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How are 360° feedback scores calculated? The Competency Matrix on your 360° feedback dashboard summarises a lot of individual ratings in just a few numbers. This article explains exactly what those numbers mean — how Ø External and σ Deviation are computed, what the ring around a cell stands for, and how anonymity affects the figures you see. An example Competency Matrix. The Self-assessment , Manager , Peers and Direct reports columns each carry one cell per row. Ø External and σ Deviation summarise the row. The ”– ” cell in Leadership / Direct reports is anonymity-restricted; that row’s σ Deviation is therefore also ”– ”. Rings around cells (Communication / Peers , Leadership / Peers , Delegation / Peers) indicate within-group deviation. The yellow banner appears whenever any cell is restricted.
  • All scores in the matrix are shown on the questionnaire’s scale (for example 1–5 or 1–10) and rounded to one decimal place.
  • Ø External never includes your Self-assessment.
  • σ Deviation is intentionally hidden whenever a perspective in that row is anonymity-restricted, so you never see a deviation calculated from an incomplete picture.
  • Within-group deviation (the ring around a cell) is only calculated once a perspective has at least 6 distinct raters.
From individual responses to a cell value Each cell in the matrix represents one dimension (a competency) seen from one perspective (Self-assessment , Manager , Peers or Direct reports). To compute it, Honestly:
  1. Takes every response from that perspective to a question that belongs to the dimension.
  2. Converts each response to a value on the questionnaire’s scale. This step makes different question types — stars, smileys, NPS, ranked select — comparable.
  3. Averages those values.
  4. Rounds to one decimal place.
If anonymity removes a question (see below), only the remaining questions in the dimension are used. If anonymity removes every question of the dimension for that perspective, the cell stays blank. Ø External — your overall external assessment Ø External is the arithmetic mean of the perspective averages , with your Self-assessment excluded. Ø External = average of ( Manager score, Peers score, Direct reports score ) Two things are worth knowing about this number:
  • Perspective groups count equally. A peer group of ten people contributes one number to Ø External , the same as a single manager. The cell value for each perspective has already averaged out the individual raters before it reaches this step.
  • Anonymity-restricted perspectives are simply skipped. If, say, the Direct reports perspective falls below its anonymity threshold, Ø External is the mean of Manager and Peers only.
If no external perspective has a score, Ø External is blank for that row. σ Deviation — how consistently you are perceived σ Deviation measures how far apart the perspective scores in that row are. It is the standard deviation of all perspective scores , including your Self-assessment. The figure is shown next to one of three labels: On a 1–5 scale (range 4) this means: Low when σ ≤ 0.4, High when σ > 0.8. On a 1–10 scale (range 9): Low when σ ≤ 0.9, High when σ > 1.8. σ Deviation is intentionally left blank when:
  • Fewer than two perspectives have a score in that row, or
  • Any perspective in that row is anonymity-restricted — even if the other three would be available. A deviation calculated from a partial set of perspectives would be misleading, so Honestly does not show one.
A High deviation is not automatically a problem; it simply tells you that different groups see you differently and that the row is worth a closer look. The ring around a cell — agreement within the perspective While σ Deviation compares perspectives against each other, the ring around a cell tells you how much the raters inside one perspective disagreed with each other.
  • The ring only appears when that perspective has at least 6 distinct raters. Below that, no ring is shown — not because everyone agreed, but because the group is too small for a reliable spread.
  • The exact mean, the response count and the within-group deviation are shown in the cell’s tooltip.
How anonymity affects the numbers Anonymity is enforced per perspective, per question , by comparing the number of distinct raters to that perspective’s threshold. The effects cascade through the matrix: The rule of thumb: anonymity blanks a value, it never substitutes one. Related articles If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.