At Leapsome, we make a clear distinction between ongoing feedback and (performance) assessments (most importantly, ongoing feedback is only visible to the receiver).
A key element to that distinction is the scale of your structured feedback. While you can use open-ended questions, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-point scales in your 360° and performance assessments, the ongoing feedback uses a gamified, continuous scale that ranges from 'Needs some improvement' up to 'Clearly above expectations'.
Here's why:
- During countless user tests and experiments, we have discovered that users give each other a lot more feedback if they don't have to tie it to a strict, sometimes even harsh label (such as 'Basic knowledge', or 'Expert'). We can, therefore, work with a lot more data points for each user.
- Not only does it generate more feedback, but the feedback itself is also more diverse. That means that users get both positive and constructive feedback. Using a discrete scale, we found that users tend to give each other only positive feedback. At the same time, a continuous scale generates a higher statistical variance (internally, it represents a 100-point scale) - even small differences can generate valuable insights that can be analyzed by our platform.
- Last but not least, using a gamified approach for our ongoing feedback creates a clearer distinction between ongoing feedback and performance assessments. When getting feedback, users should not have the impression that they are 'evaluated' but rather supported in their learning journey.