- A 360 review template collects feedback on one employee from self, peers, manager, and direct reports using shared competencies, one rating scale, and open-ended questions.
- The template on this page rates 8 competencies on a 1-to-5 scale, with N/A for raters who have no basis to judge.
- Each rater group gets 7 ready-to-copy questions, including a start, stop, continue prompt.
- Download it for free in PDF
- Keep peer and upward feedback anonymous with at least 3 responses per group, and turn results into a development plan within two weeks.
A 360 review template is a structured form that collects feedback on one employee from four directions (self, peers, manager, and direct reports) using a shared set of competencies, one rating scale, and open-ended questions for each rater group.
This page gives you a complete 360 feedback template to use this week: an eight-competency framework, a defined 1 to 5 rating scale, seven questions for each rater group, and a free download in PDF.
360 Feedback Template: Competencies and Rating Scale
The core of any 360 feedback template is a competency framework and a rating scale that every rater uses the same way. The template below rates eight competencies on a 1 to 5 scale, so feedback from self, peers, manager, and direct reports can be compared side by side instead of read as loose opinions.
1
The competency framework
Copy this table into your form. Each rater scores every competency they can observe and marks the rest N/A.
| Competency | What strong looks like | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Explains clearly, listens, adapts the message to the audience | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Collaboration | Works across the team, shares credit, resolves friction | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Accountability | Owns outcomes, meets commitments, admits mistakes | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Problem solving | Diagnoses root causes, decides with incomplete information | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Adaptability | Handles change, learns fast, stays effective under pressure | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Leadership or influence | Sets direction, motivates, develops others (scale to role) | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Job knowledge | Applies the skills the role needs and keeps them current | 1 to 5 or N/A |
| Emotional intelligence | Reads the room, manages own reactions, builds trust | 1 to 5 or N/A |
2
The rating scale, defined
Share these definitions with every rater before they start. A shared scale is what makes a 3 from a peer mean the same thing as a 3 from a manager.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rarely demonstrates this; a clear development area |
| 2 | Sometimes demonstrates this; inconsistent |
| 3 | Meets expectations; solid and reliable |
| 4 | Often exceeds; a visible strength |
| 5 | Role model; others learn from them |
| N/A | No basis to rate |
3
What each rater group covers
Not every rater sees every behavior. This split keeps each form relevant and cuts the time it takes to complete.
| Rater | Rates | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Self | All competencies | Own strengths, gaps, and goals |
| Peers | Collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence | Specific examples |
| Manager | All competencies, plus impact | Development priorities |
| Direct reports (upward) | Leadership, communication, support | What to start, stop, continue |
Every form closes with two open questions for all raters: What is this person’s greatest strength? and What one change would make the biggest difference to their impact?
What Is a 360 Degree Review?
A 360 degree review is a feedback process in which an employee is rated by the people around them (peers, their manager, and direct reports) as well as by themselves. It shows how someone’s work and behavior look from every direction, not only from the manager’s seat. A standard performance review is top-down: one manager rates one employee, mostly against goals and results. A 360 adds the views of the people who work with that employee every day, and it focuses more on behaviors such as communication and collaboration than on output. Most teams use 360s for development rather than pay decisions.
Who rates whom:
- Self: the employee rates themselves on the same competencies.
- Peers: 3 to 5 colleagues who work with them regularly.
- Manager: their direct manager.
- Direct reports: everyone who reports to them, if they manage people.
- Optional: internal or external customers who see their work.
For written feedback samples by role, see these 360 degree feedback examples.
What Are the Four Sections of an Employee 360 Review Template?
An employee 360 degree review template has four rater sections: self-assessment, peer feedback, manager feedback, and direct-report (upward) feedback. Each section uses the same competencies and rating scale, but asks questions matched to what that rater can see.
1
Self-assessment
The employee rates every competency and names their own strengths, gaps, and goals. Comparing self-scores with everyone else’s is often the most useful part of the report, because the differences point to blind spots and hidden strengths.
2
Peer feedback
Peers see day-to-day collaboration that managers miss. Ask them to rate collaboration, communication, and emotional intelligence, and to back each score with a specific example.
3
Manager feedback
The manager rates all competencies plus impact on team goals, then names one or two development priorities for the next cycle.
4
Direct-report feedback
People who report to the employee rate leadership, communication, and support. This upward view is the most honest read on management style, which is why anonymity matters most in this section.
360 Review Questions by Rater Type
Good 360 review questions ask about observable behavior, one topic at a time, and invite an example. Below are seven copy-ready questions for each rater group: self, peers, manager, and direct reports. Pair each set with the rating table above and keep the full form under 15 minutes.
1
Self-assessment questions
- Which two competencies are your strongest right now, and what recent work shows it?
- Which competency do you most want to improve over the next six months?
- What goals did you set this period, and how far have you progressed on each?
- Describe a piece of feedback you received and what you changed because of it.
- Where did you have the most impact on your team this period?
- What got in the way of your best work?
- What support, training, or resources would help you grow in your role?
2
Peer feedback questions
- How well does this person collaborate with you and the wider team? Share an example.
- How clearly does this person communicate ideas, updates, and concerns?
- How reliably does this person follow through on commitments to you?
- How does this person handle disagreement or conflict within the team?
- What does this person do that makes the team better?
- What should this person start, stop, and continue doing?
- Is there anything else that would help this person grow?
3
Manager feedback questions
- How consistently does this person meet the expectations and goals of the role?
- Which competency is this person’s clearest strength? Give a recent example.
- Which competency most limits their impact today? Give a recent example.
- How does this person handle setbacks, pressure, or changing priorities?
- How does this person respond to feedback and coaching?
- What are the top two development priorities for the next review cycle?
- What support will you commit to providing?
4
Direct-report (upward) feedback questions
- How clearly does your manager set direction and explain priorities?
- How well does your manager support your growth and career development?
- How effectively does your manager give you feedback, both praise and correction?
- How comfortable do you feel raising problems or disagreeing with your manager?
- How well does your manager handle conflict within the team?
- What should your manager start, stop, and continue doing?
- What is one thing your manager could do to help you do your best work?
Need more options? This full bank of 360 degree performance review questions covers more competencies and scenarios.
How Do You Use a 360 Rating Scale Fairly?
Use the 1 to 5 scale to rate behavior you have seen, not personality or reputation. Score each competency on its own, choose N/A when you have no basis to judge, and add a written example for any score of 1 or 2 so the person knows what to work on.
- Rate what you observed in this review period only.
- Treat 3 as a solid, expected level, not a poor score.
- Add a specific example to every 1 or 2, and ideally to every 5.
- Use N/A honestly when you have not seen the behavior.
- Let one strong or weak area color every other score.
- Rate personality traits such as “too quiet” or “difficult.”
- Default to 3 across the board to finish faster.
- Compare the person to a colleague instead of to the scale.
Download the Free 360 Review Template
The free 360-degree review template comes with competencies, rating scale, and rater questions shown above. Download now to collect responses and score them in one place.
Get the free 360 review template
Template ready to customize for your team. Includes the competencies, the rating scale, and questions for every rater.
How to Customize the 360 Review Template by Role
Keep the rating scale the same for everyone and change which competencies you emphasize by role. A 360 degree review template for managers should weight leadership and developing others. A peer or individual contributor version should weight job knowledge, accountability, and collaboration.
| Role | Competencies to emphasize | Add this question |
|---|---|---|
| Managers | Leadership, developing others, decision-making, communication | How well does this person coach the team through problems? |
| Senior leaders and executives | Strategic direction, decision-making, influence, accountability | How clearly does this leader connect team work to company goals? |
| Individual contributors | Job knowledge, accountability, problem solving, collaboration | How dependable is this person’s work quality on deadline? |
| Peers (cross-functional) | Collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence | How easy is this person to work with across teams? |
| New hires (first 6 to 12 months) | Adaptability, learning speed, collaboration | How quickly has this person become effective in the role? |
For a CEO, use the senior leader version and make the leadership team and board members the rater groups. Whatever the role, keep 6 to 8 competencies per form. More than that raises rater fatigue and lowers the quality of the answers.
How to Run a 360 Review With This Template
Running a 360 review takes six steps: choose competencies, pick raters, set anonymity rules, send the survey, compile the results, and hold a development conversation. Plan two to three weeks from launch to results, and brief everyone before the survey opens so raters know how the feedback will be used.
- Choose the competencies. Start from the eight in the template and adjust by role. Keep 6 to 8 so the form takes under 15 minutes.
- Select the raters. The employee and manager agree on 3 to 5 peers and include all direct reports. Aim for 8 to 12 raters in total.
- Set anonymity rules. Decide the minimum group size before results are shown (three is common) and tell raters who will see what.
- Send the survey. Give raters a one to two week window and send a reminder a few days before it closes.
- Compile the results. Average scores by competency and rater group, compare them with the self-score, and group written comments by theme.
- Hold the development conversation. The manager or HR walks through the report with the employee within two weeks and agrees on two or three goals.
360 Review Best Practices, Anonymity, and Common Mistakes
A 360 works when raters trust it and the results lead to action. Keep responses anonymous by reporting only groups of three or more, use the review for development rather than pay, keep the form short, and follow every report with a conversation and a plan. Most failed 360s skip one of these.
- Explain the purpose first: development, not ranking or pay.
- Protect anonymity: show peer and direct-report results only as group averages, with at least three responses per group. Manager feedback is usually named.
- Keep it confidential: only the employee, their manager, and HR see the full report.
- Train raters briefly: ten minutes on the rating scale and on writing specific examples.
- Limit the load: cap how many reviews each rater completes per cycle to avoid fatigue.
- Close the loop: every report ends in a development plan with a follow-up date.
- Tying 360 scores directly to compensation, which pushes raters to inflate or deflate scores.
- Letting the employee pick only friendly raters, which hides real gaps.
- Asking 50 questions, which produces rushed, low-quality answers.
- Sharing raw comments that make raters identifiable.
- Collecting feedback and never discussing it.
What Tools Help You Run and Compile 360 Reviews?
A template works well for one team. Once you run 360s across departments, the hard parts are routing each form to the right raters, chasing late responses, protecting anonymity, and compiling dozens of answers into one clear report. That is the work 360 feedback software automates. What to look for in 360 software:
- Rater nomination with employee and manager approval
- Anonymity thresholds that hide results below a minimum group size
- Automated reminders, so HR is not chasing raters by email
- Competencies and questions you can customize by role or department
- Reports that compare self-scores with each rater group
- Integrations with the tools your team already uses, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams
Peoplebox runs 360s from the same kind of template shown here. You can pick questions from a library or write your own, customize one form for different roles and departments, send automated nudges at each step, and run reviews inside Slack or Microsoft Teams. Once the cycle closes, ratings can be calibrated across teams. To compare options, see this roundup of 360 degree feedback tools.
Start Your 360 Review With the Right Template
A good 360 degree review template gives every rater the same competencies, the same rating scale, and questions matched to what they can see. That shared structure is what turns scattered opinions into feedback an employee can use. You now have all of it: eight competencies, a defined 1 to 5 scale, questions for self, peer, manager, and direct-report raters, role variations, a six-step process, and free downloads in PDF. When you are ready to run 360s across teams without chasing raters by email, Peoplebox’s 360 feedback software handles role-based forms, automated reminders, and rating calibration in one place.
What changed in this update (September 2026): the full template now sits on this page as tables, with a defined rating scale, questions for each rater, role variations, and four download formats.