360 Degree Feedback

Communication is very vital in today's organizations - none of us are out of it. We are communicating every single minute - be it in office or at home or anywhere else. All types of communications are extremely important - suggestions, brainstorming, creative discussions, consent on decisions, dissents and most importantly feedback - negative or positive! The feedback - honest feedback, if you will, is generally never welcome. The situation becomes very critical if you were to provide this to your immediate manager. If not handled tactfully and diligently, this will result in an awkward situation, isn't it? After all, how easy it is for you to walk into your manager's cubicle and tell him/her that (s)he has an attitude problem.

In my experience and from the experiences of my ex-colleagues and friends, I believe there are 2 types of managers - the ones who encourage their subordinates to give constructive feedback/opinions and would not stop at doing anything (and I mean ANYTHING) to ensure the smooth working of the team in the future. And then there are others who do not even bother to make an effort to change things. I call them typical traditional managers, who believe in ruling by fear and coercion. Logic does not matter to them. Their subordinates are supposed to execute their commands and orders without asking any questions. If one of the subordinates does dare ask a question, he will most probably labeled as unprofessional.

Providing constructive feedback calls for a lot of caution since it's never easy to provide feedback to your manager about his performance. If done tactfully and carefully, it will be a smooth ride for both the parties involved but if this is done poorly, it's a sure shot formula for spoiling relationships with the superiors and lowering employee morale, if the boss takes offence.

One of my friends told me that the feedback process is carried out throughout the year in his organization and not just during the appraisal process. Depending on an individual's development plan, these feedback sessions happen more than 4-6 times a year. In another organization, "SKIP LEVEL" meetings take place regularly with the teams the manager's are handling. The HR conducts these meetings to gather fair, unbiased and candid feedback about the manager's effectiveness in handling teams, his/her style of managing people, conflict resolutions, personality traits which may hinder or facilitate the team's success, his strengths and weaknesses etc. Once the team members speak, the team leader or the manager is called in the room and the feedback is shared with the manager in front of the team. The HR has this huge responsibility of making sure that the employee speaks up and is comfortable while doing so. If not, they must promise anonymity for the employee.

The idea here is to empower the employees to provide constructive feedback without any fear or reluctance. If the company does not do this periodically, the managers may become insensitive and ignore the individual's needs in the team. The experts in this field believe that the only way this method of feedback (they call it with a handsome name - 360 Degree Feedback) could ever be successful is when the employees are given the liberty to speak up their mind. The feedback thus gathered would help a manager appreciate and reinforce his strengths while he works towards rectifying the weaknesses identified in such sessions.The net result is two-fold - the manager can improve his skills and move on in his career and the organization benefits by creating a cache of more effective managers and team members. The organization promotes transparency through these exercises.

The maximum advantage is gained by the companies who are using the 360 Degree Feedback method. It creates a sense of empowerment and importance felt by the subordinates in appraising their managers. So in this era of "employee empowerment", the buzz word is going to be the "360 Degree Feedback" methods.