The data from multiple-choice questionnaires are the most straightforward to collect and process, because the response scales are standardized. Such scales also have the benefit of allowing the generation of composite and normative data.

Many organizations choose to send the questionnaires to outside consultants for administration and processing. Having feedback data processed by a third party, which usually involves computerized generation of reports, also enables participants to receive the normative and composite data discussed previously.

Written comments provide the recipient with much richer, more descriptive data than straight numerical ratings. Written comments, however, can compromise respondents’ anonymity by making it easier for a recipient to identify who said what, based on what the comment is about or how it is worded. In addition, when the open-ended data are combined with questionnaire data in a feedback report, some training and development professionals believe that recipients may tend to focus only on one or two written comments, while ignoring the message of the quantitative data.

How often should you gather feedback? We asked a cross-industry group of HR professionals how often they re-administer a 360 survey to the same population. Forty-five percent said they re-administer the surveys every twelve months, 33 percent between six and nine months, 12 percent said they did it every eighteen to twenty-four months, and only 10 percent said they never re-administer a survey. These findings trend to support our own position. In general, implementing the process with your target population about once a year will enable them to benchmark results and gauge their ongoing progress. If the feedback is being used as part of a professional development plan for individual managers, however, you may want to conduct the process in a time frame that is consistent with the managers’ strategies for change. And naturally, if the feedback is being linked to performance reviews, the data collection should be scheduled so that results can be incorporated into the appraisals.