A powerful tool used in personal development, the 360° feedback offers the mirror effect necessary to identify a manager’s strengths and areas for progress. Delivered by a coach or consultant, the 360° feedback marks the beginning of a program rich in self-learning.
Self-image. Becoming aware of the image we project to others, in a professional but also personal context, is one of the first exercises of the 360° feedback. Developed from a tailor-made questionnaire and based on the answers from the manager’s entourage, the report makes it possible to take stock of the manager’s interpersonal skills and to define areas of work.
Unknown to oneself and known to others. It is a fact, others see what we don’t see, and vice versa. We think we have skills that others do not see, and these gaps can lead to frustration and incomprehension. By soliciting the manager’s professional entourage — hierarchy, peers, employees, suppliers and clients — the feedback is based on factual and multi-source data. The responses are returned anonymously to preserve the spontaneity and frankness of the participants.
Thus, to measure a manager’s leadership skills, their abilities in communication, strategic vision, activity steering, team support, change management and decision-making will be evaluated.
And then? The presentation of the report makes it possible to debrief the results and to identify the priority development areas the manager wishes to work on. The result will be the implementation of a personal development program, always in collaboration with the person concerned, which will take place over several months.
The success of such a program rests primarily on the quality of the questionnaire itself, which must be adapted to the company. The risk of creating a negative culture, such as resentment, anger or fear, should not be neglected.
The place given to feedback culture in the organization is also an important factor for carrying out such a project. Indeed, feedback culture cannot be improvised and is based on the trust that exists between the company’s employees. Receiving feedback leads to questioning one’s way of being and doing, and implies change. The 360° feedback exercise must be part of a voluntary approach by the manager, motivated by the desire to improve and develop, in all humility.
