If you're in charge of a large and multifaceted organisation, you may have many people under your command. After all, you've got various departments within the company, and each one of these has a manager in charge of individual supervisors and other workers. As this type of arrangement is so dynamic, you will always want to ensure that your staff is well-managed, that they are doing their job to the best of their ability and that they, in turn, trust these supervisors. To assess all these issues, you will need feedback and will be on the lookout for techniques and strategies, so why should you consider an approach known as "360 feedback?"

Commissioning Feedback

Even though you are in charge of the overall operation, you have to delegate and trust your individual managers and supervisors. However, all of these individuals are human and will have a variety of challenges to consider, based on their strengths and weaknesses. It may be difficult for you to see what those pros and cons might be from your position, so this is a good reason for you to get feedback from those who are directly around them.

Development Tool

This is where 360-degree feedback surveys come in, as it is a management development tool that can help your managers and supervisors to become far more effective.

Understanding the Process

In order to initiate the survey, you will ask those who are in direct contact with the individual on a regular basis to provide their feedback. This is done anonymously, but once the data has been gathered, the manager or supervisor will be able to see how those others perceive them and apply this, as needed, to the job. For example, they may need to develop additional skills, be aware of certain situations or adjust their behaviour in a specific way. In every case, they should be able to get great value from the feedback, and this should make the departmental dynamic all the better.

Remember, this is not designed to be a performance appraisal, per se, but it is designed to give the manager or supervisor something to think about, in terms of their competencies and behaviour.

Initiating the Survey

If you believe that this would be a good strategy for your organisation, get in touch with consultants that specialise in handling and operating a 360-degree feedback survey. They will do this with due deference to confidentiality and provide you with valuable information to help make your business more effective.