“If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” -Catherine Aird Generally, 360-degree feedback processes, in order to be effective, depend on the participant, the coach, and organizational factors to support the receptivity, acceptance, and leveraging of feedback for enhanced insight and behavior change.  When the organizational […]

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as is what direction we are moving.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes When we think of revisiting the implementation of 360s, we want to consider the time needed to make meaningful behavior change, and for that change to be seen by others. We recommend […]

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” -Wayne Gretsky A fundamental issue that comes up in practice has to do what to do once 360-degree feedback has been implemented. How do we maximize the use 360s to ensure our client’s behavior change? Organizations that implement a systemic approach to talent development with support […]

 “Culture is a framework in which we communicate.” -Stephen Roberts  There is increasing use of 360-degree feedback in different cultures and countries, as multi-national companies use it throughout their organizations. Differences in 360-degree feedback rating and interpretation should be expected to some degree in other cultures. Some dimensions that appear to be important include individualism […]

 “The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.” -Thomas Monson An interesting study by Robert Hooijberg and colleagues, looked at what makes coaching effective, surveyed 232 managers from diverse organizations (Hooijberg, & Lane, 2009) ((Hooijberg, R. & Lane, N. (2009). The five-factor model […]

The reality is that not all organizations are “ready” for 360-degree feedback. All too often it gets introduced in the middle of a very large organizational change (e.g., merger or acquisition) or some other untimely organization-wide event. When 360s are implemented at a time when organizations are not ready, more harm than benefit may be […]

“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” -Japanese Proverb “Best practices” in using 360-degree feedback suggest that having someone debrief the report is important to manage potential negative emotions surrounding the data, increase the understanding of rater differences, and facilitate developmental planning (Nowack, 2005). However, the process […]

Imagine you are shopping for a piece of antique furniture. Before purchasing it, you want to do some research about the product. You may want to find out about its quality and durability; how old it is; the criteria that the vendor used to identify and price the item; and the authenticity of the item. […]

  “I have become intrigued with the combining of seemingly unrelated ideas or images, or the drawing upon the many, sometimes dissimilar, meanings a word might have.” -John Barton In general, skill or competency based 360-degree feedback assessments provide data on how participants are perceived by others, while personality and style assessments provide insights about […]

“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” -Shirley Chisholm “Best practices” in 360-degree feedback processes suggest that the greater transfer of learning and goal setting occurs when a manager or coach helps participants understand and debrief their reports (Nowack, 2009). All too often, vendors […]