A full-scale 360º evaluation program stumbles badly if the law department is small. The department simply does not have enough reports to provide anonymity and representativeness, by which I mean a sufficiently sizeable sampling of opinions about someone above.
What I have done in two different retreats, however, has been to include a question on an online survey that addresses the effectiveness of the department’s leadership team. The question asks the members of the department to anonymously evaluate the general counsel and his or her reports on a number of attributes. These attributes likely include decision-making, strategic planning, fairness and accessibility.
The composite results do not point fingers at any individual, unlike a 360º evaluation, but they can peel back some of the mystery.