by Ceri Heathcote

Created on: May 03, 2007

The use of 360 degree feedback has become widespread in Executive coaching as a method of improving perfomance and for an individual to gain a greater understanding of how others perceive them. It is important that the right questionnaire is used and also the correct strategies for coaching.

Extendeddisc.co.uk offers both team 360 feedback questionnaire and bespoke questionnaires allowing for an assessment of both an individuals behaviours in relation to the Extended DISC model and also specific competencies that can be tailored to the clients requirements for example leadership.

The 360 degree feedback report should form part of a bigger performance discussion and ideally the individual should not receive their report before the session or at the beginning of the session. This gives the impression that the purpose of the discussion is only to understand the report. The overall focus of the discussion should be clearly on performance improvement. It is also important to discover the coaches goal and look for step changes in performance in order to achieve this goal.

The report should be used as a basis for discussion and allow the individual to find their own conclusions on what it tells them. Perhaps by explaining two or three things they are good at and two or things they are less good at, then giving them time to think should help them to decide what is really important. It will be much more powerful and likely to effect personal change if they make up their own minds instead of being spoon fed conclusions.

Competencies are of course important but it is also important to encourage the coachee to look beyond the competencies and also look at themes between the questions rated higher and lower. It can also be useful to use the free text to identify themes in the language used. This may well explain or confirm ratings given for competencies. The Extended DISC Team 360 can be used to gather feedback based on the behaviours of an individual in relation to a DISC model. This gives an added dimension to a discussion allowing the individual to focus specifically on behaviours rather than just competencies.

The result of the discussion should be a clear action plan based on a maximum of 3 points on how the person can achieve their goal. These can be training or personal development but quick performance improvements can also be made just by changing how things are done.

Finally the individuals should be encouraged to share the feedback and action plan with their manager to ensure that they receive full support in achieving their goal.

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