360 Feedback Blog

This is a great list for effective Objective-Setting.

A key part of objective setting is to ensure that people have the right skills to be able to achieve their objectives - 360 Degree Feedback is a great way to do this.

In this poll, reported in the US, 68%  of managers believe that looks have an impact on the way managers rate job perforamance.

If this survey is to be believed, Attractiveness comes only below Experience and Confidence in recruitment situations, and trumps Education and a sense of Humour - apparently known as the ‘Hottie’ effect!  The author advises those of us who are non-Hotties not to despair but to make the best of whatever assets we have…..

On a more serious note though, how can we overcome these biases which appear to be inbuilt in most of us and can make a big difference in how employees’ performance is judged?

The first answer is Awareness: once we’re aware of our biases, our assumptions and things like the Halo and Horns Effect, we can start to adjust our opinions of that person and inject some objectivity into our appraisal of their performance  (for more on Halo/Horns, go to 360 Degree Feedback and download our paper entitled What Not To Do When Giving Great Feedback ).

Second is judging people on what they have actually done, so setting SMART objectives is critical (Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Relevant and Timely).

Third is making sure that your own judgement is not the only one that counts….tools like 360 Degree Feedback are very important in ensuring that a number of different people have input into the appraisal, and that there is consistency in assessing performance, especially in hard to measure areas like management, leadership and team working.

This article talks about the negative effect that feedback, including 360 Degree Feedback, can have on the recipient when insensitively given.

In addition, we always advise people who are going to give face to face or anonymous feedback to:

- Say out loud what you think you’re going to say to the person; you will know pretty quickly whether it’s going to come across as negative and critical
- Ask yourself how you would feel if someone gave you the feedback you are going to give the recipient - put your own name in the sentences….
- Keep practicising until you find the right words, then use these in the feedback
- Be careful that you are not putting a halo around everything the person does, just because you like them, or because you think they’re a bit like you
- On the other hand, don’t have a downer on them because of one thing they did a long time ago, or because they disagreed with you

As this article says, being a leader, and staying there, is tough, and it’s getting tougher.

The author’s tips for surviving as a leader include:

• Know yourself
• Play to your strengths, and
• Avoid your derailers (that is, the behaviours that take you off-track and jeopardise your success)

That’s why it’s absolutely critical for all leaders, whether they’re just starting to lead a team, or they’re leading a big corporation, to use 360 Degree Feedback and coaching to get a really clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses, and how other people see them.

In this article, the brilliant Marshall Goldsmith talks about an exercise he conducts in providing Feedforward, as well as feedback, to people who are looking to change their behaviours and improve their leadership skills.

For me the critical points are that:

1. This is an important supplement to feedback, including 360 Degree Feedback - we always recommend that colleagues provide Feedforward in some way….How Mary can manage team meetings more effectively, Things I would like to see Mary start doing,  or What I would like to see Mary continue doing…

2. There is a more positive response because the Feedforward can feel less judgemental than feedback

3. It’s critical that people receiving feedback are able to listen and take it on board - more on this in another blog - but Marshall Goldsmith is big on saying ‘Thanks for your feedback’ and then keeping quiet!

This article in Management Today describes the results of research carried out by the Carnegie Institute,  suggesting that 85% of our success is due to emotional intelligence.

So how do you know if you’re doing the things listed in the article, communicating clearly, giving feedback and praise, building trust and strong relationships, resolving conflict, and making change happen?

Most of us tend to think we’re quite good at these things - but what do those around us think? And how often do they give us honest feedback? And how useful would some honest feedback be in helping us to build our self-awareness?

If you’d like to know how Emotionally Intelligent you really are, 360 Degree Feedback is a really effective tool for this.

For a free trial of our Emotional Intelligence 360 Degree Feedback, go to Empower 360 and click on Free Trial - we’ll set you up straight away.