The sun is out, the birds chirping, the tulips are blooming, and the grass growing with a vengeance. Everything is coming alive! This is also the best time to gather 360 feedback to fuel your growth.
We all know that feedback is crucial to learning and yet we are rarely strategic about getting accurate and useful feedback. Timing is one part of being strategic. Whether you agree with it or not, timing implicitly communicates intent, because of context - what else is happening around the time you gather feedback.
What is your intent: Is it to justify past performance or co-create a vision to grow into?
Why do managers do it in fall?
I find the practice of collecting 360 feedback before year-end performance reviews abhorrent. Strong word, I know. But it captures my feelings accurately. The intention is sus (as my daughter might say) and the mood is somber. It feels like collecting evidence for a trial. One leader, who shared this feeling told me “It seems like my manager is outsourcing my performance rating.” Spot on.
“Dear manager, If you were going to rate my performance based on the opinions of 15 people, some of whom I barely worked with, pray tell me why I was listening to you all year? I might have been better off delivering everything they wanted, no matter the cost.”
Fall for feedback is like April 15th for Tax Accountants - busy. One year I received 12 feedback forms to fill out, some for folks I had barely worked with. I am not in the least bit ashamed to say that I declined several and spent less than five minutes on the ones that I did choose to fill. I can only guess from the questions that the sender spent less than two minutes creating the feedback form. Can we really expect to learn from this exercise? Not really. Learning isn't the purpose, evaluation is.
Why fall feedback fails
Every time my manager has given me feedback at the end of the year, it has felt like a justification for past performance (evaluative). The 360 seems like an attempt to collect evidence for my trial. Naturally, this triggers defensiveness. Your manager may be an expert feedback-sandwich maker, but you can taste the bitterness. Fall feedback feels judgmental and heavy. We armor ourselves and spit out the constructive feedback. The little that makes it through is saved to be acted on later, if at all. Most likely never.
Fall is the time for harvest and storage, a time to conserve energy, not expend it. You can’t train a vine on trellis in fall.
I was one of those managers who did a 360 for all my direct reports in fall (the irony of my abhorrence dawned on me later). When I asked my leadership team about it, I found out that they unanimously hated the timing. Collectively, we agreed to do it earlier in the year next time, with immense dividends.
What is special about spring?
Spring is bursting with energy and possibilities for growth. We have the whole summer ahead of us to practice behaviors to become the leader we aspire to be. I believe we are generally more receptive in spring.
The agony (or ecstasy) of last year’s rating is forgotten and the next one is too far to be threatening. Feed-forward, as Marshall Goldsmith called it, is perceived as well-intentioned, future-oriented and immediately actionable. Your stakeholders are more likely to offer suggestions for the future without worrying about passing judgement on your past performance. Besides, they probably have more time to be thoughtful about it.
The beauty of doing this in spring is that your fall discussion becomes so much more meaningful and relevant.
Don’t wait for your manager, get the feedback you need, yourself.
We are all responsible for our own growth and development. Identify your key stakeholders and schedule a twenty-minute conversation titled “I would like your feedback.” Avoid the temptation to add work topics to this meeting.
Ask them a few simple questions (send them a preview so they are prepared);
What do I and my team do that helps you do your work?
What do I and my team do that frustrates you or makes your work harder?
What is one thing I or my team can do differently, that will make us better partners this year?
And then…just listen. Accept the gift. You can choose later to keep them or them away.
Like plants we have a seasonal cadence and tapping into spring energy can help us spring forward. If spring is too early, do it in summer. But don’t wait till fall, it’s too late.
What has been your experience with 360 feedback? Please drop me an email, I would love to learn!
Swagya Coaching and Consulting - 9729 Brightwater Dr., Johnston, IA 50131, United States You are receiving this email because on Apr 26, 2025, you asked to receive a preview of this email :).
