There’s nothing new about 360 degree feedback – it’s been around for quite a while. So when it pops up in Dilbert cartoons or episodes of The Office, you know it’s hit the mainstream.

So what are the pitfalls of this kind of feedback, and how can you avoid them? If you haven’t experienced it, in a nutshell this is the process:

Feedback is given through a structured questionnaire by your boss, by your direct reports, and your peers. They feed back on your strengths and the areas where, in their opinion, you could be better – let’s call them your ‘development needs’ or ‘opportunities’. So in essence you receive input from people who know you and work with you from all sides, hence the name of ‘360 Degree Feedback’.

When performed well, 360 programmes deliver important feedback to individual team members with suggestions for how to improve certain aspects of their performance – areas that could be stalling their career progress or even causing major conflict within a team. Beware though – there are risks to using 360 if not carried out and managed correctly. Feedback is sometimes hard for individuals to take, and mistrust, upset, anger and conflict may arise if the process is not handled well. At worst, team morale is at risk of being worse than at the outset.

Here are 7 reasons why 360 degree feedback programmes fail;

1)         Lack of involvement or commitment from the boss – 360 programmes that get driven by HR without much attention from the boss are not effective. Whatever the boss gives importance to gets the attention of his/her reports. The manager conducting the programme needs to believe in its effectiveness, so that this belief can pass on to their employees.

2)        Vague or inappropriate questions – For a 360 questionnaire to be effective it needs to offer specific and tangible outputs. If it doesn’t, you’re likely going to have a hard time translating your team’s profiles into specific and measureable actions. Selecting the right tool is crucial in getting back information that can be acted upon.

3)        People making unconstructive comments that are personal and negative – There are many people who have had very bad 360 experiences. This is usually because people they work with choose to take the opportunity to ‘have a dig’ or get something off their chest – whether right or wrong. You can imagine that this is a sure fire way for the exercise to be devalued and fall into disrepute. It’s crucial that all involved are clear that the aim is to be constructive, not personal. If you ask yourself the question “Would I be prepared to read this comment about me?” and the answer is “Yes”, then fine.  If not, perhaps the comment needs phrasing differently.

4)        The feedback process doesn’t include a plan of action – You will have a rich vein of feedback that can be used to transform performance, but only if it is acted upon. The worst type of programme is the one where people give their input yet nothing useful comes of it. Changing behaviour requires acting differently, otherwise things stay as they were, and people lose faith in the process.

5)        Following up only once is not enough – So, your process includes a feedback session and an action plan – but it’s not enough on its own. It is well recognised that to change a habit – i.e. to change behaviour – people must act in the new way repeatedly – and that needs more than one reminder. The action plan needs to be revisited regularly for it to have lasting impact. We’d suggest a quarterly review over two years, then the time will be right to carry out the process again to refresh the feedback and find out how people’s perceptions have changed.

6)        The feedback isn’t fully confidential – It is crucial that everyone involved appreciates and trusts that it is a confidential process; that there won’t be any unhelpful repercussions that could affect their own future treatment. Many businesses consider using third party coaches to help deliver and manage the feedback process. This gets over the concerns that may surface about the consistency and objectivity of internal coaching. When you think about it, there needs to be independence during the overall process as all members of the team or department are involved in the feedback, so there must at least be an internal coach from HR if not someone from outside.

7)        Ignoring strengths and only focusing on weaknesses – Let’s face it, we all know of companies where the entire focus is on fixing what’s broken, rather than building on the considerable strengths and positives which already exist. Taking a positive ‘coach’ perspective – seeing everyone as having significant untapped potential and helping them to unlock this potential – is the best way by far to get the most from the people in your team. The bottom line is, that to get the best from anyone, we want them to recognise and accept their ‘weaknesses’ whilst at the same time building and relying on their strengths. After all, it is those strengths that got the person to where they are in their career.

Once these examples of ‘worst’ practice are analysed and treated as checks against your own 360 process, chances are that your organisation will enjoy a positive 360 experience benefitting from great steps forward in unlocking the full potential of your team and all its members.

360 degree feedback risks creating divisions if poorly executed. It will lower morale and increase staff turnover. However, when carried out effectively and professionally, it can be a driving force for accelerating progression and growth for individuals, teams and the organisation.

We’d be pleased to hear any stories of your experiences of 360 feedback – good or bad. Please drop me a line, I’d be pleased to hear from you.

About Dave Pike

Dave Pike is the Authorised Partner in the UK for Everything DiSC® profiles and The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team. The Everything DiSC® range of profiles includes an advanced 360 degree tool for leaders. Quiver Management uses the Everything DiSC® tools and has been certified and trained in facilitating these for our clients in coaching, team development and leadership training.