360 reviews have a reputation for being slow and complicated. Some companies let their review cycles stretch to three or four months, which drains momentum and makes the feedback feel stale by the time anyone sees it. The truth is that a well-organized 360 review cycle can be completed in 30 days, from initial setup to final debrief.
Here is the week-by-week breakdown.
Week 1: Setup and Communication (Days 1 to 7)
Days 1 to 2: Define scope and participants. Decide who is being reviewed and who will provide feedback for each person. A typical 360 includes the employee's manager, three to five peers, and any direct reports. For individual contributors, peers and cross-functional collaborators are usually the primary reviewers.
Days 3 to 4: Finalize the review form. Keep it focused. Five to eight questions is the sweet spot. Include a mix of rating scales and open-ended questions. Rating scales give you quantitative data for comparison. Open-ended questions give you the context and nuance that numbers cannot capture.
A solid question set might include:
- Rate this person's effectiveness in their role (1 to 5)
- What is this person's greatest strength?
- What is one area where this person could improve?
- How effectively does this person collaborate across teams?
- Any additional comments?
Days 5 to 7: Communicate the process. Send a clear kickoff email to everyone involved. Explain the purpose of the review, the timeline, how anonymity works, and what will happen with the results. People participate more thoughtfully when they understand why they are doing it and what to expect. Address the anonymity question head-on, because it is always the first thing people ask about.
Week 2: Feedback Collection (Days 8 to 18)
This is the longest phase, and it needs to be. Give reviewers at least ten days to complete their feedback. Rushing this window leads to shallow, last-minute responses.
Day 8: Launch the review. Send each reviewer their assignments with a clear deadline. If you are using a platform like Culture Wheel, this is automated. If you are running things manually, a spreadsheet tracker and calendar reminders are essential.
Day 11: First reminder. Send a gentle nudge to anyone who has not started. At this point, you typically see about 40 to 50 percent completion.
Day 15: Second reminder. This one should be more direct. Call out the deadline and mention that late submissions may not be included in the final report. Completion should be at 70 to 80 percent by now.
Day 18: Deadline. Close the feedback collection window. Do not extend it unless you have a strong reason. Extending deadlines signals that the process is not a priority, and it delays everything downstream.
Target a completion rate of 85 percent or higher. If you consistently fall below that, the issue is usually one of three things: too many reviewers assigned per person, unclear communication about the purpose, or a review form that takes too long to fill out.
Week 3: Report Compilation and Manager Prep (Days 19 to 25)
Days 19 to 21: Compile the reports. Aggregate feedback into individual reports. Each report should include average ratings, a summary of themes across all reviewers, and selected quotes from open-ended responses (with identifying details removed to protect anonymity). If you are using a dedicated tool, this step is automatic. If you are doing it manually, budget a full day for a team of 20 people.
Days 22 to 25: Manager review and preparation. Share reports with managers before the debrief conversations. Give managers at least three days to read through the feedback, identify the two or three most important themes, and prepare talking points. Managers should walk into debrief conversations with a plan, not read the report for the first time in front of the employee.
During this window, it helps to offer a 30-minute calibration meeting with managers, especially if this is your first 360 cycle. Walk through how to interpret the data, how to handle surprising results, and how to frame growth areas constructively.
Week 4: Debrief Conversations (Days 26 to 30)
Days 26 to 30: One-on-one debriefs. Each manager meets with their direct reports to discuss the 360 results. These conversations should last 45 to 60 minutes and follow a simple structure:
- Start with strengths. Share the top themes from positive feedback. Be specific about what reviewers valued.
- Discuss growth areas. Present the patterns, not individual quotes that could be traced back to specific reviewers. Focus on the themes that appeared across multiple responses.
- Set two to three development goals. Work together to identify concrete next steps based on the feedback. Write these down and revisit them in future one-on-ones.
- Ask for the employee's reaction. Give them space to process, ask questions, and share their perspective.
Tips for a Smooth Cycle
Protect anonymity aggressively. If only two people provided feedback for someone, do not release the report. The sample is too small to prevent identification. A minimum of three reviewers is the standard threshold.
Do not skip the self-review. Having employees rate themselves on the same questions creates a powerful comparison point. The gap between self-perception and peer perception is often where the most valuable insights live.
Keep your first cycle simple. If this is your first 360, resist the urge to include every question you can think of. A shorter, tighter process that runs smoothly builds trust for future cycles. You can always add complexity later.
Use a purpose-built tool. Running a 360 cycle through spreadsheets and email is doable for five people. At 15 or more, the manual overhead becomes a real problem. Platforms like Culture Wheel automate reviewer assignments, reminders, report generation, and anonymity protection, which lets you focus on the conversations instead of the logistics.
Thirty days is enough time to run a thorough, high-quality 360 review cycle. The key is clear communication, realistic timelines, and a commitment to keeping the process moving. Once your team has been through one cycle, the second one runs itself.