TEL 431: Learning in Workplaces

L6 Activity: 360-Degree Review

Name: Sierra Willis

Date: 11/5/17

NOTE: Please italicize all your responses so that nothing is missed when your work
is assessed.

Background Information about Performance Reviews

Think about the learning institution you envision for your future target job. How will you
contribute to the goals and mission of that organization? What would be the best way to
measure your success? How should you document progress in your professional
development goals? What would be a credible and viable measure?
I plan to work in a 3rd grade classroom in a lower-income school. I can attribute to the
schools goals through giving the children I work with a chance in life. I hope that I can
assist children in achieving their full potential so they can do whatever they want to. The
best way to ensure success is to look at the happiness and engagement of my students. If
they are enjoying the education environment, then I find that successful. I can document
my progress in my goals through setting goals for my students, and seeing if they are able
to achieve it or not. I can set goals for my students that are able to be reached. I would
use a ladder of goal ideas for them so they are continuously setting and reaching goals.

Most organizations have institutionalized a performance review process, which is usually

operationalized through the organizations human resources department as a formal,
annual process. The purpose of a performance review is to evaluate the job performance
of an employee.

There is much research suggesting traditional performance reviews, conducted by an

employees supervisor, at best have limitations, and can sometimes be detrimental to
morale and motivation.

A Complementary System
In addition to an annual performance review, research has shown pairing multiple rating
sources provides more accurate, reliable, and credible information, and insight about an
employees performance and limitations. Additionally, research has shown that
evaluation systems that use a variety of rating sources to supplement the supervisors
evaluation are more influential on employee change and motivation.

The 360-degree evaluation was established to provide multiple angles of review of an

individuals work-related performance. It is conducted by administering a questionnaire
to individuals who would have contact with the employee, including:
self
subordinates
peers
superiors
 clients/customers/students

For this activity you will be conducting a 360-degree assessment on yourself, for a
situation where you have superiors, peers, customers, and possibly subordinates. If you
do not have a work environment that is conducive to this, or maybe you work with a
volunteer organization on a consistent basis and you could ask those you work with you
assess your performance. You might also do a 360 of how your family members see you.
The idea is to review your behaviors from others perspectives, to learn more about
yourself, and to use the insight gained to improve yourself in the workplace.

Asking someone to review your attitudes and behaviors puts you in a very vulnerable
position. To help you understand the power of being vulnerable, and how being
vulnerable can change the way you interact with others, watch this TedTALK by Bren
Brown, socialwork scientist: The Power of Vulnerability.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-7396

CREATE A 360 QUESTIONNAIRE

Review this document to get a more complete explanation of benefits of a 360-degree

assessment. Pay special attention to the respondent categories and the precautions. This
will help you make good choices as you progress through this activity:
United States Office of Personnel Management, Performance Management Practitioner
Series (1997). 360-degree assessment: An overview. Retrieved from
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-
management/performance-management-cycle/rating/360assessment.pdf

Before you go further, determine the context of your 360. Provide a summary of the
situation, including the purpose or vision of the organization, your roles and
responsibilities, who you are responsible to, who your equals are, who reports to you (if
applicable), and who the system serves (e.g., the customer, client, patient, where
applicable): I am asking my family to participate in this project. My work environment is
not conducive to the assignment. The purpose of family is for livelihood and love. I will
have my family members of all age participate in the questionnaire. I plan to include my
in-laws and own family so I have a diversity of how individuals view me. I will put my
parents and in-laws as superiors, siblings and sling in-laws as equals, and I will not use
a subordinate since family does not have one.

To get a better understanding of possible content and structure of a 360 questionnaire,

review the examples on this web page: http://www.hr-
survey.com/360FeedbackDemos.htm

Write an opening paragraph for your questionnaire, explaining the purpose of the
questionnaire. Include that you will not be collecting identifying information on
respondents. Be sure this comes across as a request, and something that would be helpful
to you, not a mandate. Write your introduction paragraph here:
The purpose of this 360 degree project is to gain insight on myself from others. Because
of this assignment, I will gain a better understanding of how others view me in
comparison as to how I view myself. Answering these questions honestly will give me the
best feedback. I have provided a few questions below that need answering to the best of
ones ability. Thank you for your feedback as it assists in my professional future!

Now, determine a list of 5 categories that would be the most helpful in informing your
development. For ideas, review this comprehensive list: http://www.hris.ws/cgi-
local/IBank.cgi List them here:
Accountability, Achievement, Empowering Others, Managing Performance, and
Teamwork

Now, for each category, compose 2-5 questions using a Likert scale, and one open-ended
question. The format of a typical five-level Likert item could be:
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
Use headers to designate each category.
Here are some ideas: http://www.hr-survey.com/360FeedbackItems.htm Write your
category headers and questions here:
How are you related to the individual? _______
Accountability
1. This individual takes responsibility for results
2. This individual encourages others to do their best
3. How could can I improve my abilities in accountability?
Achievement
1. This individual is actively attempting to achieve goals.
2. This individual accepts setbacks and moves forward.
3. What level of standards does this individual complete tasks?
Empowering Others
1. This individual cultivates an environment for others to learn and grow in.
2. This individual enhances skills of others.
3. What characteristics does this individual assist others in obtaining?
Flexibility
1. This individual is ready for things not to go as planned.
2. This individual incorporates new ideas.
3. How can this individual work on adapting to new procedures?
Teamwork
1. This individual actively participates as a team leader.
2. This individual recognizes the importance of individuality in a group.
3. How does this individual attribute to a team?
Create your questionnaire in Google Forms.
Here are some training materials that will help you with this task:
1. Watch the Using Forms in Google Drive video to get an overview of Google
Forms.
2. Watch this 13 min screencast that will show you all the INs and OUTs of how to
create a Google Form.
3. Learn about some of the tips and tricks that can help you make more sophisticated
Google Forms.
Paste the URL to your questionnaire here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJhiWyaTQ0S8YjatJ7dAjYPrZNX5sbkkh
X1UpVCywQdRRSGw/viewform

ADMINISTER THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Take the questionnaire yourself, based on how you see your own behaviors. Double
check the response spreadsheet to make sure your data appears. If it does not, you have
some trouble-shooting to do before you send it out to your list of respondents. Edit any
questions that you feel are not clear.

Now brainstorm the individuals who might provide insight for you by taking your
questionnaire. List the names of 1-5 people in each group that is represented in your
situation. Provide first names only, to maintain anonymity:
subordinates: N/A per email
peers: Nicholas Willis, Brian Willis
superiors: Linda Heywood, Loralee Willis, Craig Willis
clients/customers/students: Weston Heywood

Send the URL to these individuals, along with a message asking for their participation.
Explain they are being requested to participate in a 360, and explain what a 360 is. Be
sure to address this as a request (not a mandate). Let them know how their insight will be
helpful to you. Provide a deadline for their participation so you can analyze the data after
that date.
The more responses you get, the more insight you will gain. To meet the expectation for
this assignment, you will need at least 5 responses, across several categories if
appropriate. Not everyone will participate, so you might want to send your request to
more than 5 individuals.
Paste the text from the communication to these individuals here:

How many total people took the questionnaire: 6

For each category, what percentage of the people you requested take the questionnaire
actually took the questionnaire?
subordinates: 0
peers: 2
superiors: 3
 clients/customers/students: 1

Explain what you attribute your high/low response rate to. Include several factors:

BEING VULNERABLE
Share your spreadsheet results with your grader by adding them as a collaborator. From
the edit questions window, click on File > Add Collaborators. Use the email address
that is in our Blackboard shell in the button called Instructor and AA.
Paste the URL provided when you Add Collaborators here, so your grader can verify
your responses:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14Q0u_2TFIUt0X5LOBgxUzXJgQSKQrMMjwELEjZ
NEUH4/edit?usp=sharing

Review the TedTALK by Bren Brown, socialwork scientist: The Power of Vulnerability.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-7396
Summarize what Brown says are the benefits of this level of connection with others, and
opportunity for growth. Include 3 points from the video that were insightful for you,
personally (100-200 words):
Brown worked to find the core of vulnerability and was led to finding shame. Shame is
the fear of disconnection. She found that the importance self-worthiness is to
communication, and is brought on through love and belonging. She also found that
compassion, connection and courage are common among those who have self-
worthiness. The key point she made was, vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and
our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that its also the birthplace of joy, of
creativity, of belonging, of love. I enjoyed the points she made that individuals should
embrace vulnerability. I also liked how she mentioned that those who have self-worth
were courageous and took on their fears to better themselves. Finally, I appreciated that
she noticed how we should continuously learn and work to embrace vulnerability.

WC: 135

Reflect about vulnerability and this process. How did you handle your emotions, being
the level of vulnerability required was very high, when you were selecting who to send
your questionnaire to, when you were sending out the questionnaire, and when you
reviewed your data. Discuss this issue from the three points in the Brown TedTALK you
emphasized in your response above. Include in-text citations. (200-300 words):
I found it easier to ask my immediate family for feedback than to ask my in-laws. I believe
this can be tied to the way I care for them to see me. My own family has been a part of my
life for as long as I have lived, and know everything about me whether I like it or not. My
in-laws did not know me until I was 18 years old and only know what they have learned
over the last two years of being family. Ii emphasized the three points of how important
self-worth and acceptance of vulnerability can be. Through finding the results of how my
in-laws versus my family view me, I have taken my in-laws views as a bit more relevant
to my adulthood life. My own family has taken this poll and used my entire life to
configure their answers. Brown states, Shame is really easily understood as the fear of
disconnection: Is there something about me that, if other people know it or see it, that I
won't be worthy of connection? I have taken this point to heart as I attempt to take
vulnerability, and have been able to see that the amount of self-worth I feel around the
two different groups can be associated with how I accept feedback. I found that taking
feedback from a large and unbiased groups can assist in applying them into my life.
WC: 237

REFLECT ABOUT RESULTS

Vulnerability
How did you handle your emotions, being this is a vulnerable process--to request honest
feedback from those with whom you work?
I was able to handle this well because of the situation I opened myself up to. I felt that the
family members I did use are brutally honest and I can respect their feedback.

How were you at accepting the feedback as it was intended? To what extent did you see
yourself reading between the lines?
I accepted this as it came from people I respect and would like to have feedback from.
Since I chose those who would answer it honestly and are critical, I know they will not
sugar coat their opinions. The questions I supplied were not made to tear me down, but to
get feedback on some weaknesses I personally have felt I can work on and wanted
confirmation from others around me. I felt that I found myself reading between the lines
on my husbands opinions since he may be more annoyed with me on some points than
others.

Strengths
What did you learn about your strengths?
I received positive feedback on things that I has already felt strong in. This questionnaire
led me to having more self-confidence in things I already felt I was doing well, but
needed some additional support.

What did you learn about how others see your strengths?
I learned that others saw me as a leader and a reliable person. Supplying these questions
was difficult to do since it put my self-confidence out there and it was not torn down, but
it gave me things to work on and make strengths.

Areas of Improvement
What did you learn about possible areas of improvement?
I learned that some things I can definitely work on. I did not feel that I was torn down by
others opinions, but I could take criticism better and apply it even better.

What did you learn about how others see your weaknesses?
I learned that my views on myself are in-line with others around me for the most part. I
had similar opinions of myself as others did.
Alignment
When you look at your self assessment, to what extent do you tend to see yourself as
others do? Why do you think this is so?
I saw similar strengths in myself as others did. They viewed me as independent and
reliable. I found that this was similar to how I viewed myself.

Actionable Items
What key behaviors do you want to change or adopt now that you have greater insight?
I want to be able to ask others for honest opinions more often. Not only did I learn more
from the direct questions asked, but I overcame my fears of asking for assistance.

Establish some short-term actionable areas for change, improvement, and development.
These are things you could start doing today.
I will start to be ready for changes to happen and for others to have a say in what
happens. Today, I will begin by asking others in collaborative circumstances for their
opinions and take them into account.

Establish some long-range actionable areas for change, improvement, and development.
These are things that may take 1-3 years to complete.
In the long-term scheme, I plan to take opinions from others to heart. I want to be able to
take criticism into my life, but not personally.

Overall
Reflect about how this process worked for you. Was it worthwhile? What do you think
the long-term effects will be as related to how you relate to those who took your
questionnaire. (100-200 words)
This process worked well. In some ways, respecting the opinions of others and the reality
of them can be difficult for myself. It was the most difficult as my husband took it because
he teased me for some of the questions. I found that criticism is not all personal, but ca
benefit myself in the long-run through several aspects. In the long-term idea of the
assignment, I plan to be able to implement criticism without taking it personally. I
enjoyed using family members as my pool of subjects because they were brutally honest.
In the near and far future, I plan to take criticism from all individuals to mind.