Reviews ASTD Members Only

RealTime 360
By Tom Abraham

Feedback tools remind me of that classic television commercial, pajama-clad kids sitting at the breakfast table with pained, puzzled faces:

"What's this stuff?"
"Some cereal. Supposed to be good for you."
"You try it?"
"I'm not gonna try it! You try it!"

Sure, many people embrace feedback as a powerful development tool. But a surprising number of people squirm, complain, and procrastinate in their avoidance of feedback.

Can technology manage the intimidation factor and make the feedback process easier? RealTime 360 certainly thinks so. It claims to have the first--and only--completely online 360 tool. To have an impact on performance, though, an instrument has to be more than convenient. It needs to create insight that is

• meaningful, focusing on performance-relevant behavior
  
• clear, presenting feedback in digestible, unambiguous ways
  
• action-oriented, inspiring learning and personal change.

But with several well-established print tools already on the market, just how competitive can RealTime 360's paperless process be?

The process

Participants don't have to worry about RealTime's technology: There's no software to install and no learning curve to climb. Instead, they receive an email with instructions, a unique user name and password, and a link to the RealTime Website where users complete a self-assessment and identify respondents.

RealTime partners with the client to select skill-specific feedback items. Because those are likely to grow out of the company's own mission, vision, and values, they're certain to address meaningful behaviors. Also, RealTime 360 encourages comments and offers practical open-ended questions.

Although items are grouped by category, each has its own Webpage. This makes the tool particularly irritating when Internet traffic or processor speed slows loading. I completed five 15-minute surveys, but I spent more time waiting for pages to load than I did answering questions.

While people have come to believe that online means immediate, it's important to remember that this tool isn't in real time. Each phase of the process actually takes one to two weeks, so paper-based tools may be just as quick. However, RealTime automates administration issues, sending reminder emails and so forth.

The results

Feedback can be sorted several ways. The detailed feedback section shares distribution, averages, and percentages for each item. Though categories were used to organize questions, I didn't find category averages or totals. Rather than pie charts, bar graphs, or other pictorial aids, the numbers are presented in a series of tables that limit clarity. People who get annoyed clicking through multiple pages are going to see their frustration cubed: There are 30 items with seperate screens for details, comments, and development suggestions.

Development suggestions come in several forms. Introductory tips were the most helpful: on-target bullet points specific enough to provide "do today" guidance. Book recommendations are also offered, with links to Amazon.com. However, those references sometimes seemed more like footnotes than compelling and specific development tools. In addition, RealTime provides links to audiotape rental libraries and online training sites. Finally, hands-on debrief sessions confront people's nervousness about the results. They've included a grief-stage model that covers surprise, anger, rationalization, and acceptance. Those emotions may only surface when feedback is devastating, but it makes sense to prepare everyone.

RealTime 360 Ease of navigation ** Holds user interest ** Instructional value *** Production quality **½ Value of content ** Value for the money ** Overall rating ***½

Recommendation

Precision is at the heart of effective feedback instruments. Describe behavior accurately and you'll almost guarantee improvement, but ask too many questions and you'll turn people off. That's the fundamental paradox RealTime 360 must solve if it's to help you achieve your goals. As it stands now, the tool's design may merely get in the way.

RealTime 360 understands feedback fundamentals. With a few adjustments, many of which are minor, it could realize its full potential--and help participants realize theirs.

Published: February 2001