development tools available to HR.

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In this case, the advice is to guide the person towards interpreting what has emerged, without making judgments, but simply remaining focused on these four fundamental aspects:

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1. alignment with the skills assessed: before looking at the results, it is useful to remember what was being measured: skills, behaviors, proficiency scales.
   This avoids subjective interpretations and keeps the comparison on an objective basis;
2. shared strengths: start with what works: behaviors that consistently emerge from multiple sources. This way, you can build trust and leverage what is already having a positive impact;
3. gaps and inconsistencies between perspectives: It is the most delicate part, but also the richest.
   In particular:
   
   
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     ; where the person rates themselves higher than others → possible blindness or overestimation;
   • differences between peers, managers, and employees → behaviors that change in different contexts.
     
     
4. Focus on 2–3 areas for improvement: there is no point (and it doesn't work) in drawing up endless lists.
   The best feedback focuses on a few strategic, high-impact behaviors which, when improved, can radically change performance.
   
   

The ultimate goal of this phase, as mentioned, is not to build a "process" around the person, but to help them ask themselves:

"What can I do, in a practical and observable way, to improve my professional effectiveness?"

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How Skillvue supports faster, more objective, and scalable 360 assessments

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Many companies would like to use 360° assessment, but they always encounter the same limitations: too many Excel spreadsheets, inconsistent feedback collection, long processing times, and data that is difficult to interpret. Skillvue was created precisely to solve these problems. The platform integrates psychometric science and proprietary AI to help you manage the skills evaluation phase of 360° assessment more quickly and objectively, working in a standardized, clear, and replicable way across the entire organization.

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With Skillvue, HR and managers can set up a few minutes of skills assessment to be included in a 360 assessment, selecting the skills to be analyzed based on the company's leadership model, inviting all stakeholders involved to collaborate in a simple and digital way, and providing results that are easily comparable with those given by people involved in all roles, teams, and levels.

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AI translates qualitative feedback into objective behavioral evidence, avoids over-interpretation, and provides insights that are ready to be transformed into individual development plans.

Learn more about Skillvue: start here.

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Frequently asked questions about 360-degree assessment

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How long does a 360 assessment take?

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On average, 2–3 weeks, depending on the number of evaluators involved and the skills being analyzed.

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Is it anonymous?

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Yes, feedback from peers and colleagues is aggregated to ensure anonymity and reduce bias; self-assessment remains individual.

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Who sees the results?

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HR and authorized managers. The person being evaluated receives a dedicated report highlighting their strengths and areas for development.

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Is it useful even without a competency model?

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Yes, but the result is much more robust when based on a clear model. In the absence of one, it is still possible to use a standard set of competencies. If you want to learn more about competency models, read this guide.

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Is it suitable for everyone or only for managers?

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It is useful for managers, professionals, and high-potential talent: any role in which behavioral factors affect performance.

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