360 Assessment

A “360 assessment” or “360” refers to an assessment that comes from peers, subordinates, and leaders. 360 reviews are often used in leadership development to give leaders a complete perspective on their performance and perception by others.

360 reviews are typically not performance reviews. Instead, they are designed to help people develop. They are also designed to ask questions about individuals’ leadership strengths and weaknesses, their ability to manage projects and people, and various measures of their personality, style, or people skills. These assessments, also called “multi-rater” assessments, are often done by executive coaches, who administer the assessment and then sit down with the individuals and give them feedback and guidance.

Companies occasionally have 360 performance reviews (Google famously does this), but that type of practice can create various political problems, so we do not advise it.