One of the key reasons we decided to write 360score.me was to address the lack of radical candor and honest feedback generated from current 360 degree review tools. We discovered that by securing 100% anonymity, we get better results, more honest feedback and avoid the pitfalls of fluff and brown nosing. Without anonymity there is too high a cost to giving people a bad review or difficult feedback. Because the risks of blowback or payback are so high when identities are known, most people play it safe. This causes the 360 review process to simply be seen as administrative overhead, and all you get is positive fluff.

In 360Score.me not only are individual scores and responses completely anonymous, but average scores aren’t even shared until at least 5 anonymous responses for any one individual have been received. To be truly anonymous, responses can’t be collected by HR or a facilitator – they literally have to be collected by a completely disinterested blind 3rd party. Any process that is internal or managed by humans can be perceived as a risk to anonymity and sharing the truth.

This is a great question that reflects what we like to call the irony of anonymity and transparency. The reality is with the safety of anonymity people are more transparent with each other. Yes, they may be concealing their identity, but the actual data/thoughts/feelings are more likely to be shared. When we talk about the virtues of transparency; that is what we are talking about. About being honest with each other and sharing our true feedback and radical candor. Identity may be relevant, but definitely secondary to honest content.

It is important for us to first define what we are measuring and how we are measuring it. 360score.me is measuring the reputation of each of us in the eyes of our coworkers. Reputation by definition is the opinion of others. The fact that people have opinions and biases is not a defect in measuring reputation it is a feature of reputation. Whether our reputation is an accurate reflection of our worth, value or skills is a separate conversation about the judging skill of our coworkers, however this doesn’t discount the fact that we have a reputation in their eyes - good, bad or otherwise. Our reputation is how we are perceived, not necessarily who we are. That being said, given enough data points – the likelihood that we are way better or worse than what others think of us is unlikely. What we think of our ourselves is ego, what others think of us is reputation. We may not like it, but our coworkers have an opinion of us and it matters. If that opinion just stays in their head, we are limited in our ability to know it, manage it and improve it. If their opinions of us (our reputation) is known to us we can take steps to improve.

Traditional 360 reviews riddled with inaccuracies geared toward self-preservation in complicated environment of workplace dynamics. However, ANONYMOUS 360 reviews framed with the goal of growth and positive development are incredibly effective in getting truth to power from every corner of an organization. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, just because people have self-interest doesn't mean you stop listening to them. Feedback from 360 revies can be a catalyst for positive growth and change provided that everyone understands the goal is exactly that vs. an annual administrative speed bump.

To increase the accuracy of submitted 360 scores, 360Score.me employs a grading scale that gives people a standard point of reference and grading language. Our grading scale guidance educates them on how to be effective graders by eliminated the ambiguity in score values. With 5 point or 10 point scales found in other review platforms, the difference between a 4 and a 5 is a personal valuation whereas our A-F letter grading system gives people a scale they understand and know. Furthermore, the more 360 scores you have, the less impact an individual’s self-interested or biased score will have on you. With enough scores, your 360score will be a pretty close reflection of your actual reputation in the eyes of your coworkers. You may love it or hate it, but you can’t argue it – reputation is what others think of you, not what you think of yourself.

Note that your 360Score. me review INCLUDES feedback from your boss. It wouldn’t be a 360 degree review unless we also got the feedback from the person most responsible for your performance and development other than you. Not only is your boss’s feedback part of your 360 report, it potentially counts more than people who don’t work as closely with you, just like it works in the real world. Our 360score algorithm uses artificial intelligence to identify how closely you work with others and then weight based on proximity. Your boss’s score will likely count a lot more than someone you just meet with infrequently. On the other hand, coworkers you work with regularly may also be just as consequential to your score/reputation as your boss. Our weighted scoring tool supports matrix org charts and all types of reporting relationships. It’s true that your boss’s opinion is probably the most important when it comes to rewards and recognition, however 360 allows their judgement to benefit from not only their own observations, but those of others. This provides a much more complete and holistic view of your reputation within the organization. Your 360scores and feedback are shared with you by your boss, so they have an opportunity to emphasize and opine on what others have contributed to you – this helps remove blind spots since they get to reflect with you on how you are perceived within the organization. They can help you prioritize what comments you should focus on or which can be taken with a grain of salt.

Anonymity is a critical component in making sure we get the most transparent, honest feedback from your coworkers. If anonymity is threatened, it threatens the safety of people to speak their truth without fear of blow back or confrontation.

Users can identify who they are in their comments, however at 360Score.me will never share individual response scores or comments. We can ensure anonymity as a disinterested third party software platform that simply collects responses and calculates scores. When we show scores it is only a weighted aggregate. Individual scores of who-scored-who are never shared. We do not even show scores to supervisors until at least 5 scores have been received for an individual so a sufficient sample size has been reached to preserve anonymity. Scores are weighted based on how closely you work with others, so even trying to reverse engineer a score and figure out who scored who is virtually impossible since there are millions of different possible weightings in most organizations.

Our number 1 goal is to protect anonymity while getting accurate data. If users are not prompted for a login, they will be able to see other peoples scores or responses simply from obtaining someone else's email link. Since emails are regularly forwarded or accessible by administrators, a private login is the only way to protect anonymity and ensure only the right user can respond and view data intended for them.

In addition, having a user login allows our system to send out reminders to individuals that have not responded to their surveys. This prevents us from sending unnecessary reminders and creating confusion for users that have already responded to the surveys.

Keep in mind, one of 360Score.me's main features is anonymity. We have many rules and controls in place to protect anonymity for our users while still providing value and doing our best to encourage responses.

For 360 degree reviews, our recommended rhythm is quarterly or semi-annually for 360 degree review surveys. For company happiness/engagement surveys and annually for skip-level (reverse) manager performance surveys, we suggest a monthly cycle. There is a great deal of flexibility with our platform, so you can also opt to include skip-level manager performance questions in your 360 degree review surveys as well.

The bottom line is that you want to do surveys often enough to get actionable and timely data, however you don’t want to do them too often otherwise you will lose goodwill and risk creating survey fatigue.

Nobody sees individual scores given to other individuals, not even 360Score.me staff. Supervisors can see 360scores for the people that report to them (they cannot see their own score) only after individuals have received 5 unique scores from other coworkers per survey. Comments and feedback are only visible to supervisors after a survey has closed. Once the survey has closed, supervisors have one week to review feedback/comments received by their staff and then can share individual “360 Score Reports” with each employee. Supervisors are encouraged to share 360 Score reports as soon as possible after the 1 week review period, preferably the following week (1-2 weeks after survey closes).

Note that supervisors that wait too long to share reports are assured lower engagement and response rates from their team on future surveys. The investment of effort in 360 degree reviews come from the entire org chart. Feedback is the first part of the successful evaluation-development cycle, followed acknowledgement, reflection and discussion.

Skip level surveys give a voice to employees to share their feedback about managers. Managers with and without formal training may have been promoted into positions they weren’t prepared for. If a struggling middle manager needs help, a skip-level survey can help identify areas of strengths and weaknesses that may have been a blind spot for upper level management. Skip-level survey questions generally evaluate manager specific skillsets whereas 360 degree surveys are normally about overall performance or alignment with core values.

360Score.me allows you to merge a skip-level survey into your standard 360 degree survey process, or break it our separately as its own standalone survey.