360 Feedback Coaching/Facilitation/Debriefing Resources

I’m frequently asked – When debriefing a 360 degree assessment, how do you make sense of the detailed feedback/ read '360 feedback numbers'?

Regardless of the numerical format used – The following provides a framework for identifying some of the most common feedback scenarios/ patterns and how they can be interpreted.

Nasty Surprise – I think I’m good at this, but others do not agree

Nice Surprise – Others see me far better than I see myself

Nice Confirmation – I think I’m good at this and others see it

Nasty Confirmation – I know I’m not good at this and others see it too

Unseen Behaviour – I’m doing this but some people don’t see it

See the training we can provide to develop internal 360 feedback coaches.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Receiving 360 feedback that is critical/ challenging/ negative/ can be upsetting, especially when it differs from the participants own perceptions and/ or is echoed by several people. But how they deal with it, is far more important than the content.

Use the following practical steps to support/ facilitate others to receive unfavourable 360 feedback in an objective and constructive way.

Encourage your coachee too...

• Take a 'time out' – Give themselves time to 'mull things over' – allow the initial surprise, high emotions, intuitive defensive reactions etc., time to calm down and for the feedback to settle.
• Avoid going in search of the guilty(!) - Don't waste emotional energy and time on witch hunting 'the guilty'. Let the feedback remain anonymous (as it was intended) – What was said, was said – it is what they do with the information that counts.
• Deal with the important stuff - Trying to process and work on every piece of feedback can be overwhelming and also ineffective. It is far better to pick out one or two pieces that really matter, have some substance and that if they are addressed will make the most positive impact to their approach/ style the future.
• Make a plan for change - The decision to change is the most important part of converting negative 360 degree feedback from a mental and emotional drain into a positive development tool. Encourage them to identify the behaviours to change, what the new approach will look like and start living them.

Concluding thoughts... Things to ponder...

• If people choose not to make changes based on the feedback, they are inviting more negative perceptions.
• The feedback is others perceptions at that point in time. It does not define the participant, but what they do with it, will!

See the development and training we provide for 360 feedback coaches.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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In our experience the biggest differentiator between organisations that lever the power of 360 degree feedback and those that simply go through the motion, is the support participants receive to convert their feedback into meaningful development actions and how those goals are subsequently delivered against.

Use this framework to get 360 feedback coaching right:

• Place the initial coaching emphasis on supporting the participant to ‘really listen’ to what is being said, drawing out the key development messages and their current perceived strengths
• Cluster/ group key feedback messages together to gain a clear picture of the underpinning developmental themes
• Steer the participant towards identifying no more than 3 development areas, and one key strength that they should leverage further
• Shape the outputs of the conversation into a clear (dare I say SMART!) development plan
• Following Through – Measuring development and holding participants to account for implementing their development plan is the step that most organisation talk up but rarely do well(!) – Those that get it right
• Ensure participants development plans are shared with their line manager
• Insist on key messages (not the whole 360 report) and development objectives being shared with the participants team/ direct reports
• Use 30, 60 and 90 day implementation measures and diarise 'catch ups' for each of those dates
• Seek further feedback to gauge changing perceptions

Need some support in developing your 360 feedback coaches? Lumus360 provide several 360 degree training packages.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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The Line Manager-Direct Report relationship can create additional challenges for coaching 360 feedback. In addition to having the core coaching skills, being comfortable with the 360 reporting format, reading the numbers etc., it’s also important the following have been considered:

• Quality and consistency – Whist some Line Managers have the coaching knowledge, skills, experience and personal development ‘know how’ to construct really good development plans. Many don’t, and therefore the challenge is how to ensure all 360 feedback conversations are conducted in a quality way
• Lack of a positive picture of success – If Line Managers haven’t been previously coached through a 360 feedback report, they don’t have an ‘experiential picture’ for what success (or failure) looks like and therefore struggle to visualise and measure their success
• Difficult conversations – Regardless of whether they are triggered by differences in perception, expectations, personality, performance etc., 360 feedback can, by its very nature create the triggering environment for difficult conversations and it’s important Line Managers have at least considered how to manage those occasions
• Line manager blindness – Line Managers (as opposed to external feedback coaches) inevitably bring their ingrained/ fixed perceptions (good, bad and indifferent) to the conversation, which can frequently be different to those of others. Supporting / enabling Line Managers to step into the conversation with an open/ learning mind-set is very important
• Participants feedback maturity level – Some 360 participants don’t have the feedback maturity to listen to, reflect on, conclude and develop positive outcomes to critical feedback and a key role of the coach is using 360 feedback conversations to grow that maturity level, a skill most Line Managers will not have developed/ previously considered
• Drowning in the detail – Because of the Line Manager- Direct Report relationship, it’s too easy for both parties to chase and get lost in the detail, as opposed to focusing on the development of feedback themes and overarching style and behavioural shifts

Whilst there are many ways of supporting Line Managers to become 360 feedback coaches the lumus360 line manager as 360 coaching workshop is a great first step.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Six coaching steps for ensuring people make the most of their 360 feedback report:

• Allow them time for reflect and absorb their initial impression of the feedback
• Invite them to draw conclusions/ key themes and trends
• Clarify key strengths and how they can be optimised
• Define those areas for improvement and how changes will be made
• Encourage them to thank respondents for taking the time to provide the feedback and asking for further clarity if required
• Encourage the sharing of development goals with as many people as possible

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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One of the most effective ways of making sure that 360 degree assessments result in performance improvement, is to ensure that post 360 survey action/ development plans are monitored through line manager 1:2:1’s.

Involving line managers in the ‘follow through’ of actions has the following benefits – It:

• Brings the whole 360 feedback process back under the line manager/organisational umbrella
• Provides line managers with a ‘voice’ and opportunity to influence/steer development objectives and their importance
• Enables line managers to provide appropriate support and resources
• Provides opportunities for line managers to take an active role in their peoples development – Possibly through coaching, the provision of experiential/learning opportunities etc.
• Provides a structure for validating the whole 360 feedback process and evaluating impact in relation to individual growth and enhanced organisational performance

Whilst the utilisation of line managers in this way sounds obvious, our experience indicates that it is not common practice.

From a pragmatic perspective, this approach works particularly well when the expectation that post 360 development plans will be shared with line managers, is established at the start of process.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Supporting participants to convert their feedback into a set of engaged actions is a key output of the 360 feedback process.

Last year, psychologist Prof Richard Wiseman tracked the lives of over 700 people as they attempted to achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Only 12% of participants achieved their resolution and by comparing the techniques used by successful and unsuccessful participants, Wiseman identified the following as key components in effectively achieving personal objectives:

• Break your goal into a series of bite-sized steps – Focus on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable, and time-based
• Tell your friends and family about your goals, thus increasing the fear of failure and eliciting support
• Regularly remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goals by creating a checklist of how life would be better once you obtain your aim
• Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time – Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether.

• Make only one resolution/objective, your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour
• Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, thus maintaining motivation and a sense of progress

How can you use the above to better facilitate your coachee’s follow through on their development goals?

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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360 degree assessments can provide the powerful insights and perception truths that make people sit up and really think about how they come across. As a 360 degree feedback coach, I’ve always been consciously aware of its potential negative power, particularly when feedback recipients start their feedback debriefing session from a vulnerable/unstable emotional place.

A couple of weeks ago I was coaching a senior manager through what was an above average report and it became apparent very early on that every line of the report was being read with a negative/emotional and unbalanced eye which wasn’t healthy. I drew the feedback session to an early close and afterwards it became clear that they had a lot of other things going on in their world and if we’d have continued at that time, the 360 degree feedback report (even though it was very good) could easily have been the ‘straw that broke the camels back’.

On reflection, the experience reinforced the need for 360 feedback facilitators to apply core coaching skills including:

• The importance of taking time to find out ‘where the feedback recipient is’ on an emotional level before looking at the report and ‘tune in’ to them
• Remembering that initially, feedback recipients typically read their reports though an ‘emotional/heart/eye’ as opposed to their ‘logical/head/eye’
• The need to make regular opportunities to ‘check in’ and to have a mechanism for capturing how the feedback recipient is feeling about the feedback (both the nice and no so nice stuff)
• Recognising the emotional journey that is change and that for most of us our initial reaction to critical feedback can be to deny, defend or justify it.
• Having the courage to stop a feedback session when things are not right

Lumus360 run a very good workshop to train 360 feedback coaches how to 'get it right'.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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I've found the following coaching questions a great way of supporting others to review their development progress in a balanced way whilst identifying how barriers to future success will be overcome:

• Successes – What are the areas you believe you have developed in – and why was that development successful?
• Celebration – How shall you celebrate your successes?
• Disappointments – What areas were you hoping to develop but things did not go as well as expected? – and why may that have been?
• Carry forward – Which development goals (if any) do you need to re-instigate?
• Learning about me – What have you learnt about how you learn/develop? – How could you improve your learning process next year?

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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I’ve just read an interesting blog from Marshall Goldsmith on turning 360 feedback into positive change.
He suggests that participants should follow up with their team using the following guidelines:

• Thank them for participating in the feedback process. Take the time to acknowledge the value of their time. Express gratitude for their input.
• Review strengths. Personally commit to continued effort in these areas of strength and express gratitude for their positive recognition.
• Openly discuss desired areas for development. Sincerely apologise for any mistakes that may have made in the past and commit to improve.
• Solicit ideas for the future. Ask for specific suggestions that can help ensure his improvement in targeted areas for change as well as general suggestions that can help you on your journey to become a more effective leader.
• Make realistic commitments. Avoid over-promising. Commit to listen to all ideas. Consider every suggestion and make a ‘good faith’ effort to do the best you can to improve.
• Ask for their continued support. Let them know that you plan to follow-up and get ongoing ideas and suggestions. Communicate that positive, lasting change is a process – not a program.

He also suggests following-up with the team every couple of months or so. For example, if the area for improvement was listening, the participant could ask, “After receiving my 360 feedback, I committed to becoming a better listener. Based upon my behaviour over the past two months, can you please give me a couple of suggestions that might help me become a better listener over the next two months?”

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Simply comparing the numbers of a past 360 report with a recent survey in order to monitor and measure development progress doesn’t really work.

In order to maximise the benefits of doing a 360 degree feedback survey for a second/ third time, we suggest participants take the following approach:

• Identify where development has been successful – and why
• Capture the development aspirations that did not go as well as expected – and why may that have been
• Identify what they have learnt about how they learn/develop

New report – In order to avoid the temptation of doing a direct number comparison, we suggest participants initially work through their new report on its own (not in conjunction with your previous survey). Their key aim being to gain clarity about how their current leadership behaviours are received as opposed to focusing on how they have been ‘scored’.

The key questions they should ask:

• What are my current perceived strengths? (the top 10% of ratings)
• Which of my behaviours do people believe I could further improve? (the bottom 10% of ratings)
• What are the biggest differences in perceptions?
• Are there any surprises?

Monitor/ measure progress Having drawn key conclusions from their second report, participants should then make some high level comparisons between the old and new report, aiming to answering the questions:

• How has my world and responsibilities changed that must be recognised in the new 360 degree feedback?
• Where have people noticed my development improvements?
• How have perceptions changed in relation to those areas I have consciously been trying to develop (including my own)?
• Are all of my original perceived strengths still seen as such?
• Which (if any) new development areas have appeared?
• Where are the current gaps in perceptions?

Celebrate successes – In addition to giving themselves a ‘pat on the back’ participants should also consider how the can share those successes with others in order to further build their brand/reputation; reinforce how they now work and demonstrate their commitment to continued development.

Where next? – The aim here is to pick out several areas for continued development and convert them into a set of specific development goals which include:

• Capturing how their learning about ‘how they learn’ will be applied
• Identifying what they would like to see in a 360 degree feedback survey in 18 – 24 months’ time

Lumus360 make the tracking of development progress over time easy with the use of our Comparative 360 feedback report.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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The fundamental 360 feedback coaching principles and coaching approach remain the same as for any other coaching relationship and can be summarised as:

• Coachee centred - Recognising that personal change comes from ownership and it is therefore the coachee who sets the agenda, makes decisions, takes responsibility for and drives the outcomes.
• Belief in the coachee's potential - Believing that the coachee has great growth / development potential and belief in their ability to solve their own difficult challenges. Recognising that it is the role of the coach to facilitate that self discovery and decision making process.
• Build and sustain a powerful coaching relationship - Building a non-judgemental relationship based on trust, respect, openness and confidentiality that allows honest, constructive challenging and genuine support.
• Encourage self awareness and self belief - Asking the hard, insightful and challenging questions that raise personal awareness and an ability to support the coachee to build self confidence and belief in their own potential and ability.
• Performance and results focused - Working on the real issues and the tough stuff that results in performance focused action, leading to positive change that benefits both the individual and their organisation.

Lumus360 offer train the line manager as 360 coach training.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Why 360 feedback coaching?

Whilst it is widely accepted that 360 degree feedback can play a powerful part in the development of senior managers and leaders, simply participating in a 360 degree exercise does not guarantee results.

Our experience and research, obtained through working with over a quarter of a million 360 degree participants, confirms that a key differentiator between inconsequential 360 outcomes and positive performance acceleration is how the participant is supported to draw appropriate and balanced conclusions from their report and then convert these into a forward looking set of positive and meaningful development objectives.

360 degree feedback coaching is a performance focused, results orientated partnership that aims to support and facilitate the participant (coachee) to understand and accept the data and then maximise its value in terms of improved performance and their development growth.

They key outcomes of a typical 360 feedback coaching relationship would be for the participant to:

• Understand, accept and take ownership of the feedback; including managing the emotional reaction that may be prompted by the feedback.
• Draw conclusions from the report, enabling them to develop a clear picture of how others see them. This includes linking together feedback themes to identify key messages and what others perceive to be their strengths, areas for further development and possible blockers.
• Develop a pragmatic personal development plan (PDP) that includes identifying how objectives will be achieved and their success measured.
• Identify an opportunity to have a development discussion with their line manager and to have built a communication plan for thanking people for their feedback input and sharing how they intend to apply the key outputs from the 360 degree feedback.

Did you know, Lumus360 can provide individual 360 feedback coaching and group feedback sessions

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Two coaching session of two hours each works well as this provides an opportunity for the coachee to reflect on their feedback and gain further clarification where needed before deciding on a call to action.

• Session 1 - In addition to understanding the business context, where the feedback fits into the coachee's goals and current situation and agreeing the purpose, process, objectives for meeting, typical outcomes would also be that by the end of the session the coachee has:
• Received and interpreted their 360 degree feedback report.
• Identified what others perceive to be their strengths and key areas for development and linked these back into their own agenda and the business context.
• Drawn initial conclusions and identified possible areas of development work from the report.
• Interim work - A 'mulling over' period of between one and two weeks allows sufficient time for personal reflection and an opportunity to clarify key feedback messages and how they feel about them.
• Session 2 - This session should focus on converting key feedback messages into a personal development plan (PDP), including identifying pragmatically how objectives will be achieved, by when, and how their success will be measured. This session should also be used to consider how they will engage and gain their manager's support in their development agenda and to build a communication plan for thanking those who provided feedback / sharing the next steps.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Written to support coaches and their coachees 'get it right'. The following principles underpin how to debrief a 360 feedback report:

• Accept the data first - A key benefit of using a 360 is the factual, candid information it makes available. For many of us, our instinctive reaction to dealing with negative or critical feedback is to want to justify or defend our own positions. A key role of a 360 coach is to support the coachee to 'accept' the perceptions others may have of them. Interestingly these can be positive or negative, expected or unexpected perceptions. Recognising that it is only then that the coachee can objectively use the information as part of their own decision making process.
• Coach from the 'head' and 'heart' - Coaching 360 degree feedback from the 'head', by logically and objectively reviewing ratings to identify trends and patterns from which development goals can be built, is only part of the story. 360 participants may experience some form of disappointing feedback which is typically read through the 'emotional eye' and it may hurt. Coaching 360 degree feedback means being able to coach from the 'heart', having the ability to tune in and follow, in an empathic way, the coachee's emotional journey, supporting them to work through it and turn their feelings into positive actions.
• Take a balanced approach - It is easy to focus on lower feedback ratings and the participant's areas of obvious need and in the process miss a great opportunity. It is important that the 360 coach guides the coachee to take a balanced view of the feedback, placing equal emphasis on strengths and areas for development. Focusing on the coachee's strengths and leveraging their natural abilities towards continued performance delivery will generate positive energy and enhance the likelihood of their future success.
• Find the 'big one' and deal with it - Use the feedback to help the coachee identify any potential 'derailers', those behaviours or aspects of their current style and approach that will get in the way and limit their potential and progress if not addressed. Having found it, help the coachee to put it on the top of their development agenda.
• Enable self discovery and ownership - 'Pull' don't 'push'... If you find yourself steering the conversation, pointing out ratings, explaining the numbers or linking questions together to draw conclusions then you've failed! The report and experience will have far more impact and likelihood of driving personal change if the coachee is allowed to 'struggle' with the numbers to work things out for themselves.
• Contextualise the feedback - 360 feedback should be viewed as a component part in a bigger picture and not the central cog from which all else is driven. Take time at the beginning of the session to understand the business context, what the coachee is aiming to achieve in the business and for the business, where the feedback and competency areas fit, then link the feedback to them.
• Turning negatives into positives - Support the coachee to view what they perceive as negative feedback in an objective and constructive manner. Enable them to identify the key themes and the way that the message can represent a clear way forward. The role of the coach is to facilitate a curiosity about the feedback rather than allow a defensive reaction or, worse, denial or 'discounting' of the feedback.
• Expectations before and after - Coaching 360 degree feedback differs from a normal coaching session in two ways. Firstly, it is important to recognise that with 360 degree feedback the agenda has not been set by the participant. Secondly, the coachee will have expectations before the session; after the session the participant's peers, line manager and indeed the whole organisation will have raised expectations about the participant. The sheer volume of feedback that the coachee receives means that careful attention is needed with regard to managing the post-session period, both for the coachee and the organisation.

If you are implementing 360 feedback in your organisation and need to upskill your existing coaches to debrief 360 degree assessment reports, our Train the 360 coach workshop would be ideal.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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The fundamental 360 feedback coaching principles and coaching approach remain the same as for any other coaching relationship and can be summarised as:

• Coachee centred - Recognising that personal change comes from ownership and it is therefore the coachee who sets the agenda, makes decisions, takes responsibility for and drives the outcomes.
• Belief in the coachee's potential - Believing that the coachee has great growth / development potential and belief in their ability to solve their own difficult challenges. Recognising that it is the role of the coach to facilitate that self discovery and decision making process.
• Build and sustain a powerful coaching relationship - Building a non-judgemental relationship based on trust, respect, openness and confidentiality that allows honest, constructive challenging and genuine support.
• Encourage self awareness and self belief - Asking the hard, insightful and challenging questions that raise personal awareness and an ability to support the coachee to build self confidence and belief in their own potential and ability.
• Performance and results focused - Working on the real issues and the tough stuff that results in performance focused action, leading to positive change that benefits both the individual and their organisation.

Lumus360 offer train the line manager as 360 coach training.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

The fundamental 360 feedback coaching principles and coaching approach remain the same as for any other coaching relationship and can be summarised as:

• Coachee centred - Recognising that personal change comes from ownership and it is therefore the coachee who sets the agenda, makes decisions, takes responsibility for and drives the outcomes.
• Belief in the coachee's potential - Believing that the coachee has great growth / development potential and belief in their ability to solve their own difficult challenges. Recognising that it is the role of the coach to facilitate that self discovery and decision making process.
• Build and sustain a powerful coaching relationship - Building a non-judgemental relationship based on trust, respect, openness and confidentiality that allows honest, constructive challenging and genuine support.
• Encourage self awareness and self belief - Asking the hard, insightful and challenging questions that raise personal awareness and an ability to support the coachee to build self confidence and belief in their own potential and ability.
• Performance and results focused - Working on the real issues and the tough stuff that results in performance focused action, leading to positive change that benefits both the individual and their organisation.

Lumus360 offer train the line manager as 360 coach training.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

A typical output of a 360 feedback debriefing session is for the participant to adapt or modify at least one leadership behaviour. However, studies show that less than 10% of us succeeded at creating deep and lasting behavioural change(!)

Some pragmatic things your coaches could try to greatly increase the likelihood of successful change are:

• Change your environment – An effective way of changing behaviour is to remove / distance those influences that drive current behaviours and replace / bring closer those influences that will drive the new desired behaviour. For example:
• If you want to procrastinate less, remove your greatest distractions – Turn emails off, get a colleague to take your calls, book a quiet break out room to work / complete a specific piece of work etc
• If you want to be a more visible leader – Move your desk from the office to the open plan area. Take lunch with the team as opposed to eating alone etc.
• Change your company - "Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are."... Behaviour breeds behaviour … The people with whom we associate determine the way we think, feel and behave. So spend less time with people who reinforce old behaviours, and more time with people who champion your desired behaviour. For example, if you want to grow your emotional intelligence, get closer to those managers who have great people skills, can read people well and are obviously "tuned in" to those around them.
• Change your view / frame of reference – For example, if you want to hold more effective ‘difficult conversations’ change your thinking from “I’m dreading talking to Paul about his work rate” to “Why do I want to have this conversation?” As you consider this question you might discover a motive, such as “To save my direct report’s career”. Walking into a meeting to try to save a friend’s career feels different from walking into the same meeting to "deal with underperformance."
• Make your goals visible – Keep what’s important at the forefront of your mind … apply them to your screen saver, add them to the header of your ‘to-do’ list, post regular reminders in your diary etc.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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The Line Manager-Direct Report relationship can create additional challenges for facilitating 360 feedback. In addition to having the core coaching skills, being comfortable with the 360 reporting format, reading the numbers etc., it’s also important the following have been considered:

• Quality and consistency – Whist some Line Managers have the coaching knowledge, skills, experience and personal development ‘know how’ to construct really good development plans. Many don’t, and therefore the challenge is how to ensure all 360 feedback conversations are conducted in a quality way
• Lack of a positive picture of success – If Line Managers haven’t been previously coached through a 360 feedback report, they don’t have an ‘experiential picture’ for what success (or failure) looks like and therefore struggle to visualise and measure their success
• Difficult conversations – Regardless of whether they are triggered by differences in perception, expectations, personality, performance etc., 360 feedback can, by its very nature create the triggering environment for difficult conversations and it’s important Line Managers have at least considered how to manage those occasions
• Line manager blindness – Line Managers (as opposed to external feedback coaches) inevitably bring their ingrained/ fixed perceptions (good, bad and indifferent) to the conversation, which can frequently be different to those of others. Supporting / enabling Line Managers to step into the conversation with an open/ learning mind-set is very important
• Participants feedback maturity level – Some 360 participants don’t have the feedback maturity to listen to, reflect on, conclude and develop positive outcomes to critical feedback and a key role of the coach is using 360 feedback conversations to grow that maturity level, a skill most Line Managers will not have developed/ previously considered
• Drowning in the detail – Because of the Line Manager - Direct Report relationship, it’s too easy for both parties to chase and get lost in the detail, as opposed to focusing on the development of feedback themes and overarching style and behavioural shifts

Whilst there are many ways of supporting Line Managers to become 360 feedback facilitators, the lumus360 line manager as 360 coaching workshop is a great first step.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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A typical output for most people going through a 360 feedback exercise, is the desire to want to change one or more perception(s) that other people have of them. Changing other people’s perception isn’t easy… Confirmation bias, motivated reasoning and cognitive dissonance are all psychological terms for why we don’t like to change our minds!

It’s naive to think that simply changing a behaviour will shift the perception of others. If applied, the following 4 principles (based on sound psychological theories) will greatly increase the likely hood of the change:

• Acknowledge other people’s perception – Whilst this may sound a little frightening, showing that you are aware of the perception and its impact on others, can also start the process of changing how you are perceived. Avoid any urges to get defensive – Instead, accept that you come across in that way and apologize if necessary
• Communicate your intention to change – Letting others know that you want to change is a great way of inviting them to pay attention to those changes, whilst self-reinforcing your commitment to change
• Repetition, repetition, repetition – People won’t intuitively tune into your new behaviour. If you want the new perception to stick in someone’s mind, you’ll need to over deliver the new behaviour, applying/ showcasing it more frequently than would normally be expected
• Engage others in your change journey – Asking those around you to support your change by offering regular feedback on progress will provide a motivator for you and a change re-enforcer for them

Finally, have patience... whilst initial impressions may be made in the first 30 seconds, changing formulated perceptions can take months, so don’t expect results overnight.

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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Six coaching steps for ensuring people make the most of their 360 feedback report:

• Allow them time for reflect and absorb their initial impression of the feedback
• Invite them to draw conclusions/ key themes and trends
• Clarify key strengths and how they can be optimised
• Define those areas for improvement and how changes will be made
• Encourage them to thank respondents for taking the time to provide the feedback and asking for further clarity if required
• Encourage the sharing of development goals with as many people as possible

David Cooper
Director - Lumus360
www.lumus360.co.uk

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