What is 360 degree feedback coaching and what are the benefits?

360° feedback can be vital in maintaining and nurturing high performing teams. Used predominantly in performance reviews, this type of feedback assesses a member of your team's behaviours and skills.

After facilitating many 360-degree feedback coaching sessions for a client’s senior team over the last few years, it still overwhelms me. The power of the feedback to raise peoples self-awareness and make them think about what they want to change about themselves, or not change in some cases is astounding.

What is 360-degree feedback?

As the dictionary definition states, 360 feedback is feedback that comes from all around the employee. It is provided by their direct reports, peers and manager as well as a self-assessment.

360-degree feedback can add significant value to an individual’s performance review as it holds the mirror up to them and makes them more aware of others’ perception of their strengths and weaker areas. Even acknowledging that people may have a different view can be extremely powerful and it is the precursor to any behavioural change. It often answers the ‘why should I?’ question.

360-degree feedback also reduces manager bias as input is provided confidentially from several people and any extreme differences in ratings can be looked into and team communication encouraged. Therefore it increases credibility and robustness of measurement.

What is the benefit of 360-degree feedback?

The benefits of 360-degree feedback are two-fold, being beneficial for both for the individual and the business.

For the individual:

• Increased self-awareness
• Improved self-perception accuracy
• Increased ownership of self-development
• Improvement in performance
• Increased employee engagement

For the business:

• Increased awareness of expectations
• Encouraging a feedback culture
• Increased employee engagement
• Increased customer loyalty & retention
• An upturn in performance and profitability

It can also be instrumental as an assessment tool for internal people moves and promotions.  It is equally effective as a "training needs analysis" for a person’s development, particularly for leadership development.

Furthermore, 360-degree feedback can then help to track progress on an individual’s development and help significantly towards quantifying the return on training investment which is notoriously difficult to do.

Measurement is one of the key benefits of 360 feedback

There is a saying that goes,

"What gets measured, gets done"

It's a truth eternally recognised that in order for something to improve it first of all needs to be measured. The great thing about this type of feedback is it is entirely measurable.

We can also help you get the right information by advising you on:

• The right questionnaire – experience tells us it needs to be an easy process to complete. You need to ensure you are asking the right questions in your 360 survey
• Internal company briefing – all delegates and providers of feedback should attend a short briefing session.  This covers the what, why, how and when aspects of the survey and boosts response rates and quality
• A simple and effective online platform – using a confidential dedicated online platform designed to securely capture feedback from delegates and feedback providers. This  enhances the accuracy of the information provided and makes it easier to complete
• In-depth reporting – colour, graphical PDF reports for each delegate which includes peer benchmarking
• Personal debriefs – often the missing ingredient.  An intensive coaching style de-brief with a coach ensures each delegate understands and acknowledges the key messages in their report. The debrief includes agreed key actions and the publishing of an action plan

Many of our clients conduct a 360-degree feedback survey for all key leaders and line managers annually.

As a consequence, many have moved their business culturally to where feedback is an integral part of their organisational culture. Yearly progress reports and benchmarking also allows them to see where their investments have paid back.  Furthermore, it also shows them who and where needs further attention.

We have more information on 360-degree feedback here. If you feel like your organisation could benefit from our help, contact us today for more information.