Module 3 – SLP
360-DEGREE FEEDBACK
For this assignment you will be applying the concepts from the background readings to some specific scenarios that you might face if you were a leadership development coach. Make sure to thoroughly review Fleenor, et al. (2008) before starting on this assignment.
For each of the scenarios below, use at least one reference from the required readings to answer the specific question. Use your knowledge of the background readings to diagnose each scenario in terms of what went wrong and what could have been done differently. Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length:
An organization decides that they dont want to spend the large amount of money to use a 360-degree survey from an established vendor and instead decides to develop their own survey. An employee in the human resource department is asked to create a list of 50 questions about different areas of leadership performance. Two of the senior managers look at the questions briefly and then send out the survey as part of a 360-degree process. Once the results come in, there is no rhyme or reason to the results. For example, one top performing leader in the organization gets perfect performance scores from some employees and very negative scores from other employees. Management is not sure if the results from the survey can be trusted or not.
A unit in one organization is having a lot of performance issues and senior management is not sure of the reasons for this. They dont want to fire any employees, but they do think some of the supervisors need to improve their leadership skills. The survey is sent to five employees, which includes two supervisors and three direct reports. They are told that although the survey will be anonymous, the results of each survey will be shared with all five employees; the names will be removed from each survey, and they will all be able to see the evaluation scores on each question. When senior management sees the survey results, they find that all five employees received almost perfect scores and no useful information from the surveys can be found.
A software company is concerned that they are losing market share to their competitors and that their software is not as high in quality as it used to be. In an effort to improve their competitiveness, they decide to use a 360-degree survey process to identify areas for improvement in leadership skills among their top supervisors in their software design department. After searching through a few different 360-degree instruments offered by different vendors, they find a survey that focuses on communication and teamwork skills. The process seems to go very well as supervisors who score low on communication or teamwork agree to go through training to improve these skills. One year later, the 360-degree process is repeated, and most supervisors show greatly improved communication and teamwork skills. However, the quality of the companys software does not seem to have improved at all in spite of the improvements in communication and teamwork.
Required Material
First, start out by viewing this short introduction to 360-degree feedback:
Sheahan, P. (2013). Test your assumptions. [Books24x7 version]. Available in the Online Library.
Davis, Erroll, Jr., ( 2005). Using feedback to become a more effective leader. [Video File]. [Books24x7 version]
Lepsinger, Richard & Lucia, Anntoinette D.. ( 2009). The art and science of 360 degree feedback, second edition. [Books24x7 version]
Now read Chapters 1 and 2 of the following book for a more thorough and detailed overview of the 306-degree feedback process. The checklist on page 37 will be useful for the Case Assignment:
Book JacketTaylor, S., Chappelow, C., & Fleenor, J. (2008). Leveraging the Impact of 360-Degree Feedback. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Pfeiffer. [EBSCO eBook Collection]
The Vukotich (2014) article below is also highly recommended but not required.
Optional Reading
Vukotich, G. (2014). 360 Feedback: Ready, Fire, Aim-Issues With Improper Implementation. Performance Improvement, 53(1), 30-35.
Mukherjee, S. (2014). Chapter 10: 360 degree survey in coaching need assessment. Corporate Coaching: The Essential Guide. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd. [EBSCO eBook Collection]
