Releasing the report

The big moment

Another client, another day. Today the topic was - when should the recipient get their feedback report and, more importantly, should the manager get to see it first.

For budgetary reasons and straightforward resourcing issues it was not feasible for an external or non-line manager to run the debriefing session and so the question came; should my manager see my 360 degree feedback before I did?

I boldly recommended that the manager should see it first, prepare for the debrief session, and then take the recipient through their feedback during a meeting. But our client was adamant that the recipient should be in control of the process and should not find themselves meeting their manager in the corridor and getting a "you should see what's in your 360" comment.

The ideal is, I believe, that a non-line person gives a debrief and that is the first time the person sees the report. Two key reasons; it allows the report to be understood and it allows a context to be provided. A third consideration is it allows a trained person to observe whether the recipient is emotionally affected by the feedback.

This couldn't happen here. I'm frankly uncertain. I am always nervous of someone reading their report without any assistance on understanding and context. Yet, having the recipient in control of the process is also one of our recommendations.

The client chose to have the recipient remain in control and "release" the report to their manager in advance of the feedback meeting.

Brendan

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