You Had Your 360° Review. Now What?

How to convert your feedback into a well-thought-out development plan.

If you’ve been brave enough to have a 360° Review, congratulations! Receiving feedback is a gift we don’t tend to reach for, but can be incredibly insightful as a snapshot of the impact we are having. Our ability to receive feedback will be brought to bear as we dive into the final report.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you go through the feedback process.

Hear what’s being said. Work with a coach to go through the feedback. The goal here is to make sure that you understand what’s being said. Be mindful of parts of the report that you want to be dismissive of. Your coach can help you hear what’s being said so that key messages are conveyed.

Context matters. Your coach will help you unpack this as well. Often in reports, something that shows up as a strength can in the very next section show up as a weakness. For example, a strength may be that you are a great listener. However, in the next section a weakness might say that you don’t speak up so no one knows what you are thinking. The same behavior (of quietly listening) is both a strength and a weakness in different contexts.

Your coach will help you normalize the feedback. As humans, we can make up the worst meaning possible when we get feedback. It’s important to remember that your 360 report is a snapshot in time of you in a particular context of work — it is by no means speaking to the whole of you.

When something in the report is less than positive, you need to know that you are not broken and you don’t need fixing. What is likely happening is that something that served you well until now might actually be holding you back. Or, something that worked in one context is not working in another. This is where coaching comes in: The key is to understand where the behavior came from. If we don’t fully honor where the behavior came from and how it kept us safe, it is often difficult to change it and learn something new.

Identify areas that you want to work on and improve. There are probably some skills you need to learn that you didn’t know you needed until now. What got you here, won’t get you there — and it’s time for an update.

Create your development plan. This whole review process is about development. Work with your coach on a personal development plan and use that to check in as you work together. Each point in your development plan should cover these questions:

• What is it that you want to develop?
• What would having this do for me?
• Practical steps you will take and what the action looks like.
• You know you will be making progress when ____ happens.
• How will you know if you’re successful?
• What might you need to let go of (behaviors, tasks, mental models, beliefs) in order to grow/improve?
• What support would you like, and from whom?
• When will you check in on progress?

360 reviews don’t have to be scary. Done well, they can help you see clearly so you know what changes you need to and want to make.