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360 performance review software
Add 360 feedback to performance reviews, the fair way
A 360 degree performance review adds the views of peers and direct reports to the manager’s. Sidelight 360 collects that feedback anonymously and turns it into development goals your reviews can build on.
Your 360° feedback report
Maya Santos
Page 1
✦ Your feedback in one minute
Colleagues rate you highest on “Explains why the team’s goals matter”. Your clearest opportunity is “Makes sure quieter people get heard”.
Generated from the scores. Check it against the detail that follows.
How to use 360 feedback in performance reviews
Most HR experts agree on one rule: use 360 feedback for development, not for pay or ratings. When raters know their answers decide someone’s pay, they soften them, and the feedback stops being honest. The approach that works:
- Run the 360 a few weeks before the performance review.
- Let the person read their report first and choose one or two development goals.
- Bring those goals, not the raw scores, into the review conversation with their manager.
- Re-measure the goal behaviors after 90 days and use the change as evidence of growth.
Sidelight 360 is built for this: reports go privately to the person, confidential mode stops admins opening individual reports, and the development plan is what gets shared.
How it fits
360 feedback around your review cycle
Before the review
Honest input from everyone who works with them
Manager, peers, direct reports and others rate the same behaviors anonymously. The person rates themselves too, so differences are easy to see.
- Anonymous, with groups under three merged
- About 10 minutes for each rater
- Reminders sent automatically
Your 360° feedback report
Maya Santos
Page 2
In the review
Goals with targets, not just scores
The person brings a development plan: one or two behaviors, a target level and actions for the next 30 days. Managers get a clear, fair basis for the conversation.
- Share the report with the manager by private link
- Group results show patterns across teams
- Re-measure in 90 days
Your 360° feedback report
Maya Santos
What to do about them
What to do about them
1Makes sure quieter people get heard
What people are seeing
Colleagues rated this 2.6 out of 5, and you rated it 4.0.
Why it matters
When people feel heard they bring problems early and share their best ideas; when they don’t, they go quiet.
Try this in the next 30 days
- In your next three meetings, summarize what you heard before you give your own view.
- Count to three before replying when someone finishes speaking.
- Ask “What am I missing?” at the end of each decision discussion.
You’ll know it’s working when
People bring you problems earlier, and say “thanks for hearing me out”.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What is a 360 degree performance appraisal?
A 360 degree performance appraisal adds feedback from peers, direct reports and others to the manager’s view in a performance review. It gives a fuller picture of how someone works.
Should 360 feedback affect pay or ratings?
We recommend not. Feedback tied to pay becomes less honest. Use the 360 to set development goals, and judge performance on results and progress against those goals.
Can Sidelight 360 replace our performance review system?
No, and it isn’t meant to. It runs the 360 feedback and development plan that sit alongside your reviews, and works with any review process.
Try Sidelight 360 free
Your first 3 people are free, with unlimited raters, no card and no time limit.