A word of warning and an interesting discussion thread about bosses, employees and 360 Degree Feedback in the Guardian from last year.
In summary...we say:
- Always run 360 Degree Feedback for senior management first; it's the only way it will be credible to everyone else in the organisation. And it means the senior people can champion and promote the 360, not rubbish it because they don't understand what it's about. (And include them in the 360 design, that helps too).
- Tell people how the feedback is going to be published, who's going to see it, and what's going to happen to the information - otherwise you risk a PR disaster with staff, or worse.
- Focus the 360 on key areas that everyone can understand and observe, and brief people on how to give good, constructive 360 Degree Feedback. It's well worth the time and effort.