snarkwifedotcom

I don’t really have a boss in my job. I used to, but in the last year or so I’ve sort of become my own self-directed work team, for lack of a better term.

As part of my graduate management program at the University of Dallas, I am participating in a management development exercise. The exercise is a 360-Degree Assessment designed to give me feedback on my leadership, management, and team skills.

In the 360-Degree Assessment, I complete a survey on myself, and individuals that are familiar with my management style also fill out a survey on me. In this process, typically a boss and three or more coworkers are invited to complete a survey.

The survey input is summarized, and I receive a report on how my results compare to a “norm” group of managers from a variety organizations. I will see how my boss described my management behavior, and I will see how my direct reports and coworkers described my management behavior, provided at least three individuals from each group submit a survey.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with this. I haven’t done one in years as the organizations I’ve worked for in the last 7 years or so didn’t employ this as a performance review process, but I was excited at getting some feedback. I haven’t had any formal feedback since I started this job over three years ago. I think at one point I was told as long as they kept me on the payroll I was doing a good job, but that wasn’t in writing.

So, I shoot a form letter off to four folks I would consider my “peers” and to the two folks who would most likely be considered my “boss” if they had to select a radio button on a form, asking if they would help me with this exercise.

I heard back from both boss-types, each basically saying the other one would more accurately be considered my boss and would be better equipped to assess my current management skills. I’m trying to figure out what inferences I can gather from the facts of this situation, and how I can tie it back into Org Behavior case content.

Sorry…I’m on page 16 of my final project…and it’s like a hostage crisis…CRITICAL INCIDENT CASE: PAGE 16 AND STILL IN NEGOTIATIONS.

I’m a little punchy…and a little goofy. But really now, doesn’t anyone want to review my performance from some sort of management perspective? Please? I promise, as long as any criticism is constructive and I can do something about it, I’ll really consider it.