That's the thought behind multi-rater feedback. When a person is observed from many angles, from the viewpoint of peers, bosses, direct reports, even customers, we can develop a more complete and accurate picture of the person's strengths and developmental needs. How well does a person analyze issues? Handle challenges? Demonstrate integrity? Inspire, empower, and lead others? With multi-rater feedback, you can provide a person with that rare, overdue glimpse that only others see.

Multi-rater feedback really does work, which accounts for its increasing popularity as a tool for human resourcedevelopment. But major

problems can arise if a multi-rater feedback assessment program is poorly designed or executed. We've seen six pitfalls that can sidetrack your good intentions and sabotage your success in using multi-rater feedback: Ambiguous objectives, sending the wrong message, poor positioning, choosing the wrong instrument for the job, failing to develop an action plan following feedback, and lack of follow-through.

1. Ambiguous Objectives
Some organizations make the mistake of hastily adopting a multi-rater assessment program just because they've heard it worked for someone else. But for it to work for your organization, you must thoroughly think through the important issues and develop firm objectives. What do you expect to get from the assessment? What do you want participants to gain? Who should be surveyed and why? What groups should be included? Omitted? Is it for performance appraisal or developmental purposes? Unless you have a good idea what your organization can gain from multi-rater assessment, you set yourself up for disappointment.