Feedback Lineup: Building a 360-review “A” Team

— by taylor (4 min read)

During 360-review season, you’re asked to select raters to help evaluate your performance. Just like picking players for a kickball team, you want raters who will make you look good.

But you don’t want to look good because the raters are all generic and wishy-washy. You want to look good because there’s something worthwhile in the feedback.

Think about the kickball team: If people are picking daisies in the outfield and constantly missing the ball, even if you score home runs, you could still lose the game. If everyone contributes to the best of their ability, then you’ve got a match.
Selecting 360 raters who are going to contribute to the best of their ability means selecting people who will be honest, fair and objective. They’ll also take the time to focus on the survey, not just click through it to get it over with.
These “A” team raters also aren’t going to give you a perfect review.
If you really want to improve your game, you need people who are going to tell you the good and the bad. What makes these raters helpful is that with the bad, you’ll get suggestions on how to improve. You won’t have poor ratings because someone’s had a bad day.

Here are some of the players you should look for:

·        A peer who’s known you for a long time
·        A mentor or indirect supervisor
·        One new and one long-term client or customer
·        A project teammate from another department
·        A remote employee you’ve worked with
·        Someone you’ve faced a work challenge with
All of these people have had a variety of experiences with you. A project could have gone perfectly or it could have been a mess. You could have played different roles on different teams. Clients see a different side of you than your co-workers do. Selecting these people will help you get a full picture of your past performance.
If you don’t get to choose your team of raters because a supervisor selects them, go ahead and make a list anyway. You can then tell your supervisor to add these people — and show that you’ve given thought to the process. 
Once you’ve built your “A” team, give the same courtesy to the 360 reviews you’re selected to give feedback on. Be honest, fair and objective, and take the time to really give quality answers. Both you and the rest of your co-workers will get more out of the process by being “A” team players for each other.