TEL 431: Learning in Workplaces

L6 Activity

Performance Feedback
Constructs: Evaluation and Feedback

Name: Abigail Mattson

Date: April 22, 2017
Your Assigned Facilitator: Carrie McCulloch

NOTE: Please bold all your responses so nothing is missed when your work is assessed.

NOTE: This document must be submitted with the url to your survey (paste below when
requested) as well as a stand-alone Excel document (submitted as an attachment). If you
do not submit all three deliverables, you will receive 0 points for the entire assignment.

Background Information about Performance Reviews

Think about the learning institution you envision for your future target job. Your responsibility
would be to contribute to the goals and mission of that organization. There are several ways to
measure your success. You would want to document your progress towards these goals. You
would want your responsibilities to be measured in a way that is reliable and credible, and fair.

Most organizations have institutionalized a performance review process, which is usually

handled through the organizations human resources department as a formal, annual process.
The purpose of a performance review is to evaluate the job performance of an employee. The
performance review is typically used as justification to increase salary or to offer advancement
in position.

There is much research suggesting traditional performance reviews, conducted by an

employees supervisor, at best have limitations, and can sometimes be detrimental to morale
and motivation.

A Complementary System
In addition to an annual performance review, research has shown pairing multiple rating sources
can provide more accurate, reliable, and credible information, and insight about an employees
performance and limitations. Additionally, research has shown that evaluation systems that use
a variety of rating sources to supplement the supervisors evaluation are more influential on
employee change and motivation.

The 360-degree evaluation was established to provide multiple angles of review of an

individuals work-related performance. It is conducted by administering a questionnaire to
individuals who have contact with the employee, including:
self
subordinates
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 peers
superiors
clients/customers/students

For this activity you will be conducting a 360-degree assessment on yourself, for a situation
where you have superiors, peers, customers, and possibly subordinates. You can do a 360 of
yourself in your work environment, an organization where you volunteer on a consistent basis,
or any other group-based setting such as a club or church group. As a backup plan, you can do
a 360 of how your family members see you. The idea is to review your behaviors from others
perspectives, to learn more about yourself, and to use the insight gained to improve yourself in
the given environment.

Asking someone to review your attitudes and behaviors puts you in a very vulnerable position.
To help you understand the power of being vulnerable, and how being vulnerable can change
the way you interact with others, watch this TedTALK by Bren Brown, socialwork scientist: The
Power of Vulnerability. http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-
7396

CREATE A 360 QUESTIONNAIRE

Review this document to get a more complete explanation of benefits of a 360-degree

assessment. Pay special attention to the respondent categories and the precautions. This will
help you make good choices as you progress through this activity:
United States Office of Personnel Management, Performance Management Practitioner Series
(1997). 360-degree assessment: An overview. Retrieved from https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-
oversight/performance-management/performance-management-cycle/rating/360assessment.pdf

Before you go further, explore the context of your 360. Provide a summary of the situation,
including the purpose or vision of the organization, your roles and responsibilities, who you are
responsible to, who your equals are, who reports to you (if applicable), and who the system
serves (e.g., the customer, client, patient, where applicable) (3 pts):
The context of my 360 degree assessment is a group of people with whom I volunteer
as a part of my nonprofit. I volunteer with several parts of the nonprofit. One of them is
a preschool, where my role is as a teacher for different classrooms. My responsibilities
include planning for the days with the kids, taking care of all their basic needs
throughout the day, and communicating with other teachers and parents on a daily basis.
I am responsible to three volunteers who lead the preschool. The preschools purpose is
to provide positive childcare to empower and support childrens whole-self well-being.
We consider the childrens social and emotional needs as well as their physical and
intellectual awareness. There are eight of us on the preschool team, and four are my
equals. No one reports to me for this part of the nonprofit. I included a few of the
parents whose children I watch at the preschool in order to get a more well-rounded
opinion of my strengths and weaknesses. I also work at Starbucks with two volunteers
from the nonprofit. The two of them report to me because I am a shift supervisor, and I
chose to include them in this survey. Finally, I live with five other volunteers from the

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nonprofit. They interact with me on a daily basis, so I will include their feedback on the
survey. One of them is my mentor, and I report to her on life duties and issues. I also
volunteer with a youth development program with my nonprofit, so I have chosen to
share this survey with lead volunteers who I report to as a part of that.

To get a better understanding of possible content and structure of a 360 questionnaire, review
the examples on this web page: http://www.hr-survey.com/360FeedbackDemos.htm

Write an opening paragraph for your questionnaire. Explain the purpose of the 360 with some
detail. Include that you will not be collecting identifying information on respondents (e.g., names,
email addresses, etc.). Be sure this comes across as a request, and something that would be
helpful to you, not a mandate. Let them know how their insight will be helpful to you. Provide a
deadline for their participation that is TWO DAYS PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE FOR THIS
ASSIGNMENT so you have some time to review the data and internalize their feedback. Write
your introduction paragraph here (5 pts):

Hello,
Thank you for responding to this survey! This survey fulfills a requirement for one of my
college classes. I am learning about professional feedback and 360-degree
assessments, which are used in some workplaces to help employees understand where
they have room to grow in their work performance. For the purpose of this assignment,
the feedback you give me can be about any time you spend with me if we work
together, please answer in terms of the job or volunteer time. I will not be collecting any
names or email addresses, so all responses are anonymous. Your feedback is helpful to
me because it will show me my strengths, or areas where I am already improving, and my
weaknesses, or areas where I have an opportunity to improve. Please respond to this
survey by midnight on Friday, April 21st, 2017.
Thank you!
Abbey Mattson

Now, determine a list of 5 categories that would be the most helpful in informing your
development. For ideas, review this comprehensive list:
Accountability
Achievement
Bias for Action
Change Management
Decision Making
Developing Others
Empowering Others
Establishing Focus / Direction
Excellence

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 Flexibility
Goals
Initiative
Innovation
Integrity
Interpersonal Skills
Managing Performance
Problem Solving
Professional Development
Project Management
Teamwork

For each of the 5 categories, compose 3 or more questions using a Likert scale, and 1 open-
ended question (minimum 4 questions total). The format of a typical five-level Likert item could
be:
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree

Here are some ideas: http://www.hr-survey.com/360FeedbackItems.htm

Write your category headers and questions here (16 pts):

Category 1: Accountability
Likert items (3 or more): Abbey embraces accountability for her actions.
Abbey holds herself accountable to peers and mentors.
Abbey uses resources well to communicate accountability.
Open-Ended Question (1): How well do you think that Abbey uses accountability in
her work, volunteer, or free time? Why?

Category 2: Empowering Others

Likert items (3 or more): Abbey empowers others to succeed.
Abbey empowers others to make effective decisions.
Abbey encourages and empowers others to take initiative.
Open-Ended Question (1): How can Abbey improve in empowering others in her
work or volunteer time?

Category 3: Interpersonal Skills

Likert items (3 or more): Abbey has excellent interpersonal skills.
Abbey is able to communicate clearly.
Abbey communicates well with peers and mentors.
Open-Ended Question (1): What kind of interpersonal skills are Abbeys strengths?
Which are her weaknesses?

Category 4: Problem Solving

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 Likert items (3 or more): Abbey has good ideas when faced with challenges.
Abbey uses effective strategies to solve problems.
Abbey faces problems in a positive way.
Open-Ended Question (1): Describe a time when Abbey was faced with a problem.
Was she able to solve it effectively, or was she challenged by it? How was the problem
resolved?

Category 5: Teamwork
Likert items (3 or more): Abbey embraces collaboration on a daily basis.
Abbey is likely to listen carefully to others ideas or
opinions.
Abbey works well in team environments.
Open-Ended Question (1): How well could you describe Abbey as a teammate?
Where could she grow in collaborating with her peers and mentors?

Create your questionnaire in Google Forms to include:

opening paragraph, per above
headers to label each category
3 or more Likert-type questions per category
one open-ended question per category (Make these questions required.)
customized thank-you text (See tutorials on how to do this.)

Here are some training materials that will help you with this task:
1. Watch the Using Forms in Google docs video to get an overview of Google Forms. It is
old enough that it calls Google Drive Google Docs, but the overview remains the same
as far as why this is such a cool tool. You can still go as he states, to Google Sheets,
then use the Tools>Create Form, to start a new survey. Newer tutorials show using the
New>More>Google Forms method of starting a new survey. Either way is fine.
2. Watch this 13-minute screencast that will show you all the INs and OUTs of how to
create a Google Form. For those using the NEW Google Forms optional update try this
tutorial.
3. Use this support page for creating your first form.
4. Learn about some of the tips and tricks that can help you make more sophisticated
Google Forms.

Paste the URL to your questionnaire here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2HX3NzgTA4wRcGQZaguGGGaod-
olVn4sajfKvZLXfUiKUMA/viewform?usp=sf_link

ADMINISTER THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Take the questionnaire yourself, based on how you see your own behaviors. Double check the
response spreadsheet to make sure your data appears. If it does not, you have some trouble-
shooting to do before you send it out to your list of respondents. Edit any questions you feel are
not clear.

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Population Types
Now make a list of individuals from this environment who might provide insight about your
knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes. These individuals should fall within a variety of the
population types listed below.

The more responses you get, the more insight you will gain. To meet the expectation for this
assignment, you will need at least 8 participants to respond. You will want your respondents to
represent a variety of different population types. Not everyone will participate, so you might want
to send your request to more than 8 individuals.

Names of those you sent the survey to. Provide first names only, to maintain anonymity. (3 pts):
subordinates: Shawnee, Maranda
peers: Sammie, Brandi, Jessica H, Julie, Alison, Sam, Amanda, Anna
superiors: Karen, Nicole, Cynthia, Jarah, Lindsay
clients/customers/students: Kendall, Jessica C

Send the URL to these individuals, along with the message you composed above, asking for
their participation.

Response Rate
How many participants responded? (8 required in order to provide you with the ability to reflect
about the questions below)

I responded, and eight other people responded to the survey.

What percentage of people responded to the questionnaire? (2 pts) 50% (I sent it to 17 people,
and eight responded. I also responded, so that means 9 people responded out of 18 who
were a part of the survey.)
Hint: number of people who responded divided by the number of people you sent it to.

Results
Share your spreadsheet results with your grader by downloading your results from the Google
spreadsheet as an Excel document and attaching it as you submit your assignment.

NOTE: Submitting the URL to your google spreadsheet is not acceptable as a google
spreadsheet can be edited after the submission deadline, and would be suspect of e-cheating. If
you submit the URL instead of a stand-alone file, you will be issued 0 points for this assignment.

BEING VULNERABLE

Review the TedTALK by Bren Brown, socialwork scientist: The Power of Vulnerability.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-7396
Summarize what Brown says are the benefits of this level of connection with others, and
opportunity for growth. Include 3 in-text citations from the video that were personally insightful
for you, and explain why (200-300 words) (5 pts): In her TED Talk, Brene Brown talks about a

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sense of worthiness that people who are able to be vulnerable experience. Brown found
that a principle called worthiness has a big impact on the ability of specific people to be
vulnerable. She stated, There was only one variable that separated the people who have
a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who struggle for it, and that was
the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they are worthy of
love and belonging (Brown, 2010). This quote was particularly insightful to me because
I have struggled to believe that I am worthy of love and belonging in the past. One of the
benefits of a deeper human connection that Brown shared about was courage. Brown
said, The original definition [of courage] was to tell the story of who you are with your
whole heart (Brown, 2010). This quote stuck out to me because I can remember a time
in my life when I did not feel very brave. Finally, Brown shared that people who had
connection through authenticity were willing to let go of who they thought they should
be in order to be who they were (Brown, 2010). This quote impacted me because I have
spent a lot of my life trying to live up to other peoples expectations for me instead of
choosing to live how I want to live.

Word count: 239

Reflect about vulnerability and this process. How did you handle your emotions, being the level
of vulnerability required was very high, when you were selecting who to send your questionnaire
to, when you were sending out the questionnaire, and when you reviewed your data. Discuss
this issue from the three points in the Brown TedTALK you emphasized in your response above.
(200-300 words) (5 pts): When I first started to create the survey for this process, I felt
nervous to send it to people. I did not know what group of people I would send the
survey to at first, and I didnt feel like I wanted to send it to my coworkers at Starbucks.
This project was good for me, because it challenged me to step into an uncomfortable
situation. I do not always handle feedback very well, and can freeze up at times when
people point out mistakes I have made. I felt like I wanted to be extra emotional and
scared of sending out the survey when I began working on this project, so I stopped and
put the project down. I decided to come back to it later, when I had more of a handle on
my emotions. I decided to choose to remember that the people I sent the survey to all
care about me and want me to succeed in my jobs and volunteer time, and that they give
me feedback so I can grow and get better. At first when I reviewed the data and
comments, I felt like I needed to focus on the negative feedback and see what I was
doing wrong. However, my friends actually gave me a lot of positive feedback, and so I
am choosing to focus on that. I know I will have opportunities to grow and to make
choices that help me improve upon the feedback that was given to me.

Word count: (250)

References (5 pts)

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Note: no credit will be given unless your references are formatted per APA. See Owl at Purdue
as a guide.

Brown, B. (2010). The power of vulnerability [Video file]. TEDxHouston. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-563241

REFLECT ABOUT RESULTS

Vulnerability (4 pts)
How did you handle your emotions, being this is a vulnerable process--to request honest
feedback from those with whom you work? I handled my emotions fairly well I was able to
stop and give myself some perspective throughout the process instead of over-focusing
on the feedback. I looked up information on the resource website that was given so that I
could give myself objective questions on the survey.

How were you at accepting the feedback as it was intended? To what extent did you see
yourself reading between the lines? I accepted the feedback alright. At first, I did read
between the lines and start to feel negative toward myself and others. But then I stopped
and chose to believe that the feedback was a good thing and intended to help me.

Strengths (4 pts)
What did you learn about your strengths? I learned that communication is one of my
strengths, and that other people see that I try to communicate with mentors, bosses, and
coworkers. I also learned that my caring heart for other people is one of my strengths.

What did you learn about how others see your strengths? I learned that other people are
happy when I am able to succeed in my strengths. I learned that other people appreciate
when I communicate and open up, and that they have received the benefit of my
strengths as well.

Areas of Improvement (4 pts)

What did you learn about what others see as possible areas of improvement for you? I learned
that other people see that I could communicate and be more vulnerable with my peers. I
knew that this was one of my weaknesses, but have not focused on it in a while. I want
to be able to open up and share what I am going through with my peers on a daily or
weekly basis. I also learned that other people know that I dont like to experience
negative emotions or conflict. I also learned that in order to grow, I need to be able to
give and receive feedback consistently.

What did you learn about how others see your weaknesses? I learned that other people
believe that I will continue to grow in my weaknesses, and that others see my
weaknesses as opportunities. I learned that other people can see my areas of weakness

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better than I can, and that I want to take advantage of what other people see about my
strengths and weaknesses when I am not able to be objective with myself.

Alignment (3 pts)
When you look at your self assessment, to what extent do you tend to see yourself as others
do? Why do you think this is so? A few of the respondents to my survey wrote that I can
see myself in a negative light, and I agree with this statement. I have gotten better over
the past year about this, but can sometimes slide back into a negative view of myself.
This is an area of opportunity that I would like to improve upon. As I reviewed my self-
assessment, I found that others see me more objectively than I am able to see myself. I
also noticed that others have positive views of me that I do not remember easily about
myself.

Actionable Items (6 pts)

Establish three AREAS for change, improvement, and development that you want to work on.

The three areas for change, improvement and development that I will work on are the
following: communicating with my peers more frequently, debriefing with my teams in
work and volunteer opportunities, and giving and receiving feedback.

Determine 3-5 new skills, knowledge bases, and behaviors within these areas that will support
your short-term plan for professional development. These are things you could start doing
today.

Communicating with my peers: I will look for ways to talk openly with my housemates
and peers at my jobs. I will practice active listening and then will open up and be honest
on a more consistent basis with peers.

Debriefing with my teams: At the end of my shifts at Starbucks, I will allow for five
minutes to debrief with one team member per day. I will ask them what they think went
well during the shift and what we as a team could do better next time. I will also debrief
with the volunteers who work with me at the preschool. I will look for ways to talk, ask
questions, and be open.

Giving and receiving feedback: I will look for ways to give one positive piece of feedback
to a team member every time I work or volunteer. I will also step into conflicting
situations when I have a suggestion for a team member that would help their growth and
development. I will hold myself accountable for this by checking these behaviors off in
my planner at the end of each day.

Determine 3-5 new skills, knowledge bases, and behaviors within these areas that will support
your long-term plan for professional development. These are things that may take 1-3 years to
complete.

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I will discuss the results of this survey with my mentors from my two jobs and from my
nonprofit. I will actively change my behaviors so that I communicate more with my
peers, teams, and mentors. I will ask each of my mentors for ideas that will help me grow
in all three of these areas.

I would like to gain better interpersonal skills and will look for professional development
or job training that will teach me how to communicate with others in a deeper way.

Overall (5 pts)
Reflect about how this process worked for you. What did you learn about your emotional state?
What did you learn about your perceptions of yourself in comparison to others? What did you
learn about your performance and interactions? (100-200 words) I learned that my emotional
state can be fragile when I receive feedback, but that in order to become more solid, I
must receive and give feedback consistently. I learned that my perception of myself can
be more negative than the perception that others have of me. I learned that others view
my performance as positive, but that they can see some areas of weakness that I have. I
learned that my interactions with mentors are mostly positive, but that I need to grow in
my interactions with my peers. I also learned that my performance can be conflict-
avoidant, and that I will need to gain more social and interpersonal skills to be able to
overcome this weakness.

Word count: (118)

Professional presentation (professional language, grammar, spelling, word count) (10

pts).
Please proofread your work to be sure it meets university level writing standards. Note that if
your written work does not meet this standard, you will be asked to revise and resubmit within 3
days, and these points will be lost. The Writing Center can provide support. See
https://tutoring.asu.edu/writing-centers for details.

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