about 360 Feedback
A 360-degree feedback review is designed to gather anonymous feedback about an employee from the people working most closely with him or her—including direct reports (in the case of managers & supervisors), peers, and managers. In this regard, it isn’t a typical performance review.
During a 360-degree review, a team member can expect to receive feedback from all angles. Supervisors, direct reports, and peers will all chip in with their views on that person’s skills, behavior, and impact on the rest of the team.
It’s a completely different way to approach the traditional performance review, in which the manager alone tells the team member how well they’re doing their job.
360 feedback doesn’t actually focus on performance, but rather on all aspects that can be attributed to an employee’s behavior. In this way, it can help the person improve their interactions, their communication, and in the end, their job performance.
Since it’s done anonymously, it can be a great way to find out about your ‘blind spots’ (the differences between how you perceive yourself vs. how others perceive you) without adding strain to your professional relationships. Maybe the silly jokes you feel embarrassed about making every now and then are actually helping others go through their day with a smile on their faces.
And that is exactly the point of a 360 review: You learn things about yourself that you would never have discovered otherwise.
Why is 360 feedback important?
360 reviews can be a very powerful tool to help employees develop and grow–as long as the reviews are constructive and employees are willing to incorporate the feedback they get.
Some 90% of Fortune 500 companies use 360 reviews with their employees. As consultants, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “There is one thing we’ve personally seen that profoundly and consistently changes lives—what’s generally referred to as the 360-degree feedback process.”
For example, you know how you start fiddling with your hair the minute you start a video chat and see your own image on the screen? It’s because you suddenly see yourself as others can see you—and you want to make sure that you project your best possible version to them.
It’s the same with 360 reviews. When team members get an unfiltered outside view of their actions and behavior, they can immediately see what others see and take action to enhance their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses.
This effect can do wonders for the team as a whole if the review is centered on helping team members along a long-term track of personal growth that is aligned with the organization’s goals.
What is 360 feedback good for?
A 360-degree evaluation needs to be anonymous, but it shouldn’t turn into a chance to snipe at a colleague. Those managing the process need to make it clear to everyone taking the survey that the goal is to discover strengths as well as weaknesses.
Another important point is that 360 reviews should only be used to help team members as a development tool: Providing feedback that helps people grow in their careers.
This exercise should not be used as a performance rating instrument, and especially not for deciding promotions or raises.
When to do 360 reviewS
Since 360 reviews focus on behaviors, they can be used widely in order to promote the kind of culture that the organization needs.
In their book The Art and Science of 360 Degree Feedback, Richard Lepsinger and Anntoinette D. Lucia recommend using them when the company wants to:
Promote culture change
Achieve a particular business strategy
Enhance individual and team effectiveness
Improve human resource management systems
It’s clear, then, that one of your first steps in deciding to conduct a 360 feedback exercise is identifying which behaviors make a difference in your company—since you will want to promote them.
Another important factor to decide whether to use a 360 review is that the subject of the review has to believe in it. The team member being evaluated must be committed to using the results in a constructive manner and take the chance to develop as a professional and a person.
After all, it’s a rare chance they will get of having everyone else focused on them and their participation in the team.