There is a high likelihood that many of you reading this article are familiar with, or at least have participated in, a 360 multi-rater survey.

This is a very popular self-development tool and it helps us better understand what we are doing well and where there are opportunities for improvement.

That said, I fought offering a 360 multi-rater for over 30 years, as many times as Forté would be called in following a 360 survey, the net result being it had created more distrust than trust. The reason was quite simple - the individual who was the subject of the survey was more concerned about who said what versus what was actually said.

Granted, in a way, 360s were a great business generator for us. Yet, since Forté offers a full suite of tools to help individual, team and organizational development, our thought leaders suggested a way to minimize the likelihood of mistrust and maximize the learning experience for all concerned. When we introduced the Forté i360, it hit the street running and has not slowed down since.

The secret sauce is straightforward. Everyone participating in a Forté i360 - the subject and the raters - complete their Forté Communication Style Surveys in advance. Then, each participant receives an individual read-back of their Forté reports, including Forté Interaction Reports with one another.

At this point, we have removed the strong bias of participants not really knowing one another, their preferences, communication style strengths and, most importantly, their top five self-motivators and two de-motivators. Now, the purpose of the Forté i360 is focusing on building an individual’s competencies.

In addition, our recommendation is that the i360 be completed four to six months opposite of an annual review so that the subject has the opportunity to act on the input and further build out his or her skill set.

Here is a little more detail on what is involved. The Forté i360 is a process in which a person receives both quantitative and qualitative performance feedback. As noted earlier, the people who provide feedback are called raters. This can include direct reports, peers, internal or external customers and the person’s leader. In some cases, the raters can also be customers, clients or patients outside the organization.

The i360 is used to develop competencies for each person in an organization. You can use our default eight competencies or modify to fit your own needs. The report is completely customizable.

The report contains:

• Competency Profile radar charts that depict how a person rates himself or herself against specific competencies versus how others rate them. This is useful in easily spotting gaps an individual’s perception and the perceptions of others.
• Highly detailed analysis and a clear, concise process to put suggestions into actions.
• Executive summary and a fully detailed report of the results from each rater, including the manager.
• Outline of skills to reinforce.
• Outline of Skills to Develop.
• List of focus competencies to develop.
• Business Benefits.

Because 360 results capitalize on multiple perspectives, they are considered highly credible and useful performance feedback. Research shows that because managers recognize the feedback is fair, balanced and based on the actual workplace, the data has high face validity and is accepted more easily.

Uniquely, the Forté i360 focuses on strengths, therefore is more positively received and encouraging of effective improvement.

HR managers believe that the most effective means of addressing staff retention is to improve the people management skills of line managers. Improved manager performance will result in an improved overall performance of your organization by meeting and exceeding those key indicators that make the difference between average and outstanding managers and their teams.

Because the Forté i360 process is highly automated and extremely easy to customize, use has just skyrocketed. This is probably because it is very affordable, and we offer a certification so our clients can facilitate the read-backs in-house or we can support that step, as well.

If you would like more information, or have questions, please contact us via http://www.theforteinstitute.com/Contact_Forte.aspx or (910) 452-5152. And if you would like to experience Forte for yourself, click here for a complementary Forte Communication Style Survey. This will take you less than eight minutes and you will have your results immediately upon completion.
 
C.D. “Hoop” Morgan, III is the founder and chairman of The Forté Institute, LLC, a global behavioral sciences firm best known for developing and providing innovative people, process and interpersonal performance improvement solutions. Forté provides online communication style reports to more than 6,000 corporate clients throughout the globe. To learn more about the company, go to www.theforteinstitute.com or call (910) 452-5152.