360-degree feedback is a powerful tool for professional development, but its effectiveness hinges entirely on the quality of the questions asked. Generic or poorly worded queries result in vague, unhelpful insights, leaving employees without a clear, actionable path for growth and development. Conversely, well-crafted 360 feedback questions act as a precision instrument, uncovering hidden strengths, illuminating crucial blind spots, and fostering a genuine culture of continuous improvement across your organisation.
This guide moves beyond simplistic ratings to provide a comprehensive bank of questions, meticulously organised by core competencies. It is designed to help HR directors, people managers, and IT leaders gather the rich, qualitative feedback necessary for driving tangible performance enhancements. We will not only provide a list of what to ask but also explore the strategic nuances of who to ask, how to phrase questions for different respondent groups (managers, peers, direct reports), and how to scale the entire process efficiently.
You will learn how to build a feedback survey that captures a truly holistic view of an individual's performance, covering everything from leadership and communication to innovation and customer focus. For organisations utilising the Microsoft ecosystem, we will also provide practical guidance on integrating this process within Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform, turning every review cycle from a simple administrative task into a strategic catalyst for meaningful, measurable change. This article is your blueprint for designing a 360-feedback process that delivers results.
1. Leadership and Direction
Questions focused on leadership and direction are fundamental to any effective 360-degree feedback process. They assess an individual's ability to create a clear, compelling vision and effectively guide their team towards achieving organisational objectives. This category evaluates strategic thinking, goal-setting, and the capacity to motivate and inspire others, making it a cornerstone for assessing managerial and leadership potential.
These types of 360 feedback questions are critical because they directly link an individual's actions to team performance and business outcomes. A leader who fails to provide clear direction can cause confusion, disengagement, and wasted effort. Conversely, a leader who excels in this area creates alignment, fosters a sense of purpose, and empowers their team to succeed. Global tech firms like Microsoft and Google prioritise these questions in manager effectiveness surveys and leadership development programmes.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "Does your manager clearly communicate team goals and their connection to the company's overall vision?"
- For Peers: "How effectively does this individual articulate their team's strategic direction during cross-functional projects?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this person successfully translate high-level strategy into actionable plans for their team?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To get the most value from these questions, it is vital to focus on specific, observable behaviours. When analysing the results, compare responses from direct reports, peers, and senior leaders to identify any perception gaps. Combining this qualitative feedback with quantitative data, such as goal achievement metrics from your HR system, provides a more holistic and validated view of a leader's effectiveness.
Key Insight: Don't just ask if a leader provides direction; ask how they do it. The most valuable feedback comes from understanding the methods and impact of their leadership style on different stakeholder groups.
For those looking to deepen their understanding, you can explore more examples and strategies related to Leadership and Direction questions. This feedback is essential for succession planning and targeted leadership coaching.
2. Communication and Listening Skills
Questions focused on communication and listening skills are essential for evaluating an individual's ability to share information clearly, foster open dialogue, and genuinely understand others' perspectives. This category assesses both the clarity of their verbal and written expression and their capacity for active listening, which is crucial for building trust, resolving conflicts, and driving collaboration. Effective communication is a foundational skill for success in almost any role.
These types of 360 feedback questions are critical because poor communication can lead to misunderstandings, missed deadlines, and low team morale. Conversely, strong communicators create psychological safety, ensure alignment, and improve overall team effectiveness. Major organisations like Amazon and IBM place a heavy emphasis on these skills in management reviews and leadership models, recognising their direct impact on performance. The insights gained can also be cross-referenced with results from a personality test for business leaders to understand underlying behavioural tendencies.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "How well does your manager listen to your concerns and ideas without interrupting?"
- For Peers: "Does this individual clearly articulate their thoughts and requirements during collaborative projects?"
- For Managers: "How effective is this person at adapting their communication style for different audiences, such as clients or senior leadership?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To maximise the value of these questions, encourage respondents to provide specific examples of communication breakdowns or successes. When analysing feedback, pay attention to potential cultural or generational differences in communication styles that might influence perceptions. Focusing on the impact and clarity of communication, rather than just personal style, will yield more objective and actionable insights from the process.
Key Insight: Evaluate listening as an active skill, not a passive one. The most valuable feedback will distinguish between simply hearing words and actively processing, understanding, and responding thoughtfully to what is being said.
To further refine your approach, you can explore detailed examples and strategies in our dedicated guide to questions for 360-degree feedback. This feedback is vital for developing interpersonal effectiveness and improving team cohesion.
3. Collaboration and Teamwork
Questions focused on collaboration and teamwork assess an individual's ability to work effectively with others, build strong working relationships, and contribute to shared objectives. This category moves beyond individual achievement to measure how a person shares knowledge, supports colleagues, and fosters a positive team environment. It is a critical component for building high-performing, interdependent teams where the collective output is greater than the sum of individual efforts.
These 360 feedback questions are essential because they reveal an individual's impact on team cohesion and productivity. Poor collaborators can create silos and friction, while strong collaborators act as force multipliers. Google's influential Project Aristotle famously identified psychological safety, a key outcome of effective teamwork, as the most important factor in successful teams. Similarly, companies like Salesforce and Zappos have built their entire corporate cultures around the principle of strong, collaborative working relationships.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "Does this person actively listen to different viewpoints and contribute constructively to team discussions?"
- For Peers: "How reliable is this individual in sharing information and offering support on joint projects?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this individual prioritise team success over their personal agenda?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To gain meaningful insights, ask specific, scenario-based questions about recent project collaborations. Ensure you include raters from different departments to gauge cross-functional teamwork. When analysing the feedback, it is important to balance an individual's team contributions with their personal achievements to get a complete picture of their performance. Tracking these collaboration metrics over time within your HR platform can highlight trends and the impact of coaching.
Key Insight: Effective collaboration is not just about being friendly; it's about actively contributing to collective success. Structure questions to differentiate between social harmony and genuine, productive teamwork that drives results.
By integrating these questions into your feedback cycle, you can identify and nurture the collaborative behaviours that are fundamental to organisational success. You can learn more by exploring different approaches to Teamwork and Collaboration questions.
4. Accountability and Reliability
Questions centred on accountability and reliability evaluate an individual's commitment to taking ownership of their work and its outcomes. This category assesses their dependability, consistency in meeting commitments, and ability to maintain high standards without constant supervision. It is a critical measure of trustworthiness and an individual's capacity to contribute positively to team cohesion and project success.
These 360 feedback questions are essential because they gauge an employee's personal integrity and their impact on team momentum. A lack of accountability can lead to missed deadlines, poor quality work, and a decline in team morale. In contrast, a reliable team member fosters trust and empowers others to perform their roles effectively. This principle is a cornerstone of corporate frameworks like Amazon's 'Ownership' leadership principle and is deeply embedded in Toyota's 'kaizen' system of continuous improvement, which relies on every individual taking responsibility for their part of the process.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "When projects face challenges, does your manager take ownership of the situation or tend to place blame elsewhere?"
- For Peers: "How confident are you that this individual will deliver on their commitments in a timely and high-quality manner?"
- For Managers: "Does this employee proactively identify potential risks in their work and take responsibility for finding solutions?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
For these questions to yield meaningful insights, they should be tied to specific projects or commitments. When analysing feedback, distinguish between issues caused by external obstacles and those stemming from personal follow-through. Cross-referencing qualitative comments with quantitative data, such as deadline adherence rates from your project management system, will provide a more complete picture of an individual's reliability.
Key Insight: Accountability isn't just about admitting mistakes; it's about proactively owning the entire lifecycle of a task. The most valuable feedback will reveal whether an individual demonstrates this level of ownership from start to finish.
To further explore how to cultivate a culture of responsibility, you can find more targeted questions and strategies for Accountability and Reliability. This feedback is invaluable for identifying future leaders and core contributors within your organisation.
5. Adaptability and Learning Agility
Questions focused on adaptability and learning agility assess an individual's capacity to respond to change, learn from experience, and adjust their approach when faced with new information or unexpected challenges. This category is crucial in today's fast-paced work environments, evaluating how well an individual embraces new ideas, recovers from setbacks, and proactively develops new skills. It is a key indicator of long-term potential and resilience.
These types of 360 feedback questions have become indispensable as organisations navigate constant disruption. An employee who resists change can hinder team progress, while one who demonstrates high learning agility can drive innovation and guide others through uncertainty. Tech giants like Netflix and Microsoft have embedded this competency into their cultures; Netflix’s emphasis on adaptation is legendary, while Microsoft’s resurgence under Satya Nadella was built on a foundation of shifting from a "know-it-all" to a "learn-it-all" culture. This concept has been widely popularised by research from organisations like Korn Ferry and the Center for Creative Leadership.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "When faced with a sudden change in project priorities, how effectively does your manager help the team adjust and move forward?"
- For Peers: "Can you provide an example of how this person has learned from a mistake or a project setback and applied that learning to future work?"
- For Managers: "How quickly does this individual acquire and apply new skills or knowledge required for their role, particularly in response to new technologies or processes?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To gain meaningful insights, ask for specific, concrete examples of behaviour rather than general opinions. Analyse feedback for patterns in how the individual handles both incremental changes and significant disruptions. It is also beneficial to evaluate their attitude towards feedback itself, as openness to constructive criticism is a hallmark of learning agility.
Key Insight: Look beyond just reacting to change. The most valuable feedback will reveal whether the individual is proactive in seeking out new knowledge and anticipating future shifts, turning potential challenges into opportunities for growth.
For organisations aiming to build a resilient workforce, you can explore detailed strategies for fostering Adaptability and Learning Agility. This feedback is vital for identifying future leaders and creating a culture of continuous improvement.
6. Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
Questions centred on decision-making and problem-solving evaluate an individual's analytical abilities, judgement, and effectiveness in navigating complex challenges. This category assesses not just the outcome of a decision, but also the process used to arrive at it, including how data is gathered, alternatives are weighed, and stakeholders are consulted. It is a critical competency for roles at all levels, from individual contributors solving technical issues to leaders making high-stakes strategic choices.
These types of 360 feedback questions are essential because poor decision-making can lead to wasted resources, missed opportunities, and decreased morale. Conversely, strong problem-solvers drive innovation and efficiency. Renowned consulting firms like McKinsey & Company heavily scrutinise this skill, while Amazon's "Are Right, A Lot" leadership principle underscores the importance of having strong judgement and good instincts. This feedback helps identify individuals who can think critically under pressure.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "When faced with a difficult problem, how effectively does your manager involve the team in finding a solution?"
- For Peers: "Does this individual make timely and well-informed decisions during collaborative projects, even when information is incomplete?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this person demonstrate sound judgement when making decisions that impact the wider business?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To gain meaningful insights, encourage reviewers to provide specific examples of both successful and unsuccessful decisions. Analyse the feedback to understand the person’s approach: are they data-driven, intuitive, collaborative, or overly cautious? Comparing responses can reveal whether an individual's decision-making process is perceived differently by their team versus their superiors, highlighting potential areas for coaching in strategic thinking or communication.
Key Insight: Focus on the process as much as the outcome. A good decision can sometimes lead to a poor result due to external factors, while a poor process might occasionally get lucky. Understanding an individual's problem-solving methodology is key to repeatable success.
For those aiming to build this competency, you can find further resources and question examples related to Decision-Making and Problem-Solving questions. This feedback is invaluable for developing critical thinking skills across your organisation.
7. Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Skills
Questions focused on emotional intelligence (EI) and interpersonal skills assess an individual's ability to perceive, understand, and manage their own emotions while influencing the emotions of others. Popularised by Daniel Goleman, this competency evaluates self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills. In today's collaborative work environments, a high level of EI is directly correlated with stronger relationships, better team cohesion, and more effective leadership.
These types of 360 feedback questions are vital because they uncover the "how" behind an individual's performance, not just the "what". A person can achieve their targets but leave a trail of damaged relationships, impacting long-term team morale and retention. Organisations like Google, through its Project Oxygen research, identified EI as a top trait of its most successful managers. Similarly, the Mayo Clinic integrates EI into its physician leadership development to improve patient care and team collaboration.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "How well does your manager show empathy and consider your perspective when you face challenges?"
- For Peers: "Does this individual remain calm and constructive during high-pressure situations or disagreements?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this person demonstrate self-awareness of their impact on others' morale and motivation?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
For a deeper analysis, consider using validated assessments like the EQ-i 2.0 alongside qualitative feedback. When asking questions, prompt reviewers to provide specific behavioural examples of emotional responses they have observed in meetings or project discussions. Combining this external feedback with a self-assessment allows the individual to see any gaps between their perceived and actual emotional intelligence.
Key Insight: Emotional intelligence feedback is most powerful when it is tied to specific workplace events. Instead of asking if someone is "empathetic," ask how they responded to a recent team setback or a colleague's personal difficulty.
Feedback on these skills is fundamental for developing resilient, adaptable, and people-centric leaders who can navigate complex interpersonal dynamics effectively. It provides a clear pathway for targeted coaching in communication and relationship management.
8. Initiative and Innovation
Questions on initiative and innovation assess an individual's proactivity in identifying opportunities, taking action without direct instruction, and contributing creative solutions to business challenges. This category measures entrepreneurial thinking and a forward-looking mindset, which are crucial for growth and adaptability in any organisation. It evaluates whether an individual is a passive follower or a proactive contributor who drives progress.
These 360 feedback questions are essential for building a culture that doesn't just solve existing problems but anticipates future needs. Companies renowned for their innovative cultures, such as Apple and 3M, thrive by empowering employees at all levels to take initiative. Feedback in this area helps identify individuals who can pioneer new projects, improve processes, and challenge the status quo, making it a key indicator of leadership potential and a driver of competitive advantage.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "Does this person encourage you to experiment with new ideas and approaches, even if they sometimes fail?"
- For Peers: "How often does this individual proactively suggest new or improved ways of working on shared projects?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this employee independently identify and act on opportunities for improvement within their role?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To gain meaningful insights, focus on behaviours that demonstrate both the generation of ideas and the drive to implement them. When reviewing feedback, look for patterns that indicate whether the individual is seen as a creative thinker, a practical implementer, or both. It is vital to foster psychological safety, ensuring that employees feel secure enough to propose novel ideas without fear of criticism. This can be supported by tracking ideas from conception through to implementation within your HR system.
Key Insight: True innovation isn't just about big ideas; it's about consistent, proactive problem-solving. Use feedback to distinguish between those who merely suggest and those who take ownership to drive change, however small.
This feedback is critical for nurturing a dynamic and forward-thinking workforce. For more guidance on fostering this competency, you can explore resources on developing an innovative workplace culture.
9. Development of Others and Coaching
Questions focused on developing and coaching others are essential for evaluating a leader's ability to nurture talent and build a high-performing team. This category assesses an individual's commitment to providing mentorship, creating growth opportunities, and actively developing the capabilities of their colleagues. It is a critical competency for managers and senior leaders whose long-term impact is measured by the success of the people they guide.
These types of 360 feedback questions are vital because they shift the focus from individual contribution to force multiplication. Leaders who excel at coaching create a sustainable talent pipeline and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Renowned leadership figures like Microsoft's Satya Nadella and legendary GE CEO Jack Welch built their legacies on developing future leaders. This approach directly impacts employee engagement, retention, and organisational capability.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "Does your manager actively support your professional development by providing constructive feedback and identifying growth opportunities?"
- For Peers: "Does this individual willingly share their knowledge and expertise to help colleagues develop new skills?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this person invest time in coaching their team members, and what has been the observable impact on their team's performance?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To gain meaningful insights, ask for specific examples of mentoring or coaching actions. When analysing feedback, look for themes that connect a leader's coaching efforts to tangible outcomes, such as internal promotions or successful project handovers. Tracking the career progression of an individual's direct reports within your HR system can provide powerful quantitative data to complement the qualitative feedback gathered.
Key Insight: Effective development isn't just about sending people on training courses. It's about creating an environment where feedback is constant, challenges are seen as learning opportunities, and individual career aspirations are actively supported.
Integrating this feedback is a core part of a robust performance cycle. For a deeper dive into this topic, explore some best practices for performance management. This ensures that development goals are not just discussed but are actively tracked and achieved.
10. Customer Focus and Business Acumen
Questions centred on customer focus and business acumen are vital for assessing an individual's ability to align their actions with organisational success. This category evaluates how well a person understands customer needs, delivers exceptional value, and makes commercially sound decisions. It measures their capacity to see the bigger picture, connecting their daily work to market trends, customer satisfaction, and financial outcomes.
These types of 360 feedback questions are essential because they gauge an employee's contribution to the bottom line and long-term sustainability. In a competitive market, a deep understanding of the customer and the business is what differentiates great organisations. Companies renowned for their customer-centric cultures, such as Amazon with its 'Customer Obsession' principle and Disney's relentless focus on the guest experience, build this mindset into their feedback and development processes at every level.
Example Questions
- For Direct Reports: "Does your manager make decisions that prioritise the customer's best interests and the long-term health of the business?"
- For Peers: "How effectively does this individual consider the customer impact when collaborating on projects or making cross-departmental decisions?"
- For Managers: "To what extent does this individual demonstrate a strong understanding of our market, competitors, and financial goals?"
Tips for Effective Implementation
To get the most value from these questions, try to anchor feedback in real-world scenarios. Where possible, incorporate direct customer feedback or data from CRM systems into the review process. When analysing results, look for evidence that the individual not only understands business concepts but also applies them to make customer-centric decisions that drive positive results.
Key Insight: Don't just ask if someone is customer-focused. Ask for specific examples of when they advocated for the customer or made a tough decision based on business acumen. This reveals true commercial awareness.
For those looking to build this competency, explore how to integrate customer data from Dynamics 365 into your performance reviews to provide concrete examples. This feedback is critical for developing future leaders who can navigate complex market challenges.
360 Feedback: 10-Competency Comparison
| Competency | Implementation complexity | Resource requirements | Expected outcomes | Ideal use cases | Key advantages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership and Direction | Moderate — requires frameworks and calibration | Leadership training, assessment tools, senior time | Clear strategic alignment and improved goal delivery | Manager assessments, succession planning, strategy rollout | Provides vision, drives organizational performance |
| Communication and Listening Skills | Low–Moderate — survey + observation-based | Peer feedback, facilitation, short trainings | Fewer misunderstandings, improved team coordination | Team effectiveness, onboarding, performance reviews | Broad applicability; improves morale and productivity |
| Collaboration and Teamwork | Moderate — cross-functional measurement needed | Cross-team raters, collaboration metrics, time | Increased cooperation, reduced silos, better outcomes | Project teams, remote/hybrid work, matrix organizations | Boosts team performance and knowledge sharing |
| Accountability and Reliability | Low — trackable with clear KPIs | Delivery-tracking tools, clear expectations | Consistent delivery, higher trust and predictability | Operations, delivery-focused roles, compliance | Objective to measure; strengthens trust and productivity |
| Adaptability and Learning Agility | Moderate–High — needs longitudinal assessment | Development programs, time-series feedback | Faster change adoption, improved innovation readiness | Transformation programs, fast-moving industries | Predicts future potential; supports organizational agility |
| Decision-Making and Problem-Solving | Moderate — case reviews and outcome tracking | Data access, case studies, stakeholder input | Higher decision quality, measurable business impact | Strategic roles, product management, crisis response | Direct correlation with business outcomes; identifies leaders |
| Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Skills | High — requires validated tools and trained assessors | Psychometric assessments, coaching, multi-rater feedback | Better relationships, reduced conflict, improved retention | Leadership development, customer-facing and clinical roles | Strong predictor of leadership effectiveness and team health |
| Initiative and Innovation | Moderate — cultural and measurement changes needed | Time for experimentation, recognition systems, small budgets | More ideas, experimentation, potential breakthrough outcomes | R&D, product teams, growth-focused units | Drives growth and opportunity identification |
| Development of Others and Coaching | Moderate–High — long-term tracking required | Mentoring programs, training time, promotion tracking | Stronger bench strength, higher engagement and retention | People managers, succession planning, leadership programs | Multiplies leader impact; builds sustainable talent pipeline |
| Customer Focus and Business Acumen | Moderate — role-specific contextualization required | Customer data, financial metrics, feedback channels | Better customer outcomes, aligned decisions, revenue impact | Sales, product, strategy, customer-success roles | Ensures actions align with customer value and business results |
Putting Feedback into Action with Dynamics 365
Having explored an extensive bank of over one hundred carefully crafted 360 feedback questions across ten core competencies, it's clear that the right questions are the foundation of any successful feedback initiative. From gauging leadership effectiveness and communication skills to assessing teamwork and innovation, these questions provide the framework for gaining a holistic, multi-perspective view of an individual's performance and impact. We’ve covered how to tailor them for different respondents – self, manager, peers, and direct reports – and the importance of using a clear rating scale to gather quantifiable data.
However, the true value of 360-degree feedback isn't just in asking insightful questions; it's in what you do with the answers. The process of collecting, collating, and interpreting this data can be resource-intensive and prone to administrative error if managed through spreadsheets or disparate systems. This is where the real transformation begins: moving from a manual, often cumbersome task to an integrated, strategic function powered by the right technology.
From Insightful Questions to Actionable Intelligence
The ultimate goal is to translate raw feedback into a clear, actionable development plan that drives both individual growth and organisational success. This journey from data to development involves several critical steps:
- Centralised Data Collection: A robust system ensures feedback is submitted securely and confidentially, encouraging honest and constructive responses.
- Intelligent Analysis: The ability to automatically anonymise and aggregate responses, generate visual reports, and identify key themes or perception gaps is crucial.
- Seamless Integration: Feedback data shouldn't exist in a silo. It should inform performance reviews, succession planning, and individual development plans (IDPs) within your core HR system.
- Longitudinal Tracking: The power of 360 feedback is magnified when you can track progress over time, measuring the impact of coaching and development initiatives on specific competencies.
To streamline the process of gathering and acting on 360 feedback, it's worth exploring the best employee performance review software options available, as these platforms often provide the necessary structure and automation. For organisations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, the most powerful solution lies within your existing technology stack.
Key Takeaway: A well-organised list of 360 feedback questions is the starting point. The real challenge and opportunity lie in creating a scalable, secure, and integrated process to turn that feedback into a catalyst for continuous improvement and professional development.
The Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Advantage
This is precisely where HR Management for Microsoft Dynamics 365, built natively on the Power Platform, provides an unparalleled advantage. Instead of exporting data to third-party tools, you can manage the entire 360-degree feedback lifecycle within the secure, familiar environment of Microsoft 365. You can build customised feedback templates using the very questions outlined in this guide, automate the distribution and reminder process, and leverage Power BI to create dynamic, insightful dashboards.
By integrating feedback directly into your central HR system, you connect these rich insights to every other aspect of the employee journey. This creates a single source of truth, ensuring that development conversations are always data-driven, relevant, and aligned with both individual aspirations and business objectives. You transform feedback from a periodic event into a continuous, strategic dialogue that underpins a culture of growth and high performance, all while maintaining strict GDPR and UK Right to Work compliance controls.
Ready to transform your feedback process from an administrative burden into a strategic driver of growth? DynamicsHub specialises in implementing HR Management for Microsoft Dynamics 365, tailoring the platform to your unique organisational needs. We help you leverage the power of your Microsoft investment to build a seamless, data-driven feedback culture. Phone 01522 508096 today or send us a message to discover how we can configure a solution that truly puts your feedback into action.
