Today I was given the rare gift of insight into how I am perceived in business – at least by one person. Most of the time, it’s only through a mechanism like 360-degree feedback that we gain these insights. It’s not often that you get the gift of honest face-to-face feedback, mainly because it’s rare to find someone who is open and direct enough to do so. But whichever way it comes, using it to improve your business performance is the real key to getting value from it.
The feedback I got made it absolutely clear that the impression received over the telephone was very different from the experience of meeting face to face. The personal presence is clearly a much stronger way to build a real sense of confidence in our abilities. This may seem blindingly obvious, but for some people, the opposite might apply. We all have different ways of communicating and for some people, their written or verbal presence is stronger than their physical presence. It may just come down to body language, but whatever the reasons, we all come over in our own particular way in each of the communication channels available to us.
Today’s nugget of information is hugely valuable feedback. It’s not a surprise. I’ve been given this message before, in different ways. It’s also not a negative. Just a useful reminder for when I’m handling my initial dealings with people. Note to self: make sure to get a meeting in early in the process.It is because it is so unusual to get this sort of constructive and candid feedback on our performance that 360-degree feedback is so valuable. Under normal circumstances, how else would I have received this fantastically useful insight?
With this information (or the reminder of it, since I had already had a clue or two to it in the past), I can now ensure I use my strengths to develop better business relationships. The underlying message is clear and I now know how to handle new encounters to get the best results. This just reminded me once again, how much value you can get from 360-degree feedback – if you take action on the insights it delivers.
Article by Vandy Massey
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