How we measure this

Why we ask other people

Most of us can describe our own work well. We're less sure how it comes across. Asking several people who work with you, and setting their view beside your own, is called multi-rater or 360 feedback. It's useful because the two views rarely match exactly, and the places they differ are where there's something to learn.

One person's opinion can be a mood or a grudge. Several people's views, pooled, are steadier. That's why you need at least 3 people before you see anything.

What we ask: behaviours, not traits

Every question describes something a colleague can actually see, and asks how often it happens. "How often does Sam explain things clearly?" is easier to answer honestly than "Is Sam a good communicator?", and easier to practise. There are 20 behaviours across 5 skills.

• Communication

  Getting ideas across clearly and making sure others feel heard.

  Explaining clearly · Listening · Speaking up · Written updates

• Collaboration

  Being someone others can rely on and want to work with.

  Following through · Working across teams · Making it safe to speak · Handling disagreement

• Influence

  Winning support for ideas and building trust beyond your own team.

  Making the case · Building relationships · Reading the room · Earning trust

• Leadership

  Taking ownership, setting direction and helping others grow, with or without a title.

  Taking ownership · Helping others grow · Setting direction · Making decisions

• Adaptability

  Staying steady through change and turning feedback into growth.

  Staying composed · Embracing change · Seeking feedback · Learning from mistakes

The scale: 1 to 7, how often

Every point has a name, so one person's "Often" means what another's does:

1. 1Almost never
2. 2Rarely
3. 3Sometimes
4. 4About half the time
5. 5Often
6. 6Usually
7. 7Almost always

People answering about you can also say "I haven't seen this". We leave those out of every average, because a guess helps nobody.

Why your view and theirs can differ

A difference isn't a verdict. If others rate a skill higher than you do, you may have a strength you don't give yourself credit for. If you rate it higher than they do, they may not have seen it yet, which is something you can change. Either way, the gap is where to look first.

How the numbers are worked out

• Each person's answers are averaged for a skill, then those averages are averaged, so everyone counts the same however many behaviours they could rate.
• Nothing shows until at least 3 people have answered, and a skill that fewer than 3 people have seen shows nothing.
• Results move in steps, at 3, 5, 8, 12, 16 and 20 people, never because one more person answered. That way nobody can work out how one person rated you.
• Your own answers are kept apart from theirs. Only pooled results are ever shown, and written comments only appear as short themes that two or more people share.

More about privacy is in the help pages.

Where the five skills come from

We left out skills like analysis or problem solving: they're better judged from work than by colleagues. What's left is how you work with others, drawn from research on what derails careers, what employers say matters most, what great managers and teams do, and what predicts promotion in multi-rater ratings.

• Why managers derail (Center for Creative Leadership research, summarised)
• World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025: the skills outlook
• Google's Project Oxygen: what its best managers do
• Google's Project Aristotle: what makes teams work
• Stumpf (2007): multi-rater competencies and promotion to partner