Better than 360 Feedback

Companies invest a lot of money in feedback – 360° feedback. They assume that better feedback will lead to better self-understanding and improved performance. OK, so far. Last night I listened to a presentation by Patrick Lencioni (Confronting Team Dysfunctions) who talked about a cheaper and better way to get feedback. This is how it works:

In a team, everyone writes down one positive thing about each other person on the team. Then you start sharing that, for example starting with the leader. Everyone share what they bring to the team. Not just their function, but what they add in a unique way. Then the next person and so on.

After that first round of positive things, everyone writes down one thing that each other person should improve. Same again: go around and everyone shares their comments.

This seems like an interesting process. Most people will probably feel uncomfortable with the directness of the approach. Someone asked in the show: can this be done anonymous? Sure, it can. But doing it open is even more beneficial, since each person commits to their feedback and is frank about it. It actually builds trust when people start speaking open. It also establishes a culture of feedback when people start opening up on their views.

I would like to try this some time. It seems that the uneasiness with being open is quiet a barrier. It is strange that people are so private about their relationships with the people they work with daily on a team. Why is that so difficult? Why is there such a “don’t talk directly about personal issues” thing? Sure, nobody wants to be constantly evaluated and judged by their peers. On the other hand: wouldn’t it be great to be in a team where you are committed to each other’s success? And where you are aware of the weaknesses and cover each other on them? I’ll let you know if this has actually worked for me…