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Handling a 360 degree feedback debrief with a Partner

Be clear as to your role and the purpose of the debrief

The debrief is an opportunity for the partner to view their report for the first time. Your role is simply to act as an intermediary between them and their report; the feedback has been given, so you are not there to ‘give feedback’ as a common misperception.

You are there to help them get a balanced understanding of their report, help them identify both strengths and development areas, and in some cases to help them generate an action plan.

Go in with a mindset of curiousity, exploration and genuine interest in helping them become more self-aware.

Know what to look for in the report

It is essential to give yourself enough time prior to the debrief session to be able to review, analyse and interpret the report.

Typically, you need to get an overall impression; is the report strong, competent or very poor? Where do the weight of responses lie? Are there certain themes or patterns that emerge?

It is then useful to see how consistent the feedback is; do the peers all agree? Are direct reports more critical than peers generally? How does the partner perceive themselves? Overly optimistic or pessimistic?

Comments are key; the narrative section should provide lots of evidence and examples that support the ratings – these are crucial in creating ‘levers for change’; partners need evidence.

Finally, a simple summary of key strengths and development areas will leave you well prepared for the debrief session itself.

Train yourself in the art of good questioning

Good questions have different forms dependent on their objective; probing ones to get more detail, reflecting ones to encourage the person to elaborate, closed to get facts.

Having some questions which aid exploration rather than evaluation is key.

Have a structured approach to the debrief

There is a straightforward 3-stage structure that we adopt for debriefs; explain the purpose of the debrief and how it will work, let them read the report, debrief them around their report.

Of course, there are many points to consider within this, and we have our view on what works well, but generally speaking, if you communicate clearly upfront and relax them, they will be able to absorb their report more easily, leading to a productive discussion around their strengths, development areas and actions.

Get them to decide the way forward

As you come to close the session, you must do all you can to encourage the partner to say what they feel are their development areas; ideally, they should begin the process of writing them down rather than yourself.

You need them to take ownership of the development plan and resulting action plan – very often for senior partners within a law firm, these actions may well be simple, day-to-day changes to their behaviour that they can start immediately.

We run a one-day training programme in how to conduct effective debriefs, which goes into far greater detail on these steps and allows delegates to role-play debriefs.

John Rice Sales & Marketing Director, Bowland solutions
www.bowlandsolutions.com