Cross-functional feedback provides critical insights into strengths and improvement areas to support ongoing performance in role and career development. 360 Feedback can be a valuable tool in providing those insights, especially when specific growth areas are not already clear. We will be launching an optional 360 feedback cycle for team members for whom 360 feedback will contribute to their development goals.
There are various ways to support team members' performance and growth. Timely and direct feedback is often the best way to course correct efficiently and improve performance on an ongoing basis. 360 feedback is a useful tool to support specific development goals or surface blind spots, often for those in leadership positions. A 360 is not the best investment of time for team members who already have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and an actionable development plan underway. Team members should take ownership of and leverage the tools that are most relevant and beneficial to them.
The 360 feedback cycle is timed after the Mid-Year Check In and after promotion calibrations to maintain the focus on development. Managers should check in with cross functional stakeholders informally when preparing for a Mid Year check in or Promotion Calibration vs waiting for a 360 feedback cycle.
At GitLab, we do not require the 360 feedback process. A 360 can be a very helpful development tool, but it should not be a supplement for regular, ongoing feedback that team members receive throughout the year. There may be situations and points in team member development where a 360 can supplement development and individual growth plans, and times when development areas are clear and 360 feedback may not be needed.
Below are a few key points to think through when determining in which situations the 360 tool may or may not be useful:
It is important that participation in the 360 process is intentional. Team members who opt-in for the 360 feedback review cycle will be asked to:
The 360 feedback process will be ongoing from July 25, 2022 - September 23, 2022.
| Dates | Event |
|---|---|
| 2022-07-25 | Feedback Cycle Launch |
| 2022-07-25 through 2022-08-05 | Nomination Phase |
| 2022-08-06 through 2022-08-31 | Feedback Phase |
| 2022-09-01 through 2022-09-09 | Review Phase |
| 2022-09-10 through 2022-09-23 | Discussion Phase |
For 360 feedback cycle we will only include team members with at least 6 months of tenure (start date on or before January 25th, 2022). If you are a team member with a start date after January 25th and you want to be included, please reach out to People Connect to be manually added.
We utilize the tool Culture Amp to administer 360 Feedback. The 360 Feedback cycle in CultureAmp exists of a Self review, Manager review and Peer reviews.
Managers will be assigned as the coach for their direct reports. It is important that all managers review and send out the 360 feedback within 48 hours once the feedback cycle closes and you are sent the results.
We have recorded a training overview of the 360 process via Culture Amp for your review and created a slide-deck to provide guidance on 360-Feedback, kindly review before you give feedback.
During this 360 Feedback cycle we will be using the Individual Effectiveness 360 Feedback. This follows a Start, Stop, Continue format. The questions included are:
To help guide team members in giving feedback, CultureAmp is offering options under the Start, Stop, Continue questions. When giving feedback you can select up to three options that you would say are applicable. If there are no options that match your feedback please use the option "Other". From there, you can elaborate in the comments section.
The options shown are:
Utilize this checklist to ensure all necessary steps are accomplished during the 360 process.
In Culture Amp, a reviewer is anyone who is requested to provide feedback for a team member.
If you are unsure who to nominate as a reviewer, consider saving your nominations as a Draft in CultureAmp. This will allow you to sign back in and add or delete your nominations.
Reviewers can be managers, direct reports or co-workers. Here are some best practices for selecting reviewers:
Example of a reviewer selection of a Backend Engineer:
Remember you want to hear honest feedback so select reviewers you know will provide you meaningful data. In general, comments should be to the point and include specific examples. Helping your team member understand the impact of what they are, or are not doing, is an important part of making that feedback actionable. Feedback will be anonymous, however each team member is given a unique email link to provide feedback so please do not share. In Culture Amp reviewers are listed in 3 categories:
Feedback will not be tied back to a specific reviewer, however you only have 1 manager so you know that any feedback in that section came from directly from your manager. If you nominated 10 team members to provide feedback all 10 will be listed however any feedback is not tied directly back to a specific team member.
Below there's an extensive list with existing content that has been created for giving and receiving feedback. Before participating in the 360 Feedback process we recommend to review the below content:
General Tips:
If you feel overwhelmed by the number of team members that have requested feedback from you, keep in mind that you are providing your team members with a gift: the ability to learn and grow from the feedback they receive.
However, you may not have feedback related to each of the questions asked. That is ok. If you don't have anything meaningful to provide, you can put not-applicable. Focus on the team members and the questions for which you have meaningful and helpful feedback. If you feel like you are not in a position to complete a meaningful review in general, please let the team member know, so they can possibly select another reviewer instead. Be mindful of your own bandwidth when providing reviews: Start with your core group, and expand from there as capacity allows.
Below are a couple of tips for team members who may have received a significant number of feedback requests to contribute to.
Be open to engaging in the conversation. Your peers have taken the time to provide you with their feedback. And the purpose of this feedback is to help you develop and reach your full potential. The perception they have of you is important information for you to have and to build into an action plan.
Before going into the conversation and reviewing feedback, check out the page on receiving feedback.
Be accepting of positive feedback. Instead of deflecting compliments, hear and internalise them. They are strong indicators of where you have successfully developed your skills. Remember to maintain a focus on them so you can continue to develop the skill.
During the 360 Feedback meeting:
If you would like to learn more, we held a Receiving Feedback Live Learning course on 2020-02-25.
The feedback that your team member receives may reinforce excellent or under performance you have already observed, but shouldn't be the only data point you use in evaluating performance. In cases where you’ve identified your top performer, we should learn from what makes that person successful to share with others. In cases where unsatisfactory performance is identified, you should also address that timely and honestly. The feedback included through the 360 process may help in talking through examples of strengths or improvement areas, but you should not wait for the 360 Feedback process to address performance matters.
Once the feedback cycle closes for managers we advise to send out the completed review to their direct reports within 48 hours.
preview feedbackShare and this will send the report to the team memberGiving and receiving feedback can be hard for both the manager and the team members. Remember to be open-minded and calm. Be open-minded to the fact that others may see something that you do not. If you disagree with the feedback, others may be seeing something that you are not aware of- we called these blind spots earlier. Allow for the fact that others may be right, and use that possibility to look within yourself. Managers, feedback should never be a surprise! It is meant to guide, mentor, support, enhance, and help the team member grow. Try and maintain the model that feedback is a gift- it is data. More data is always better because it provides us with choices we wouldn't otherwise have.
This section outlines the conversation for a manager to have with their direct report after the cycle has closed. Peer feedback is not meant to evaluate performance specifically, but instead assist in giving feedback to help the team member grow and develop within their role.
The high level recommended process is as follows:
Some general guidance and tips for the conversations can be found below:
Once feedback has been delivered, a manager and direct report both have the option to create an Action Plan in Culture Amp. This part of the process is up to the manager’s discretion, and you may also choose to follow up in 1:1 meetings or via other processes.
Examples of actions to take following the conversation and depending on area of focus:
If a team member becomes a manager to direct reports after the 360 Feedback cycle has completed, and would like to see their new direct reports' 360 Feedback reports, the new manager must reach out to the direct reports directly to ask permission for either the previous manager to download and send the reports, or for the direct reports to download their own reports and send them directly to the new manager. Any approval should be in writing by email, not Slack.
Detailed instructions for sharing this report can be found here.
Troubleshooting for common questions during the 360 process.
#people-connect and request a coach update. Please provide the new coach's email address.#people-connect with the email addresses of your nominations.