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How The Best Managers Follow Up After 360Degree Reviewsblog.impraise.com /howthebestmanagersfollowupafter360degreereviews/
A direct manager plays multiple roles in a 360degree feedback event. You are a trusted friend, anunderstanding coach, a caring supervisor as well as a continuous learner. You don’t play all the roles atone time, but be aware that they are equally important to the success of a 360 review.
The lack of a followup plan and the infrequency of followup activities account for 2 out of 7 reasons,according to Forbes, why 360 reviews fails (article here). And, who is the better person to do the followup if not you the one working with each and every one of your team members daily.
When you take up the followup responsibilities, make sure you follow the right process so everyone inyour team can benefit from 360degree feedback.
1. The 1on1 Conversation: be a trusted friend
Shortly after a 360 review finishes, you should initiate an informal 1on1 conversation with each teammember. You want to check in on your team’s morale, and understand more about their 360experience.
Here are some questions you should cover in the conversation:
How do you feel about giving feedback to your colleagues?
Do you feel that it is more challenging to give feedback to a certain person? If so, can youdescribe the reasons?
How do you feel about the feedback you receive?
Do you find some feedback unfair? Is there anything I can help with there?
Do you find some feedback unclear? Have you started any conversation to seek clarification?
Generally, do you think the feedback is helpful or unhelpful? Any reasons?
Basically, you want to find out how your team feels about the 360 review. If they have any concerns,point them to the right directions. For example, when a team member finds a piece of feedback isunfair or unclear, suggest her to start a conversation with the giver for clarification. Listen to theirconcerns and offer help when appropriate.
More importantly, gather their opinions about the 360 review. If they find it helpful, try to understandwhat helps them exactly. If they consider the 360 review a waste of time, you want to know which part isthe most timeconsuming one? This information will make valuable input for the success of other 360reviews in the future.
However, it is very important to respect the privacy of both the feedback givers and recipients. When ateam member shares some feedback with you, stay objective and do not share the feedback withanybody else without her permission. Make this be known explicitly between you and her.
2. The Action Plan: be an understanding coach
After the 1on1 conversation, hopefully both you and your team are aligned with the process and thesituation. Let your team go off and work on understanding or clarifying the feedback they receive. Thenyou can set a time to sit down and work on an action plan with each of your team members.
In 1on1 conversations, you play the role of a trusted friend. You are there to share an experience withyour team and to offer help when appropriate. Here, you are the coach. Your main task is to guide ateam member through the process of choosing appropriate skills to develop further and a specificcourse of action to get there.
The purpose of 360degree feedback is for one to understand her skills better and how to grow further.Since nobody can really develop all skills at one time, she should pick out a few skills that most benefither current role and what she wants to achieve in near future. Because the task is not always easilydone, here is when you come in.
Firstly, find out what she wants to achieve in the next year or two, which path she wants to take, andwhich skills she thinks she will need to get there.
Secondly, offer your counter opinions. Tell her what you think about the path she wants to take. If youthink of some other skills she should focus on at the moment, explain your suggestions explicitly. If it ismandatory to have certain skills to align with the company standard, let her know about them.Otherwise, make sure she knows your suggestions are optional.
Discuss everything openly until you reach consensus. Remember that the action plan would be hers,not yours. Make sure she understands the reasoning of each choice. Then, write the choices down.
After choosing the skills, she need to decide how far she wants to reach. Work with her to find out thebest incentives for reaching her goals.
Let’s look at an example:
Your admin assistant wants to improve her time management skills. She wants to commit to meetingdeadlines at the rate of 100% instead of the current rate of 80%. You ask her to list the obstacles whichstopped her from having met certain deadlines. You notice a tendency of procrastination so you suggesttwo incentives:
Get (her) more selforganised: She should create a separate calendar for all the deadlines shehas. Set up a few reminders for each deadline (e.g. one day, two hours and 15 minutes beforeeach deadline). She should get into the habit of checking that calendar everyday before startingher work day.
Find a third party to keep her accountable: make sure that whichever deadlines she commits toare shared with that party (e.g. another team member or you). Accountability often helps withprocrastination.
Ask about her preference to each incentive. Look into her past experience and what has worked before.Once you decide on the incentives, and write them down.
The next thing to do is set a time frame. If appropriate, set small goals and a time frame for each ofthose.
Last but not least, identify all the matters regarding the followup. Let your team know when you willwant to check back in with the progress officially. Building a skill takes time, so give your team the timeand the space they need. However, don’t leave it too long. I will discuss this more in the next section.
In brief, at the end of any action plan meeting, you want to make sure that your team understands andagrees with:
A specific course of action
A time frame
Followup methods and frequency
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3. Follow Up: be the empathetic supervisor
Once you have scheduled a checkin meeting with a team member, make sure you actually do it.
Besides, informal followup can do many good. It is helpful to ask casual questions, like How are youfinding the new task? It shows that you care. It also keeps you uptodate with any new obstacles. You
can help your team timely resolve arising issues.
Hint: Avoid to come across as nagging for improvement. Keep informal followup questions casual andofftherecord conversations. You don’t want your team worry about whether they have made anyprogress since the last time you asked. That is for the official checkin meetings.
When you notice improvement, offer timely praise and reinforcement. You want to bolster up anyprogress as soon as possible.
When you notice one lagging behind, address the issue in an open and friendly manner. Avoid makingan assumption about the reasons why she is not on track. Ask questions like: “I notice that you have atendency to fall behind. Are there any obstacles that I am not aware of? Anything you find more difficultto implement in reality than when we did the planning? Anything I can help with?”
4. The Self Assessment: be a learner
It’s important for you to do a self assessment on your roles in the process. Take time to reflect on youractions and their impact. You want to look deeper in three areas:
Process: Was it the right time for you to initiate a 1on1 meeting? Did you cover all importantpoints in the feedback session? How did you handle the meeting to develop action plans?
Relationship: What was the style of communication? What was the recipient’s reaction? Howhigh was the level of trust between you and the recipient? Were you overbearing orcollaborating?
Results: What are the changes? How quick have changes happened? What is the differencebetween expectations and progress?
Evaluate yourself so you can learn from your own experience and grow yourself.
In brief,
The 1on1 conversations, action plan meetings, deliberate followups and selfassessment reinforcethe ongoing nature of constructive feedback. They help integrate 360feedback events into a widerculture of continuous feedback. They are needed for fostering growth among your team. So, do not stopthe process of learning right after the finish line of a 360 review. In this case, the extra mile that you gowill help bring success to the 360 review.
