In this article the Reformed Manager tells a story about how coaching and 360 Degree feedback can have the effect of making people aware that they are not in the right job or role, and how that realisation can turn out to be a turning point for them.
Sometimes 360 Degree Feedback and coaching can bring difficult messages out into the open. Although it’s uncomfortable, we need to listen to those messages and do what’s best for the person and the organisation.
And sometimes what’s best can be for that person to move to a different role or a different department, or even a different organisation. I’ve had experience of coaching people and working with their feedback which ultimately led them to change careers!
But rather than fear this, organisations should accept it and use 360 Degree Feedback and other tools to ensure that the best people for the job are doing that job. Unhappy unfulfilled employees don’t do themselves or their employer any good at all.
On the subject of performance review and appraisal, giving regular feedback to your team, colleagues and boss is a great, easy way of improving everyone's performance and building good work relationships. Here's a link through to how giving rapid feedback can really help performance.
Here's a quick thought from my UK Training Zone 360 Degree Feedback group discussion on the dreaded 'Can I give you some feedback' question....
Tim Wright's article Why Feedback Matters to Employee Engagement talks about how successful feedback increases communication in the organisation and helps employees to feel involved.
I would agree, and add that, for Feedback to be really effective:
- The content needs to be right i.e. what are we asking and what exactly is the feedback telling us
- The way it's positioned is cricital, i.e. it's not just another thing that HR want us to do, but something that is going to be takent notice of will make change happen
The bigger message from individual or group feedback is that you are valued as an employee and that the organisation cares about talking to you and listening to you.
Of course, don't do what some people (and organisations) do and scupper that great message by asking for feedback and then
1. Disagreeing with it ("yes, but there's an reason why I/we do it like that..")
2. Listening but not hearing ("thanks for the feedback", then nothing apparently changes)
3. Using the feedback as a stick to beat people up with, or
4. Only hearing and acting on the negative stuff - positive feedback is just as important..we can always do more of the good stuff!
The Struggling Manager says: 'How do you succeed with 360 degree reviews? Easy. Never do them'.....Here's my response...
Hi Stuggling Manager
Great article. I love it so much that I've tagged it and linked to it from my blog. It's great (and I'm not being ironic) because it says everything that people say who don't like 360 Degree Feedback, or who've had a bad experience with 360, or whose organisation does 360 very badly. All of which are valid points of view.
Can I ask you a couple of questions though...?
- Who told you that 360 is a scientific survey? Whoever they were, they lied! As a 360 practitioner I can tell you that 360 is a subjective, observational exercise, not a scientific measurement or a personality test.The idea is that you get some observations, on the same behaviours, from a number of different people. If you start hearing the same message from a number of different people, it might be worth taking some notice...
- As you say, asking someone 'what kind of a manager' John is, is completely unhelpful. Of course you're going to get unfocused generalisations and opinions based on people's theories about personality. That's why good 360 doesn't ask you those kinds of questions.
- "Criticism never is useful"..Really?! Have you never heard something about yourself from a friend or family member that made you do something different?
- How much politicking have you seen around 360? OK, there could be some, but do people really have the time to manipulate feedback to such an extent as to make a difference? In my experience this is rare- of course if you use 360 to determine salaries and promotions that might be the case, but you really shouldn't use it to do that - very dangerous.
- I so agree with you about jargon, 'thinking out of the box' and the rest of it. That's why 360 questions have to be worded clearly, focus on actual, observable behaviours, and not woolly or managment-speak. As well as structured questions, a good 360 will also have a section that allows you to give some clear behavioural feedback, just like your great examples. We use, for example, things you would like your colleague to start, stop and continue doing.
- "360 degree reviews exist only because effective management is not there to fill the void". What kind of managers have you had, Struggling Manager? And yes, managers should be giving you feedback, but what about all the other people you work with? Don't you think that they might be able to give you some helpful insights too, that they might prefer not to tell you face to face (e.g. tells jokes when others are starting to appear frustrated)?
You see I think when you say 360 feedback, you really mean bad 360 feedback. Am I right? Hope to hear from you!
Very best regards
Jo
In this article the writer talks about the gift of feedback and its benefits.
I agree, and would add:
"You heard. You listened. You said Thanks. You responded - you did something differently". Saying thanks and acknowledging feedback from a colleague means that you have listened to what they've said, and that you value the feedback. It helps build your relationship with that colleague and encourages them to come to you with more great feedback in the future.
But actually doing something differently, based on what that person said, is an even better way to get more feedback in the future and improve your performance as you go along!
For an individual, receiving feedback from a number of different people and levels in the organisation is fairer than being subject to just one person’s judgement.
Therefore 360 Degree Feedback:
- Provides a formal structure for the natural observation process
- Helps to ensure that everyone involved is being judged on the same criteria
- Encourages and supports open discussion between employees, their managers and their colleagues
- Identifies areas of strength, and areas for growth and development
- Increases self-awareness and insight
- Develops people’s observation and feedback skills
- Counterbalances pure results based performance – it helps with the discussion around what gets done, but also how it gets done
- Encourages a culture where giving and receiving feedback is the norm
Next time: when, and when not, to use 360 Degree Feedback
This month I thought I would go back to some basic information about 360 Degree Feedback, what it does, how it works, when to use it (and when not to!). Here goes!
- 360 Degree Feedback, also known as multi-level or multi-source feedback, is a process whereby feedback on an individual’s behaviour and effectiveness is obtained, in a structured way, from a number of colleagues with whom that individual has worked, and with whom they have different working relationships. The people providing feedback to an individual can include:
- direct reports (people who report directly to that person, still called 'subordinates' in some organisations)
- peers (people at the same level in the organisation to the person receiving the feedback, or who have similar roles)
- managers (people to whom the individual reports, formally or otherwise, still referred to as a 'boss' in some organisations
- customers
- suppliers
- coaches/mentors
Feedback is provided on a consistent set of criteria through responding to a set of statements or questions, generally using a rating scale, for example:"Person displays this behaviour"
- Always
- Frequently
- Sometimes
- Never
There is also an opportunity to provide free-style comments and examples to support the ratings given. Normally, the individual also completes a Self-review which allows them to reflect on, and assess, their own performance by responding to the same statements or questions as the people giving them feedback. Statements or questions are normally related to key behaviours and skills which are valued in the organisation. 360 Degree Feedback is not an opinion survey – it should be based on observable behaviours and concrete examples and as such can be a valuable tool. However, ultimately it is still a subjective exercise and needs to be used accordingly. It is not a psychometric test.
Next in this series: The benefits of 360 Degree Feedback
In this article, Why Do We Feel Better if the Wording is Changed?, the writer discusses ways of making 360 Degree Feedback more positive and acceptable to those receiving the feedback (and, I daresay, to those giving it).
I agree that small changes in wording can make a big difference to givers and receivers of 360 Feedback. Words are incredibly powerful and, as he/she has pointed out, can make us feel different on an emotional level, even if we know what the message is really saying.
At Track we've found that asking respondents to state
- Things you'd like your colleague to Start Doing
- Things you'd like your colleague to Stop Doing, and
- Things you'd like your colleague to Continue Doing
is a great way to help respondents to focus on specific behaviours, ensure they balance the negative with positive (Stop and Continue), and also provide signposts or suggestions for change (Start).
In this article, 360 Degree Feedback and Forced Ranking, the author states that 360 Degree Feedback should only be a minor part, if at all, of the Performance Appraisal process, and argues for Forced Ranking as the main tool that should be used.
Certainly, I agree that 360 Degree Feedback on its own should not be used to provide Performance Appraisal, and that anonymous comments must be used very carefully in either performance or development discussions. Line manager appraisal, forced ranking and balanced scorecards are all key tools, along with 360, that should be used as part of the Performance Appraisal package.
However, 360 Degree Feedback has a major role in:
- Helping people to become aware of the effect of their behaviours and management styles on their colleagues and teams. Reseach has shown that, the more senior people rise in an organisation, the less likely they are to receive honest, constructive feedback. Self-awareness is the first step in making conscious changes in behaviours.
- Providing a wider view of the employee's performance than just that of his/her line manager. After all, line manager feedback can be just as biased as feedback from other colleagues.
- Feeding an additional layer of information to the organisation about overall skill levels (good 360 is based on example-based observation of specific behaviours).