Following on from my article on 360 degree feedback coaching, I thought it would be useful to give an overview of what’s different about 360 Feedback coaching.

This article is a summary only – for more detail, please watch the video.

The basic principles of both types coaching are similar.

When are the two types of coaching used?

General professional and career development coaching tends to  focus on long-term goals and career development of the individual.

360 degree feedback is more specific, as the 360 may be part of a development programme with particular development outcomes.  The coaching may be a one off debriefing, but there is usually a timeframe in which the 360 operates. They may use the 360 again in a year’s time to reassess their strengths and development needs.

Using 360 to support career coaching

I’ve taken John Whitmore’s  GROW coaching model as an example. This structures the coaching discussion into 4 elements, Goals, Reality, Options and Will.

In this situation the 360 feedback belongs mainly in the REALITY part of the discussion.  In a 360 the individual self assesses; they reflect on where they are in their career, and the skills and competencies they have.

The 360 feedback can also provide valuable input into the OPTIONS part of the discussion (what could you do).  

The written feedback can also provide some powerful ideas and hints for what you could do.

In discussion with the coach you can see how this would then lead on to the WILL section i.e. what will you do and therefore leads to a development plan coming out of the coaching session.

360 as a development tool

Now 360 degree feedback, used as a development tool of itself, benefits from being debriefed or coached in a particular way. The main difference when using the 360 in this way is that

-There may only be one conversation
-It’s focused on the feedback and the interpretation of the feedback
-The objective is a specific development plan based on the content of the 360 and its relevance to the leadership or management behaviours that it measures.

Debriefing the 360 report

For the coach, she needs to understand the 360 framework and how the feedback is reported.  She should be briefed on the questionnaire itself. In addition, she should be clear on what the 360 is seeking to measure, and its relevance for the individual. The organization context is also important.

Key coaching skills are still as important with 360 feedback as they are in any normal coaching conversation.  So asking open questions, active listening, providing options, are all part of the 360 conversation.