Personally, I am a fan of the 360 degree feedback process. It is a wonderful way to keep pulse on the team ecosystem and to ensure that individual behaviors that hamper objective progress are adjusted along the way. However, there are factors that make this amazing process meaningless. Here are a few...
1. Open and Trusted participation of individuals undergoing 360 is absolutely critical. Most 360 processes fail because of passive conduct from participants. Feedback receivers start building defense shields (with managers, peers and reports) as soon as this process is initiated. Feedback providers see absolutely no value in providing useful feedback and hence resort to filling the blanks as a checklist
2. Absolute trust and understanding between feeback receiver and manager is paramount. There could be some comment(s) (from reports or peers) that criticize certain action or behavior without full knowledge of the circumstance/situation that the individual faced. In these cases, manager and employee are the only ones who can fully understand the background and evaluate the comment appropriately. This assumes there is a good relationship and understanding apriori, a precondition that fails most often.
3. Process (not content, ofcourse !!!) needs to be transparent to the participating group. Feedback receivers and their managers must have a choice of selecting providers. The questionnaire should be unambiguous and allow for free-form provision of supporting data. This process can be run semi-annually to gather feedback and measure corrections
4. Finally, there should be substantial period (2 to 3 cycles) of consistency in teams and reporting relationships to get correct and actionable data.
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The lucky generation
The generation of adults born in 70s and 80's are indeed lucky... Let me explain my reasoning....
This generation has a unique experience of watching the past from the sidelines. Their parents and close ones had to carry a lot of "baggage" to fulfil social and family obligations and to build a basic quality of life. Needless to say, the journey was arduous for the previous generation. Having gained passive experience, this new generation had the luxury of building and watching some of the latest developments in science, technology and basic living. This generation also has the diverse experience of working in, with and for diverse cultures and peoples in a positive manner. The act of managing time, people, resources has been getting fine-tuned through this experience. This ability to prioritize values has allowed the generation to gain a upper hand. All this leads to highly balanced decision making abilities, driven by reason and passion. Wouldn't we call that lucky !!!!
In this continuum, the next generation (individuals born in 1990s and 2000s), has started off watching these advancements. They have not seen the challenges life can pose, but, that may indeed be a boon. They dont have to feel the shackles and start soaring right at birth. Yes, they may face some tough situations in their life, but I am sure their confidence and abilities will guide them through.
Three Cheers to Darwin and Evolution !!!!
This generation has a unique experience of watching the past from the sidelines. Their parents and close ones had to carry a lot of "baggage" to fulfil social and family obligations and to build a basic quality of life. Needless to say, the journey was arduous for the previous generation. Having gained passive experience, this new generation had the luxury of building and watching some of the latest developments in science, technology and basic living. This generation also has the diverse experience of working in, with and for diverse cultures and peoples in a positive manner. The act of managing time, people, resources has been getting fine-tuned through this experience. This ability to prioritize values has allowed the generation to gain a upper hand. All this leads to highly balanced decision making abilities, driven by reason and passion. Wouldn't we call that lucky !!!!
In this continuum, the next generation (individuals born in 1990s and 2000s), has started off watching these advancements. They have not seen the challenges life can pose, but, that may indeed be a boon. They dont have to feel the shackles and start soaring right at birth. Yes, they may face some tough situations in their life, but I am sure their confidence and abilities will guide them through.
Three Cheers to Darwin and Evolution !!!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Power of Pause
A few weeks ago I thought how powerful it was to PAUSE, especially in tough or tight situations. Upon googling, as expected, there is a complete book on this specific topic. Nevertheless, let me jot my thoughts here...
Given any situation - customer meeting, discussion with your manager, complex conversations with your reports, a tricky situation in the team meeting, potential argument within family - the Pause button (henceforth refered to as '', also called 'Hmmmm') is an important tactic. The other option would be to let your intuition go beserk. The goal of is to give yourself the extra second(s) required to weigh your intuiton versus other choices that may exist.
Another important value of is the opportunity it provides to refrain from reacting to the situation. The simple act of pausing, changes a "Reaction" to an "Action". Isn't it wonderful to act instead of react? Doesn't it feel more controlled?
The next time you are cornered in a spirited discussion, try using "hmmmmm.." and observe the reaction of the adversary. I would not be surprised if that person gets completely subdued or further enraged :-)
Given any situation - customer meeting, discussion with your manager, complex conversations with your reports, a tricky situation in the team meeting, potential argument within family - the Pause button (henceforth refered to as '', also called 'Hmmmm') is an important tactic. The other option would be to let your intuition go beserk. The goal of is to give yourself the extra second(s) required to weigh your intuiton versus other choices that may exist.
Another important value of is the opportunity it provides to refrain from reacting to the situation. The simple act of pausing, changes a "Reaction" to an "Action". Isn't it wonderful to act instead of react? Doesn't it feel more controlled?
The next time you are cornered in a spirited discussion, try using "hmmmmm.." and observe the reaction of the adversary. I would not be surprised if that person gets completely subdued or further enraged :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)