I recently completed a 360 review, as did Phil Taylor, our Vice-Chancellor. We were keen to better understand how we’re seen, and what our strengths and areas for improvement are. In this blog I explain the motivation for this, and what we’ve learned.
We often have limited understanding of how we’re seen, and how our behaviour impacts others. This can be a comforting bubble to be in – never hearing those hard truths – but it’s also a dangerous place to be.
Without a good understanding of the environment we’re operating in, and in particular of ourselves, we can’t be effective.
One approach is to foster a culture of openness and (constructive) challenge, but that takes time and will rarely be complete – there will always be some things that some people don’t feel comfortable saying openly or directly.
Another complementary approach is the 360 review – a process whereby relevant individuals (direct reports, peers, and so on) complete a survey of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
360 feedback offers a panoramic view of our strengths and weaknesses, incorporating feedback from peers, direct reports and managers. This multi-perspective insight helps us understand the gaps between how we see ourselves and how others experience us.
This is a fairly substantial undertaking, both for the subject of the review and for those completing the survey, which typically includes (anonymously) scoring the subject along several dimensions and also providing narrative comments.
But it can provide real insights into what people really think of you – your strengths and weaknesses, behaviours to continue and changes to be made. In other words, if taken in the right spirit, it can help you be better at your job.
For that reason, both myself and Phil Taylor, our Vice-Chancellor, recently completed a 360 review, each of us asking 20 people we work closely with – within and outside of the University – to participate.
We both felt that we had been in post long enough for people to form a reasonable opinion of us, and that it was a good time to reflect on this and make any necessary changes to improve our effectiveness.
What did we learn?
In my case, I was struck by the thoughtfulness of the narrative comments I received. I was extremely grateful that people were willing to engage in that way, particularly given the time it would have taken.
The feedback I received aligns with how I see myself – in terms of my strengths (courage, decisiveness, efficiency, enthusiasm, leading, relationship building and self-confidence) and their impact, as well as the areas I need to continue to work on.
Overall, my first few months at Bath appear to have been well received. But the feedback also left me with some good challenges, including that there are areas where I’ve not made it sufficiently clear what I’m doing or the purpose behind it.
In terms of the areas where I need to do more, or do better, these include articulating a vision more clearly, and strengthening the thread between what I’m doing and the vision and ambition for positive change in the University’s culture.
Phil’s experience was similar:
“I’ve been at Bath a relatively short time, and it felt like the right time to pause, gather feedback and reflect. I learned a lot about how I’m viewed and took away some valuable lessons in terms of what I can add to how I work. You have to be quite brave because the feedback can be very honest. In fact, you want it to be, because that’s the only way you can learn what people really think about you. Fortunately, the feedback also reassured me that what we’re doing at Bath is landing well, and my personal style works for people. But I also learned a lot, and identified some things I can work on, such as being more open about my thinking, knowing when to slow down and explain the reasons behind key decisions. Overall, it was a really interesting and valuable experience”
We’re both hoping that engaging with the 360 process will help us to be more effective – by highlighting what we’re doing well and what we can approach differently – and also model the need for reflection and continual improvement.
Even outside of a 360 review, we can try to bring that attitude to our everyday work.
Respond
