Often, feedback is requested on teams when a project is not successful or the team is struggling overall. As a best practice, why not do a team feedback 360 after each and every project? Yes, it may seem like a lot of work – but think of the value! And, when done regularly, it becomes second nature and a regular part of the project. Let’s look first at the benefits and then a simple process for getting commitment for, conducting and utilizing the results of a team feedback 360.
Benefits
The benefits of a team feedback 360 are many and include:
- Strengthen teamwork
- Professional development opportunities
- Enhanced communications
- Build trust
- Improved relationships
- Enable for team members to get a deeper understanding of how they interact with and are perceived by others
- Improved problem solving
- Reduced conflicts
When teams are comfortable with providing each other feedback, there is a tendency for increased open and honest conversations on the team. Problems are fewer, and when they occur, are resolved quickly and efficiently. Conflicts are reduced. Overall – teamwork is greatly enhanced and strengthened and the team is able to accomplish their goals more effectively.
The Process
Keep it simple! At the end of each project, ask the project team (project manager, team members, project sponsor and other key stakeholders) to provide feedback, via an online survey, about their experiences working with the others on the team. Example questions to provide feedback on the project team include:
- Does the team member exhibit leadership qualities on the team? (Be specific)
- How does this team member effectively work with others? What specific behaviors or skills does he/she demonstrate?
- Does the team member work with others to effectively solve problems by contributing solutions and sharing ideas? If yes, what skills does he/she demonstrate in solving problems? If no, what can the team member do to improve in his/her team problem solving efforts?
- Does the team member work effectively to build strong relationships with other members of the team? What specifically does he/she do to be successful in this regard? Where can he/she improve?
- What are the team member’s strengths on the team?
- In what areas does the team member need to develop his/her skills to enhance his/her effectiveness working on the team?
Specific questions for the project manager or project team leads might include:
- Does the project manager/team lead run effective and efficient meetings?
- Does the project manager/team lead enable you to perform your role on the team by providing needed information, data and access to resources?
- Does the project manager/team lead allow team members to share the spotlight by sharing individual team member successes and contributions and giving credit to the team?
Example questions to provide feedback on the project sponsor and other key stakeholders include:
- Was the sponsor/key stakeholder accessible to answer questions about the project and provide information? If not, what was lacking that would have enabled you to be more effective on the project team?
- Did the sponsor/key stakeholder assist in getting needed information/data, budget monies, resources, technology, etc., needed for the project?
- Did the sponsor/key stakeholder address issues rapidly, enabling the project to continue moving along toward completion?
- Did the sponsor/key stakeholder help to promote the project throughout the organization – obtaining buy-in and commitment for project resources?
You might map questions to the 5 project management process areas: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/controlling and closing, to the 9 knowledge areas: integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, HR management, communications management, risk management and procurement management, or to internal processes. Choose what works best within your organization and provides you the most relevant data in a format that is usable.
Keep the survey short – no more than 8 – 10 questions. For easier analysis, use mainly multiple choice options rather than short answers (fill in the blanks). (Although I do prefer “fill in the blanks” because they get folks thinking!) Once you have gathered feedback – use it! Consider this a component of your “lessons learned” for the project. Obviously you’ll want to handle this a bit more confidentially since it is feedback on specific individuals, but overall you can use the data to provide data to improve team effectiveness overall. The specific data can be used to enhance the skills of the individual team members and should be used to develop comprehensive professional development plans.
