How do I create and set up a 360° feedback run?

Creating a 360° feedback run walks you through a short wizard. You move through nine tabs, save as you go, and the run stays in Draft status until you schedule it. Until then, nothing is sent and every setting can still be changed.

Please note:

• Only admins can create and edit feedback runs.

• A 360° dashboard is created automatically when the run is activated.

• Once a run is scheduled or active, most settings are locked. See How do I schedule a run and what can I still change once it is active?.

Step 1: Create the run

1. In the main navigation, click 360° Feedback.

2. Click Create Run.

3. Enter a Name — for example "360° Leadership Feedback Q1 2026" — and

   click Create.

You land in the wizard, starting on the Details tab. The run status Draft is shown next to the title. Use Save & Continue at the top right to move through the wizard.

Step 2: Details

Fill in the basics:

• Name — Used throughout the product and in emails. It must be unique.

• Welcome message (optional) — Shown to reviewers when they start the survey. Leave blank to use the default text.

• Goodbye message (optional) — Shown to reviewers after they submit. Leave blank to use the default text.

Click Save & Continue.

Step 3: Survey Type

Choose how many perspectives should give feedback:

• 90° — Manager only. One-sided view, easy to implement.

• 180° — Self + Manager. Compares self-perception with the manager's view.

• 270° — Self + Manager + Direct Reports. Multi-level leadership view.

• 360° — Self + Manager + Peers + Direct Reports. The most comprehensive format.

Once you pick a type, the default perspectives are pre-selected below. You can still toggle individual perspectives on or off if your process deviates from the standard. At least one perspective must be active.

If you switch perspectives off after already assigning reviewers, saving will remove the affected reviewers. A confirmation warning is shown before this happens.

Step 4: Questions

Choose where the questionnaire comes from:

• Template — Start from one of the science-based questionnaires provided by Honestly. You can still edit every question afterwards.

• Create manually — Build the questionnaire from scratch.

Each question can be one of:

• Scale Question — Rate a competency or statement on a graduated scale (e.g. 1–5).

• Open Question — Allow reviewers to give qualitative comments in their own words.

• Text block — A non-interactive text area to introduce or explain a section. It does not produce an answer.

For each scale question you can set a dimension (e.g. Communication, Leadership). This groups comparable questions in the dashboard.

Please note:

• All scale questions must be assigned a dimension before you can schedule the run. A warning appears in the Schedule tab if any are missing.

• Avoid mixing different rating scales in one questionnaire — a warning is shown if you do, because it limits comparability in the dashboard.

• Questions can no longer be edited once the run is scheduled or active.

Step 5: Feedback Recipients

On the Feedback Recipients tab you choose who the feedback is for. A separate survey is created for each recipient.

You can add recipients in two ways:

• By attribute — Select one or more attribute values on the left (for example Department = Sales). Every matching employee is added.

• By individual search — Search for employees by name and add them one by one.

Selected recipients appear in the Feedback Recipients list on the right, where you can remove individuals or clear the list with Remove All.

Step 6: Reviewers

The Reviewers tab lets you configure, for each recipient, who will give feedback and in which perspective.

• Click a recipient to edit their reviewer list.

• Reviewers are grouped per perspective — Self, Manager, Peers, Reports — depending on which perspectives are active.

Automatic suggestions from your org structure

When you add a recipient on the Feedback Recipients tab, Honestly pre-fills their reviewer list using the reports-to relationships in your employee data. You don't need to start from a blank list.

For every newly added recipient, the following reviewers are suggested:

Auto-assignment happens only once per recipient — when they are first added to the run. Edits you make afterwards (adding more people or removing suggestions) are preserved.

Please note:

• Suggestions rely on the reports-to relationship (reports_to_id / import_id) being maintained in your employee data. If a recipient has no manager on file, the Manager perspective starts empty. If no one reports to them, the Reports perspective starts empty.

• Direct Reports and Peers are capped at 2 suggestions each — this is a starting point, not a complete list. Review every recipient and add more reviewers where appropriate.

• The recipient is never suggested as their own manager, peer, or report.

Refining the list

For every perspective you can still:

• Add more reviewers. Search for employees by name and add them.

• Remove suggestions. Click the remove icon next to any reviewer, including auto-assigned ones, if they shouldn't give feedback for this recipient.

The Self-Assessment reviewer (the recipient themselves) is marked Automatically assigned and cannot be replaced — self-assessment is always given by the recipient.

You can see at a glance how many reviewers each recipient has per perspective directly in the recipient list, which helps you spot recipients that still need attention after the automatic suggestions.

Step 7: Anonymity

Set the minimum number of responses required per perspective before results are shown in the dashboard. This tab has its own article: How does anonymity work in 360° Feedback?

Step 8: Permissions

Decide who — beyond admins and the recipient — can see the results. By default only admins and the recipient see their results; you can optionally grant direct managers access to their reports' results. See Who can see the results of a 360° feedback run?.

Step 9: Notifications

Customise the subject line and body of the initial email reviewers and recipients receive when the run becomes active. See How do I configure notification emails?.

Step 10: Schedule

On the last tab you see a full summary of the run (number of recipients, number of reviewers, anonymity thresholds) and set:

• Activation date and time — When invitations are sent and the run becomes Active.

• Deactivation date and time — When the run closes and becomes Completed.

Click Save & Schedule. A confirmation dialog confirms the activation date and lets you know that a 360° dashboard has been created automatically.

Please note:

• You can only schedule a run that has at least one recipient, a questionnaire, and dimensions on all quantitative questions.

• Up until the activation date, you can still come back and adjust a few low-risk settings. Most settings, however, become read-only once the run is scheduled.

Saving and unsaved changes

Each tab has its own save. If you try to move to another tab with unsaved changes, Honestly asks whether to Save & Continue or Discard changes. Trying to leave the page with unsaved changes shows a browser warning.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.