360 Degree Review: Does It Help
Why do we need a 360 degree feedback where our managers, peers and team members rate our leadership styles. After all you have spent more time with yourself than anyone else. So what would someone else tell you that you do not already know?
360 degree feedback matters
Most people are poor judges of ourselves. We tend to believe we are much better at many things than our co-workers. Our self-declaration may be at significant variance with our reputation. You might see yourself as strategic and a big-picture thinker. Your peers may see you as being unable to translate ideas into action. Your team members may see you as a person who comes up with one impractical idea after another.As leaders climb the corporate ladder, they move into different roles, work on different projects and often in different companies. Yet they do not update their view about their leadership skills if they do not get the view of others. As a recent TimesJobs survey of about 1,100 employees revealed, six out of every 10 employees rate the leadership skills of their bosses as poor. So why are people so oblivious about their reputation?
Try this at home
Rate yourself and four friends on emotional stability, generosity, intelligence, creativity and assertiveness. Then ask your spouse and friends to rate you on the same traits. What you discover may surprise you.As Adam Grant wrote recently,
"... people consistently overestimate their intelligence, a pattern that seems to be more pronounced among men than women. It’s also why people overestimate their generosity: It’s a desirable trait."
The Economic Times spoke to me about 360 degree reviews. Here is what I said:
“The format varies, but most organisations have 360-degree reviews in some form. This differentiated, nuanced view of a team leader is useful and helpful,”
While 360-degree review is an integral part of talent management at most companies, some companies also use it for evaluating performance. Some define career paths of their managers through the system while others use it as a dipstick to measure how well the company culture is shaping up.
Flipkart's Case
All employees in the middle and senior levels go through 360 degree feedback where employee's can match their self-evaluation and compare it what their manager, peers, team members and key stakeholders have to say about their leadership effectiveness. It is a great way to get well-rounded developmental inputs, against competencies, strengths and development needs. Peer feedback is used as an input for performance assessments in Flipkart.
Create a User Manual for Yourself
Yes, that's right. Write down a one pager that can tell others how to work with you. Use the 360 degree feedback report to create such a manual. Make sure to include what you do not do well and seek their help in being guardrails for you.Do you think, people are candid in giving their manager feedback about what they could do better? What have you seen great bosses do to inspire the confidence in their team members to give them feedback? Love to know what you think. Leave your comments below.
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Read what Adam Grant had to say about getting feedback <click here>Read how Indian companies are using 360 degree feedback <click here>