Avoid The 4 Common 360 Feedback Mistakes
Employee Management Articles
Submit Articles Back to Articles
Even people with rhino hide for skin get nervous opening their
360 degree feedback report. Everyone you work with has rated you on
your behavior, skills and experience. Everyone. There's no
place to run to and no place to hide.
Warts and All
Your boss tells you what they think of you. Your team tells you
what they think of you. Your colleagues and customers tell you
exactly what they think of you. And then you have to figure out
what you think of yourself. Sheesh - feedback overload!
What's hot and what's not
360 degree feedback can be useful. At its simplest, you do more
of what people like, and do less of what they don't like.
360 degree reports usually give a detailed numerical analysis
your strengths and development opportunities. But the analysis is
only as good as the information going in at the front end.
Give as good as you get
Avoid the 4 common 360 degree feedback mistakes in your feedback
and be ready to spot it in feedback to you.
Being Nice
If you don't want to offend, then don't give bad ratings! But you'll continue to get reports late, be missed of distribution lists
or talked over in meetings. Honest feedback is the best gift you
can give someone. I bet you'd rather you were told than continue to
do something badly?
Bland Central
You may be asked to give feedback on someone you dont know well
or deal with infrequently. Avoid giving bland, middle of the road
ratings and consider skipping the questions you cant answer or
comment on. Bland feedback is the equivalent of a matching socks
and handkerchief gift set.
Shining Halo
Its natural for work mates to become personal friend and this
can put a rosy glow over feedback. Focus on each question
individually and think about specific work related examples to
justify ratings.
Straight for the Jugular
When you feel the need to draw blood with spiky harsh feedback,
think again. Those surveys are not always completely anonymous it
could come back to bite you. Limit yourself to harsh feedback on
the one or two behaviors that need to change. And why did you have
to wait until the survey to get the knife out? How about tackling
the problem behaviors closer to when it happened?
You can enjoy 360 degree feedback
Okay, so maybe Im stretching credibility by suggesting 360
degree feedback can be fun. But it can be useful. Make opening your
next feedback report a less trepidations experience by taking heed
of the 4 common 360 degree feedback mistakes and avoiding them.
And it will be better, I promise!
About the Author
Lyndsay Swinton is an experienced team leader, people manager
and business coach. Her website is www.mftrou.com - 'Management for the
rest of us'. Subscribe to her free no-nonsense Management
Tips newsletter at mftrou.com today.
Follow us @Scopulus_News
Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2006-06-06 21:12:17 in Employee Articles
