What is peer feedback?
Peer feedback, also known as 360º feedback, enables participants to get feedback from colleagues in order to compare their self-image with the perception of others.
Based on this self-reflection, participants can set action items for their personal development.
The positive effects of this are:
- A better understanding of one's own behavior
- A chance to uncover “blind spots” in one's own behavior
- Improved personal relationships within the team and better teamwork
- An anonymous way to provide feedback to teammates
With Echometer, participants of the peer feedback have the opportunity to regularly obtain feedback on self-selected focus topics.
For feedback providers
Why should I give feedback?
Will my feedback remain anonymous?
How is it determined who gives feedback?
For participants
How should I deal with my results?
We will say in advance: Feedback is a gift. It is not always a matter of course to receive open feedback. So be especially grateful if people give you critical feedback – because this is the only way to improve yourself in a targeted manner.
At first glance, try to look at the results openly and without judgment. Put yourself in the position of the feedback giver, and think about which specific situations could have been the reasons for their perception. Use the comment feature to record your thoughts and open questions.
At the end of the self-reflection, you can optionally name reflection buddies so that you can share and discuss your results with them. This is often helpful in summarizing your impressions and actions Reflection session (see below) .
After you have discussed your results and measures with your reflection partner, it also makes sense to share your findings with your feedback providers. In this way you can clarify any queries and show that you have carefully dealt with the feedback and that it is important to you to develop yourself further.
By dealing openly with your findings, you make it easier for your colleagues to give you open feedback in the future.
How can I derive action items from my feedback?
The Scaled Agile Framework Keep-Stop-Start Framework provides you with a good basis from which to derive measures. If you have a reflection buddy, you can discuss the questions with this person:
Keep: Start with the strengths
- Based on the feedback: What strength would you say defines you?
- According to the feedback, what should you definitely keep doing?
- What feedback did you particularly like?
Stop: Find out areas you need to develop in
- If you could choose max. 3 areas, where would you want to develop yourself?
- Which characteristics that have not yet been rated as outstanding, are particularly relevant for you in order to achieve your goals?
- In which area do you think your team would expect developments from you?
Start: Gathering ideas for improvement approaches
- What are improvements that can be implemented in the short-term?
- What are more long-term improvements?
- On which points would you still need feedback from colleagues in a personal conversation in order to understand how you could improve yourself?
Who can see my personal results?
What exactly is the role of a reflection buddy and who should I state here?
A reflection buddy can access your results after you have been invited to go through them with you and to support you in your self-reflection. As a reflection buddy, you can, for example, enter your manager, a confidante or colleagues who know you well. The selection of a reflection buddy is optional.
What is the role of my manager?
For reflection buddies
What is my role as a reflection buddy?
As a reflection buddy, you support your partner in reflecting on the basis of the feedback and deriving measures for personal development from it. You will also get insight into the results, comments and actions of the person.
The self-reflection should continue to emanate from the participant themselves. In particular, your role is to encourage and stimulate reflection through active listening and open questions.
The following hints and questions can serve as suggestions during the reflection conversation:
Talk about specific expectations of this conversation and your role:
- What do you want from this conversation?
- What exactly do you want from me in this conversation?
Look for an easy entry into the conversation to get a first feel for how the results were processed emotionally:
- How was the self-reflection so far for you?
- Overall, were the results understandable and comprehensible?
Get a rough idea of how the participant views themselves:
- How would you summarize your results?
- Which trends do you think you have recognized?
- How would you describe yourself now after receiving the feedback?
- Optional: How has your feedback changed since last time?
Now go into concrete terms again, which aspects were surprising for them:
- Which reviews surprised you particularly positively or negatively?
- Concrete situations can help you to better classify your feedback. Do you remember any specific situations that could have led to this kind of feedback?
Finally, you should talk about possible action items. An example of this is the Keep-Stop-Start-Framework (see above)
Why am I someone's reflection buddy?
Participants in the peer feedback can nominate their reflection buddies themselves. Depending on the company, you may have internal agreements as to who should be stored as a reflection buddy –, for example your own manager, a Scrum Master, agile coach or a neutral third person outside the company.