To learn more about creating your own 360º Feedback
questionnaire (lite), click here.
Over the past 50 years or so, 360-degree feedbacks have had a growing
influence in the development of effective employees and great leaders.
But it is only successful when both the organization and its people have
been prepared, and the tool carefully selected.
What makes 360s so compelling? It's the fact that peak performers are
those who have the greatest insight into themselves and understand how
others see them. 360-degree feedback informs them whether the messages
they intend to send are being received.
Ironically, many people go through life doing their jobs dutifully, without
ever knowing what they're really good at. A 360 helps them build on their
strengths, at the same time it addresses skill gaps. And for leaders,
it helps them align with the requisite competencies of this age: continuous
learning, genuine team-playing, growing self-knowledge, and growth in
productivity.
On the other hand, 360-degree feedbacks have sometimes been imposed on
unready organizations or deployed in a risky manner. Those instances have
earned it a mixed reception.
These guidelines, based on the experience of organizations that have
used it successfully, will help you avoid pitfalls.
Development Strategy
It is best that 360-degree feedback be integrated into the organization's
strategy for leadership development, rather than deployed in isolation.
Consider these factors.
Are opinion-leaders convinced of the business benefits of leadership
development and the cost of not making changes? This might seem like a
no-brainer, but it is amazing how many people think that intensifying
the same-old same-old will net new results.
The key question is whether there is a commitment to continuous learning
within the organization. In an internationalized and highly competitive
world, everyone has to scan the environment constantly for relevant new
information. What 360-degree feedback offers is a wealth of data about
the impact of our technical skills and interpersonal relationships.
But to help recipients make best use of their feedback, it is essential
that support is in place. That's where an organization's commitment to
coaching, mentoring, and carefully-selected training programs has great
value.
Cultural Readiness
It is also important to decide whether at the day-to-day level, the organization
has productive ground prepared for feedback.
Informally, does the culture support honest feedback?
Are employees likely to believe when you say it's safe to be frank?
Are leaders aware that, because feedback encourages openness, it may
reveal unexpected requirements for changes in culture or procedures?
Are senior executives willing to lead the way by volunteering for
360?
If the answers to these questions are not positive, it is a good plan
to delay implementing 360-degree feedback until your leadership is ready
to lead a culture change process.
Well-Designed Plan
Only a 360 process that is designed with care will encourage buy-in and
commitment. For that reason, ask representative groups to help develop
competency lists that will form the basis for the survey.
Establish written policies about the issues that will have a big impact
on acceptance of 360. Make it clear whether the results of the survey
are intended for private use by the recipient (best at the beginning),
to be shared with the supervisor, or to be more widely available (say
to HR or OD). Are the results for personal development only (best at first),
for use in performance appraisals, or for compensation use.
Assure responders of their safety and anonymity. Even in the most nurturing
environment, it can be frightening to respond honestly.
Refer to the process, frequently and by a variety of means, so that 360s
come to be seen as a norm within the organization, rather than a flavor-of-the-month.
Find the Right Tool
Early 360º tools were clunky to set up, requiring reams of paper
to be shipped and scored at distant facilities. Questionnaires were frequently
inflexible, and results sometimes delayed by the thankless task of hand-scoring,
with all its potential for errors.
By the time the results got to the person being assessed, enthusiasm
had often evaporated.
While disk-based programs initially showed greater promise of speed and
immediacy, it turned out that responders didn't like the idea of their
input being passed from desk to desk and stored in the HR department.
The turning point was the advent of a new generation of Internet-based
tools, provided by application service providers.
These tools allow responders to reply to questionnaires via the Internet
from work or home -- a big advantage for those with little privacy at
the office -- with the data stored securely off-premises.
Each 360 provider has a different structure:
Technical requirements: Internet access is essential, but are paper
questionnaires available for employees without on-line access?
Support: Is the manual comprehensive, tech support free? Is an action
planning workbook provided for subjects?
Full customization: Can you design your own survey?
Simplicity: Is the setup straightforward? Are sample competency lists
provided?
Speed: Can you set up surveys at once and generate reports within
a week or two?
Reports: Are they attractive and clear, with colorful charts plus
unstructured comments to make information accessible in two learning
modes.
Costs
What is the fee to register?
Are there hidden fees to train administrators?
Is the running cost calculated per recipient, or are there extra charges
per responder?
Is it cost-effective to run only one or two 360 assessments? Are there
discounts for larger quantities?
Training Subjects and Responders
Develop brief training meetings for responders and recipients, which
will reduce anxiety and the potential for misleading results. Let them
know why the organization has decided to use 360-degree feedback, how
it will be implemented, and the protections in place for confidentiality.
Help responders see how they will benefit from providing frank feedback.
Brainstorm how to phrase suggestions for change so they will be "heard"
by the recipient, rather than rejected.
Prepare recipients by helping them discover the growth benefits 360 offers.
Remind them to reassure responders that there will be no recriminations
for honesty.
Presenting Reports
The culmination of this process, receiving one's report, is often a
time of high anxiety. To read it in isolation can de-motivate and discourage,
so make sure support is available.
Deliver reports in person. A group context is best, providing lots
of space in the room for privacy, and the opportunity to ask questions.
Reports are crammed with useful info. Provide graduated help in comprehension.
Help the individual focus on compliments, not just critiques.
Provide help in action-planning; a workbook is the minimum, available
coaching is valuable.
360-degree feedback is being widely used with great success by governments
(for instance, the U.S. and Canada), multi-nationals (Lipton, Deutsche
Bank), media (Time Warner Cable), science and technology leaders (Celera
Genomics, Advanced Fibre Communications), hospitals (St. Joseph Mercy
Health System), and consultancies (BDO Dunwoody).
Yet in the end, it is only a tool. To be safe and effective, it must
be operated by steady hands. When you design the process with care and
generosity, you can be confident that it will offer your organization
a vital boost to productivity and its competitive advantage.
With our Online 360º Feedback
Lite, you have the option of 5 different types of questions:
Radio Button Example: What is your favorite color?
Red
Blue
Green
Checkbox Example: What are your favorite colors?
Red
Blue
Green
Dropdown Single Example: What is your favorite color?
Dropdown Multiple Example: What are your favorite colors?
Text Field Example: Please Enter your Favorite Color:
The 'Text Field (Don't show on results)'
option will allow you to collect information that you don't want included
on the survey. For example, you could ask for the person's email address: What is your email address?
With an example like that, obviously, you
wouldn't want the email address to appear on the results page.
Also, with Radio buttons and Checkboxes,
you have an additional feature for an 'Other' selection that will allow
the user to enter free form text in a text field. For example, you could
configure a question like:
What is your favorite color?
Red
Blue
Green
Other:
To configure this, in the response text
area you enter anything you want to show as another choice for radio buttons
or checkboxes with <> surrounding it. So, for the above example,
you would configure the response as:
Red
Blue
Green
<Other>
You can enter anything you like between
the <>. You could configure it like:
Red
Blue
Green
<Other Color>
And you would get:
What is your favorite color?
Red
Blue
Green
Other Color:
Survey Configuration
Allow Users to View Results without taking
the Survey.
If this option is selected, a 'view results'
button will appear on the survey form for the users to view the results.
Keep Survey Results Private.
If this option is selected, instead of
showing the results of the survey after the person has taken it, they
will see a thank you page only. This is helpful if you want to collect
information from people, but don't want them to see what other people
are submitting.
Allow Users to View Previous Surveys.
If this option is selected, it will provide
a link to other surveys in the category. If a survey is on 'Hold', then
it won't show up in the list. Also, if the survey is configured to show
by date and that date hasn't come yet, then that survey will also not
be shown. This option is equivalent to a survey archive.
Create Export File.
This option allows you to download a CSV
file (compatible with Excel) of the submissions. This is helpful if
you want to store a copy of the results, are collecting additional information
on the survey (name, email address, etc), or want to analyze the results
yourself.
Allow Visitor Comments.
This option will display a name and comment
field on the survey submission form. On the results page, it will show
the comments.. limited by the 'number of comments to show on results
page' field. There would also be a link on the results page to view
all of the comments. In addition, there is an 'Edit Comments' button
that allows you to edit or clear out the comments. Just make your modifications
to the text in the text area and hit the save button on the configuration
screen.
Security
You can keep track of respondent by cookies,
IP addresses, or both. This is used for determining if the user has
already submitted their response.
BOTTOM LINE
If you are not using Discovery 360º Feedback, you are not maximizing
the full capabilities of 360º Feedback Assessments.
Valuable customized surveys and reports to keep your organization on
the road to success are now available to you in a fraction of the time
it would take you to develop them yourself.
Through the integrated services of our 360 Feedback Surveys, employees
can easily complete corporate surveys anywhere, anytime, via secure Internet
access.
It has never been easier or faster to obtain
crucial decision-making information to keep steering your organization
in the right direction for continued success!
Give us a call or send us an email
today to schedule an overview.
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