The Task Cycle, Basis for Clark Wilson Group's 360 Feedback Surveys

The Theory Behind the Task Cycle ® and 360 Feedback

The Task Cycle is a logical sequence of steps essential to directing the performance of tasks. It relates core competencies to operational performance and interpersonal relations. The focus is on the interaction between the person who is in charge of that performance and those who are carrying out the task. This pairing of individuals includes: managers and their direct reports, executives and their subordinate managers, sales representatives and their prospects, and team members and their team mates. View a history of the Task Cycle Surveys, the first of their kind. The basic Task Cycle has six phases:

The Task Cycle Model draws on Cognitive Learning Theory. The literature review and theoretical work are discussed at length in the Meaningful Measures manual and at the Clark Wilson Certification Workshop.

When Clark Wilson was first working with this approach, he wanted to make it easy for people to remember their feedback. One of the fundamental tenets of learning theory is that it's easier to learn a chain of events than a series of independent events. It uses clustered learning versus independent learning.

The real breakthrough occurred when Wilson discovered through workplace research there was a mathematical basis for the sequence he proposed. In other words, if managers, leaders and executives practice the steps of the Task Cycle in sequence, their effectiveness is significantly enhanced.

Learn more about the history of 360 feedback and Clark L. Wilson, Ph.D.

The Task Cycle family of validated 360 feedback surveys is published by The Clark Wilson Group, Boulder, CO. The Task Cycle® is a registered trademark of the Clark Wilson Group.