The Best Examples of Positive Feedback in 360-Degree Reviews

Strong examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews (by role)

Let’s start with what most people really want: ready-to-use wording. These examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews are written so you can drop them into a form and lightly customize them.

Positive feedback for peers and coworkers

When giving feedback to peers, you’re usually commenting on collaboration, reliability, and day-to-day behavior.

Collaboration and teamwork
Instead of: “Great team player.”
Try:

“I consistently see Jordan step in to help teammates when workloads spike, without needing to be asked. For example, during the Q3 launch, Jordan took on extra testing tasks so others could focus on client communication. That kind of ownership and flexibility makes projects run more smoothly and builds trust across the team.”

Why this works: It names a specific project, describes observable behavior, and connects it to impact.

Communication and transparency

“Aisha communicates clearly and early. When timelines shift, she updates stakeholders right away and offers options instead of excuses. During the recent product delay, her proactive updates kept the client calm and confident, which helped preserve the relationship.”

This is a simple example of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews that highlights a real situation and outcome.

Supportive behavior and psychological safety

“When conflicts arise, Miguel listens first and asks thoughtful questions before responding. In our weekly standups, he makes space for quieter teammates by inviting their input. This behavior creates a safer environment where people feel comfortable sharing challenges and ideas.”

This kind of feedback aligns with current research on psychological safety and performance in teams (see Google’s Project Aristotle summary via re:Work).

Positive feedback for direct reports

For direct reports, you’re often balancing praise with development, but let’s focus on the positive side that many managers underuse.

Ownership and accountability

“Over the last six months, Priya has taken full ownership of the onboarding process. She noticed new hires were overwhelmed by day three and independently proposed a staggered schedule. As a result, new-hire satisfaction scores improved from 3.6 to 4.4 on our internal survey. I appreciate that she doesn’t just see problems—she designs and tests solutions.”

This is one of the best examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews because it combines initiative, data, and impact.

Growth and learning mindset

“Since our midyear check-in, Malik has actively sought feedback and applied it. After hearing that his presentations felt rushed, he started sending agendas in advance and building in Q&A time. The last two client presentations earned specific praise for clarity and pacing.”

Notice how this example shows change over time, not just a one-off win.

Leadership potential (even without a formal title)

“Although she doesn’t manage people directly, Elena consistently demonstrates informal leadership. She organizes working sessions when projects stall, clarifies goals, and helps the group make decisions. New team members often go to her first with questions because she’s approachable and knowledgeable.”

Feedback like this can support promotion cases and talent planning.

Positive feedback for managers and leaders

Upward feedback can feel risky, but specific positive comments are powerful. They reinforce what’s working and encourage leaders to keep doing it.

Clarity and direction

“You’re very clear about priorities and tradeoffs. At the start of each quarter, you explain not just what we’re doing but why it matters to the business. That context helps me make better decisions day to day and feel more connected to our goals.”

Coaching and development

“You make time for development conversations, not just status updates. In our 1:1s, you ask about my long-term goals and suggest concrete steps, like leading the Q2 workshop to build my facilitation skills. That support has made me more confident taking on visible projects.”

Inclusive leadership

“You actively invite different perspectives in meetings and don’t punish disagreement. When I challenged the proposed timeline last month, you thanked me for raising a risk instead of dismissing it. That response made it easier for others to speak up about potential issues.”

These examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews reinforce behaviors linked to better engagement and retention, which are ongoing priorities in 2024–2025 according to research from organizations like Gallup.

Behavioral examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews

Vague praise doesn’t help anyone. Behavioral feedback focuses on what the person did, not who they are.

Here are some behavior-based examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews, grouped by theme.

Problem-solving and innovation

“During the warehouse system outage, Sam quickly mapped out a manual process so orders could still be fulfilled. He coordinated with operations and customer support to minimize delays. His calm, structured response under pressure helped us avoid missing our daily shipping targets.”

“Leah regularly suggests small process improvements that save time. Her idea to standardize report templates cut our monthly reporting time by about 20%, based on our own time-tracking data.”

These examples include context, action, and measurable or observable results.

Reliability and follow-through

“I know I can count on Carlos to meet commitments. If a deadline is at risk, he flags it early and proposes options. In the last year, every project we’ve worked on together has hit its agreed timeline, in part because of his planning and communication.”

“When our team lead was out unexpectedly, Dana quietly stepped in to coordinate tasks and keep things moving. She didn’t wait to be asked; she checked in with each person, clarified priorities, and ensured nothing slipped through the cracks.”

Relationship-building and stakeholder management

“Clients trust Maya because she’s honest and responsive. When we couldn’t meet a requested feature, she explained the constraints clearly and offered alternatives instead of overpromising. The client specifically called out her transparency in their follow-up survey.”

“Internally, Andre builds bridges between teams. He regularly connects engineering and support so customer feedback is heard and acted on. This has helped us reduce repeat support tickets on several issues.”

These behavioral examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews show how people work, not just that they are “good” or “nice.”

How to write your own examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews

You don’t need to be a writer to give strong feedback. You just need a simple structure.

A reliable approach is the Situation–Behavior–Impact (SBI) model, used widely in leadership training (you can find a description from organizations like the Center for Creative Leadership).

Think of it as three short parts:

• Situation: When/where it happened
• Behavior: What the person actually did or said
• Impact: What changed because of it (on people, results, or you)

Here’s how that looks in practice.

Instead of:

“Taylor is very helpful.”

Try:

“During the busy season in December (situation), Taylor stayed late three times to help newer team members finish their orders and double-check accuracy (behavior). This prevented shipping errors and helped the new hires feel supported rather than overwhelmed (impact).”

You can turn almost any compliment into a strong example of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews by walking through those three steps.

Quick prompts to spark your own examples

If you’re stuck, ask yourself:

• When did this person make my job easier?
• When did they handle something better than most people would?
• When did they show growth compared to last year?
• When did someone else praise them (a client, another team, leadership)?

Each answer is a seed for a specific, believable example.

2024–2025 trends shaping positive feedback in 360 reviews

The way organizations use 360 feedback is changing. If you want your comments to feel current, it helps to understand the broader context.

Shift toward strengths-based feedback

Research from positive psychology and workplace studies shows that building on strengths can drive performance and engagement. Many companies are moving away from “only fix what’s wrong” and toward “amplify what works.”

That means your examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews are not just nice-to-have—they’re a core part of how people grow.

Strengths-based feedback might sound like:

“One of your standout strengths is simplifying complex information. In our Q1 town hall, you turned a dense technical roadmap into three clear points the whole team could remember. This helps everyone stay aligned and reduces confusion.”

Focus on well-being and sustainable performance

Post-2020, many organizations are paying more attention to burnout, workload, and well-being. Leaders are expected to support healthy performance, not just high performance.

Positive feedback can highlight behaviors that protect well-being, such as:

“You model healthy boundaries by taking your time off and encouraging us to do the same. When I mentioned feeling overloaded, you helped me reprioritize instead of just pushing harder. That made it easier for me to speak up early and avoid burnout.”

Institutions like the NIH and CDC have emphasized workplace well-being as a key part of long-term health, and performance systems are slowly catching up.

Emphasis on fairness and bias awareness

More organizations are training employees to recognize bias in performance reviews. When you write examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews, being specific and behavior-focused reduces the risk of vague, personality-based judgments that may be influenced by bias.

Good:

“In cross-functional meetings, you summarize different points of view and propose a path forward.”

Less helpful:

“You just have great executive presence.”

The first example is observable and fairer to people with different backgrounds and communication styles.

Putting it together: sample 360 feedback comments you can adapt

Here are a few more complete, ready-to-use comments that show how all of this fits together.

Cross-functional collaborator

“Over the past year, I’ve seen you become a key connector between marketing and product. You regularly share customer insights from campaigns that influence our roadmap, and you’re quick to loop in the right people instead of working in a silo. This collaboration has led to more targeted features and fewer last-minute surprises before launch.”

Calm under pressure

“During the incident on March 12, when our main system went down, you stayed calm and organized. You quickly assigned roles, kept communication channels clear, and provided brief status updates every 15 minutes. Your steady presence helped the team focus on solutions instead of panicking, and we restored service faster than our previous outage.”

Mentor and role model

“New hires consistently mention you as someone who helped them ramp up quickly. You take time to explain not just how we do things, but why. You also share your own mistakes openly, which makes it easier for them to ask questions. This mentoring has contributed to faster onboarding and a stronger sense of belonging on the team.”

Data-informed decision-maker

“You rarely make decisions based on gut alone. Before recommending we pause the campaign, you pulled performance data, customer feedback, and cost projections. Presenting those clearly made it easy for leadership to agree and saved budget we could reallocate to better-performing channels.”

Each of these is a concrete example of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews that someone could actually recognize themselves in.

FAQ: Writing examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews

How many examples of positive feedback should I include in a 360 review?
Aim for two to four solid examples, depending on how closely you work with the person. One strong, specific example is better than several vague ones, but having multiple examples shows patterns, not just one-off moments.

What’s an example of positive feedback that’s short but still helpful?

“You consistently come prepared to meetings with data and clear questions. This helps our group make decisions faster and stay focused.”
It’s brief, but it names a behavior and impact.

Can I give positive feedback even if I also have concerns?
Yes—and you should. Balanced 360 feedback includes both strengths and growth areas. Start with specific examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews to show what’s working, then share a small number of focused improvement suggestions. This makes it more likely the person will be open to hearing the constructive parts.

How specific should my examples of positive feedback be?
Specific enough that the person could remember the situation or recognize the pattern. Mention projects, time frames, or recurring behaviors. If your comment could apply to half the team, it’s probably too generic.

What if I can’t think of any real examples?
That’s a signal to narrow the scope. Think about a particular month, project, or meeting instead of “the whole year.” If you truly have no examples, keep your comments minimal and honest rather than making things up. Over time, try noting positive moments as they happen so you’re not relying on memory at review time.

If you use even a handful of these examples of positive feedback in 360-degree reviews as templates—and pair them with your own real stories—you’ll give people something far more valuable than “great job.” You’ll give them a clear mirror of what they’re doing well, and a reason to keep doing it.