A brief post today which was prompted by a recent client project where I was handling the 360 degree appraisal debriefs.

There were plenty of respondents, from each of the nominated categories, such as peers, direct reports and line manager (of which there were interestingly 2 of in this case) - all of them providing a lot a rated feedback as they answered all the questions.

However, the challenge arose when it came to looking at the free-text comments in support of the rated questions above - the line managers had made no comments...

Now with one line manager that would be difficult enough, but with two line managers, differing in opinion quite considerably, the ability to understand what was going on was reduced significantly.

It reminded me how important it is to communicate with respondents and train them in how to give good, constructive feedback. It is not enough to simply rate a statement, particularly if it is at one end of the scale or the other - narrative must be encouraged at all times - it allows the recipient to fully understand the impact of their behaviour, through the use of examples and evidence.

Without it, the feedback can become a blur of graphics which tells only half a story.

We can implement checks within the system which provide 'pop-up' boxes to encourage people to fill in the free-text comments section, but at the end of the day it must be through clear communication and framing of how the 360 degree feedback process works to best effect, that will establish the good practice of adding narrative.

John