360 Interviews

A 360 is a way to gather feedback about you and your performance, in order to give you perspective from many angles. Feedback is gathered from a range of people in variety of roles in the organization. This usually includes those who report to you, peers, your supervisor, and other strategic relationships like customers and vendors.

Traditionally, a 360 is composed of a pre-defined set of questions or behaviors, often developed by the organization you work for. You are scored confidentially by each rater and the results are integrated into a report. While these multi-rater instruments can be very valuable, interviews by an objective, neutral third party are an even better way to get feedback that is highly relevant.

With 360 interviews, a skilled coach interviews the people who are most strategic to you, to your success, and to your development. After the interviewing is completed, the coach consolidates and delivers the information to you. When feedback is acquired and delivered in this way, it is usually very well received.

As you build a solid basis for trust with your coach, he or she helps you identify where to focus the interview questions. While conducting the interviews, your coach will be able to identify relationship, organizational, and political dynamics that might otherwise remain hidden. This information can then be brought back to you in a way that allows you understand what is going on. It also becomes the basis for an action plan to address needed changes.

When others are interviewed regarding a leader, it sends a positive signal; that the leader is invested in his or her growth and cares about the opinion of the person being interviewed. Often the leader earns respect and is even admired for being so courageous.

How To Set Up Interviews

Feedback from interviews is part of the coaching process, especially for executives. If you're interested in this tailored approach to understanding how you affect others, contact Barbara to discuss coaching options.