Honest feedback is highly desirable, because without it you cannot really work on improving yourself. A manager is blindfolded when he doesn’t know what he is doing right and what he could be better at. And things are even more desperate when you are in a senior management position. Then candid feedback is really rare. The management.about.com knows how difficult it can be when you don’t get enough honest opinions on your performance. The article gave some tips on how to get appropriate and candid feedback.
The methods mentioned in this first article are especially great for getting specific ideas of what you should focus on. Also, there are less demanding ways than administering a full 360 assessment, for which you usually need a certified prtofessional.
The 1-10 technique
Choose an activity or a skill you would like to get better at. It may be facilitation of meetings, active listening or conducting a one on one meeting. At the end of an interaction of this type, ask your partner to rate your performance on a scale ranging from 1 to 10 points. If your colleague rates you less than 10, here is your follow-up question: ask what would you need to do in order to be awarded 10 points. Be aware of the necessity of opening the dialog in a way that is not threatening. Your colleague needs to feel he can trust you.
Take a look into the future
This is a bit similar to the 1-10 technique. Ask your peers or your team what they think you could do to achieve better results in the activity you want to work on. Use this and the above technique to find out what you can do better – in terms of what’s important to the other people. You can find more inspiration in Marshall Goldsmith's recommendations on how to improve team cooperation using feedback.
A recruiter’s help
Recruiters are trained in spotting the weaknesses and strengths of their prospects. Ask one of them to glance at your resume and screen you via phone. You can be assured that you will get interesting insights about yourself, but you need to insist on a brutally honest assessment.
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