360 Feedback Report Best Practices- Part 1 of 6

Organizations invest in 360 feedback to change behavior and improve leaders’ skills.

360 reports are the tools that can transform 360 feedback into a practical change plan, but many reports fall short. Data heavy, complicated reports that need an expert to interpret overwhelm participants and hinder change. 

The overarching objective of every 360 survey experience should be to create positive behavior change. Leadership models and detailed data analysis are secondary to helping the participants understand and implement a practical change process. An effective 360 report teaches, motivates, and guides participants through the change process.

Our research and experience has identified six design principles that are essential for a report that can transform feedback into behavior change. The first step is that:

1) The Report Should be Change-Centric 

The first obligation of a 360 report is to teach participants how to change behavior and improve skills.

Using the feedback to identify what to improve is an easy part of the 360 experience. Developing and implementing a successful action plan is the most difficult task of the 360 process. Leadership models and data analysis need to inform the change process, not replace it. The primary focus of the report should be a change model that shows participants what to do next in each stage of the skill development process.