Home • Articles • News

Wednesday, March 1st, 2006.

Is it time for a 360°?

By Bill Hawfield, Hillcrest Associates

Professional growth is a value that successful people are passionate about. Studies show that professional growth is a major reason people chose to stay with a company where they work. It is an important contributor to feelings of success and accomplishment in our work lives. It also leads to financial growth.

How do we grow professionally? The first step is awareness of:

• Who we are and how we impact others

• Our strengths and areas for improvement

• What we can do to grow our management ability

Through personal awareness, we know what and how to improve.

We can get that awareness through clear, constructive feedback from the people we work with. That feedback can come informally from a comment at lunch, an argument in a meeting, an email of praise, a thank you note or maybe a formal performance evaluation with our superior.

There is another feedback process that has proven to be very effective. It is the 360º feedback process.

Why “360º Feedback?”

John, the CEO, was very frustrated. His team was slow to act. He spent most of his time putting out fires. Everything was urgent. His direct reports lined up outside his office every hour needing his input and direction. He felt there must be a better way to manage so he could get more time to think and to be more effective. He wanted unbiased input on his management style and ways to get more done with less effort and stress.
He engaged in a CEO 360º assessment. The results surprised him. While his team had great respect and trust in him, his style was causing confusion and lack of empowerment to do their jobs. They saw him changing priorities daily. Because to John’s frequent changes, their best strategy was to wait a day or two after receiving John’s direction to see what the next directive was.

The CEO 360º feedback showed him how to get his team to act, reduce his frustration and eliminate the lines outside his door. He began to set clear priorities and direction and stick to them. The team now felt they could act instead of waiting. The lines outside his door declined and the changes John wanted in the company began to happen. Urgency and chaos moved towards managed change and orderly improvement.

If we want to know how we are doing, we could ask a number of people. Our boss might see us one way, our peers another way and the people who work for us in a totally different way. Suppose you gave a presentation at your office. Afterward you asked your boss, your peers and the people who work for you, “How did I do?” You would probably get a variety of input…too much detail, not enough detail, spoke too softly, great, etc. But, if you could get unbiased, truthful input from everyone who was there and have it presented so you could see the patterns that are common to all, you would have input you could count on. Then you could adjust your style and give a better presentation the next time. That is what “360º Feedback” is about.

The outcome of a good 360º process is:

1. Greater self awareness

2. Improved effectiveness through honest and constructive feedback

3. Open communication and trust

4. Better and faster management development

But, be aware that this process has potential challenges:

1. It must be followed up with a development plan for the person getting the feedback. This is not an event. It is a process that needs support in training and follow up.

2. The person and the team that is evaluated must be willing to learn from the process and be willing to change. If they are not, there could be denial and resistance.

3. There can be some hurt feelings and surprises. These can be reduced through using professionals to administer a competent assessment, evaluate the results and conduct the feedback sessions.

What is the “360º Feedback” process and how is it done?

The term, “360º”, implies “from all directions of the compass.” And, in fact, the process is designed to bring a person confidential, honest feedback from an immediate supervisor, peers and subordinates. From these sources, a person should get a balanced and accurate view of how they function today and how to improve their effectiveness.

The data is organized for the person so that he/she can see his areas of strengths and areas for improvement. Follow up sessions with a fair, direct report help the person stay on track for improvement, get the tools they need to improve and monitor their progress.

A powerful addition to the process is an in-depth personality profile assessment that is well validated and provides enough depth to help the person discover areas to work on and to build upon. Where the 360º instrument develops feedback on what behaviors are observed by those around a person, the personality profile helps define why the person acts the way they do. When the “what” and the “why” are combined, the person has a complete view of themselves and a roadmap for growth.

Who is in the process?

The process should begin with the CEO. He/she should model the openness to input, to acknowledging what he heard and to telling those around him what he plans to do about the insights he gained. He should receive input from his direct reports, his Board, the company owners and possibly from his key customers or other business people who know him well.

The next phase involves the CEO’s direct reports. They would go through the same process with feedback from the CEO, their peers and their direct reports.

The process should be run by a trusted third party who has the 360º tools that are needed. They can evaluate the results and through their experience give well informed suggestions for positive change and provide follow up for continued growth.

What is evaluated?

There are many areas that can be covered. Some of the core areas for management feedback are:

• Style and its impact on others

• Communications in all directions

• Planning

• Decision making

• Control

• Team development

• Leadership

• Outcomes delivered

How do we get started?

1. Define why you want to do this. The CEO and the team should agree on what they want to accomplish. If they want to improve personal and team performance by gaining new knowledge about their management abilities and style, then a 360º feedback system could help be part of the process.

2. Select a professional 360º Feedback process. There are many available. Choose the one that fits the team the best. Evaluate its relevance to your company, its ease of use, its feedback system and its follow-through process.

3. The CEO goes first. Secondly, the CEO must be willing to go first. Through his/her openness to honest feedback and a willingness to change, the team can see how the process works and feel safe with their role in it as evaluators and evaluates. The 360º administrator gives him the feedback. He acknowledges to those that gave him feedback what he heard and what he plans to do about it.

4. The team gives each other feedback. Now, the team evaluates each other. They also get feedback from the CEO and their direct reports. The administrator reviews the 360º results with each person. Then the team gets feedback from the administrator on how they work together now and how that can be improved. Each person creates a personal action plan from growth. The team agrees on the actions that will improve the team. Actions are committed to and plans for implementing both individual and team changes are agree to.

5. Create the change you want. Team change begins with individual change and growth. After individual growth plans are defined, these plans must be supported and rewarded by the company. The plan is monitored by the person and the CEO and possibly the 360º feedback administrator. The same is true of the team plan for change. The steps are: define the actions, reinforce and support the actions, assess the change, reward the change and follow through.

If you would like to receive a sample 360° report please e-mail Ellen Borowka at ellen@lighthouseconsulting.com. For additional questions, please call Dana Borowka at (310) 453-6556 ext. 403.

Bill Hawfield, Hillcrest Associates has managed several companies for large Fortune 500 companies and has built and sold his own company, Penguins Frozen Yogurt. Bill has been a TEC member for 20 years and is an international speaker on Success and Strategic Planning. He has served on over 30 Boards and has an MBA degree from the Darden School.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2005

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services, including personality assessments for new hires & staff development, team building, interpersonal & communication training, conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee coaching.