Back to my movement along Bowland Solutions' recommended approach to 360 degree feedback. I turn my attention to the rating scale.
This can prove an oddly contentious point with our clients. There are invariably 4 main debates
How many rating points : we recommend as few as possible. Keep it simple. Our standard scale would be 3 points plus not applicable. So; Strength, Competent, Development Area would be a great scale. We work with longer scales but we find that they add complexity more than the provide information.
Should there be a middle point : yes. I know the fear - everyone will score in the middle (the Veblen effect). But they don't - really, the don't. And often people have a "he's fine", "ambivalent", "mixed feelings" type response that they want to give. Forcing them to go positive or negative creates a false response.
Is not applicable allowed : yes. You might call it something else : "no evidence"? But in 30 or so questions we have to expect some people to just not know. Now - most important, you should review the responses to questions to ensure that questions are not overloaded with N/A responses - or that one group of respondents are answering in this way. If they are then the question requires rewording or removing.
The words : We favour scales such as "Strength", "Development Area" rather than "Often","Sometimes". The latter, frequency, scales are however effective and really this is just personal preference. I find that the behaviours read better as a statement rather than as a question and this fits with a statement based rating scale. What I would avoid at all costs is a numerical rating scale.
The rating scale in 360 degree feedback is less important than people make it - I believe that respondents look at it initially to get a feel for where to place their mark but really they are providing graduated feedback more than specific.
When debriefing though you do tend to use the rating scale as part of the language - and I concentrate on this area when I am designing the rating scale.
Brendan
This can prove an oddly contentious point with our clients. There are invariably 4 main debates
- How many rating points
- Should there be a middle point
- Is not applicable allowed
- The words - in particular whether there should be a frequency scale or a commentary scale
How many rating points : we recommend as few as possible. Keep it simple. Our standard scale would be 3 points plus not applicable. So; Strength, Competent, Development Area would be a great scale. We work with longer scales but we find that they add complexity more than the provide information.
Should there be a middle point : yes. I know the fear - everyone will score in the middle (the Veblen effect). But they don't - really, the don't. And often people have a "he's fine", "ambivalent", "mixed feelings" type response that they want to give. Forcing them to go positive or negative creates a false response.
Is not applicable allowed : yes. You might call it something else : "no evidence"? But in 30 or so questions we have to expect some people to just not know. Now - most important, you should review the responses to questions to ensure that questions are not overloaded with N/A responses - or that one group of respondents are answering in this way. If they are then the question requires rewording or removing.
The words : We favour scales such as "Strength", "Development Area" rather than "Often","Sometimes". The latter, frequency, scales are however effective and really this is just personal preference. I find that the behaviours read better as a statement rather than as a question and this fits with a statement based rating scale. What I would avoid at all costs is a numerical rating scale.
The rating scale in 360 degree feedback is less important than people make it - I believe that respondents look at it initially to get a feel for where to place their mark but really they are providing graduated feedback more than specific.
When debriefing though you do tend to use the rating scale as part of the language - and I concentrate on this area when I am designing the rating scale.
Brendan
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