Arguably the most important part of receiving feedback through a 360 or any other source is creating a plan to improve in areas of weakness, which we refer to as ‘action planning’. Afterall, feedback unacted might as well be feedback unheard- creating missed opportunities for both the individual and the organization. Without guidance and a framework, action planning can be challenging for many.
The framework and process our team uses, facilitated within the 4T Leaders 360 Platform, is below:
Reflections
Building an action plan takes time and reflection. There is no single answer amidst the waterfall of qualitative and quantitative data. There is no “silver bullet” for leadership development. Leaders need an opportunity to think through their data, which includes not only considering the lens through which they are viewing their results, but also their goals. We find that leaders so often focus just on their lowest items and completely set aside strengths; as coaches, we seek to redirect others to what has helped them be successful over the years. Leaders may become fixated on one data point and may over-index their action plan based on a single item.
We embed a dynamic reflection journal right into each page of the 4R 360 Assessment to encourage, and document, that reflection while leaders take in their results. Leaders who truly engage in interacting with reflection questions ultimately end up working from a stronger foundation and have more focus on their goals than those who seek to jump straight to action. Good reflection questions include:
- How have my strengths helped me to achieve my goals in the past?
- What might explain discrepancies in scores across my rater groups?
- How might this blind spot show up at work?
- How can I leverage this hidden strength moving forward?
Identifying your Themes
Another piece of the legwork for a strong action plan is for leaders to identify themes from their 360s reports. The fixation on a single datapoint is dangerous, as it can cause a false start in the wrong direction. Rather, asking questions, such as “what are the themes in my comments?” “What do I notice within and across rater groups that stands out,” and “where do the comments support my quantitative scores” can help leaders identify where to spend their effort. More often than not, clear themes emerge following the reflective process. The 4R Leaders 360 platform allows participants to flag items and comments, and then later sort them into themes, which serves as an excellent jumping off point for putting together a plan.
Planning
The foundations of a strong plan lie in reflection and identifying themes. Once that process is completed, the action plan becomes relatively easy! An action plan should be focused (on 1-3 competencies) and timebound. Starting by selecting competencies, leaders can write goals within that competency that build upon knowledgebase from reflections and address themes in the feedback. The goals should be supported by specific actions that are linked to a plan. The 70-20-10 rule continues to apply, where 70% of leader’s actions should be on-the-job experiences, 20% social learning, and 10% formal training (though this latter 10% has an amplifying effect on the other components).
The 4R Leaders 360 seeks to make this process easier on a leader by providing a slew of developmental options, such as personal reflective tasks, activities with others, books, and journal articles. Assigning dates and creating accountability to these dates by sharing your action plan with a manager or trusted other, is a critical step in ensuring your ongoing development.
Interested to learn more about 360-Program success? Click here to read about “Getting 360’s Right”
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