feedback Archives - Bridge Between

Specific Planning

Before the feedback meeting, ask and answer these questions:

What is my intention? While thinking through this, you may discover that you want your employee to feel bad and guilty. If that is your aim, the results of your meeting may be dismissal of the employee or them quitting. Instead, take time to establish exactly what your intention is for your meeting.

What impact do I want to have on my team member? Think about this and again, be specific. Do you want your employee to improve because of this interaction? Or do you want them to feel they were wrong? Your attitude about intentions and impact will influence the way you talk to your employee as well as the result of the meeting.

What exactly am I going to say? Plan your words. Write them down. Have notes with you that back up the points you want to make. If your communication is clear and to the point, your team member will not leave with any misunderstanding of what you expect in the future.

Tactful Execution

During the feedback meeting, make sure you:

Use many more positive comments than negative. You want to encourage your employee to grow and improve. To ensure that result, intentionally use positive statements about their work more than negative. It is impossible to have a fair review of someone’s performance without stating an area for improvement so they know what to focus on in cultivating the right kinds of skills. If those comments are sandwiched between other positive reinforcements, your employee will be more motivated to improve.

Be specific. Don’t speak in generalities. Instead, give specific examples. Refrain from using the words “never” or “always”. Don’t tell someone they are late in turning in assignments. Instead, give a specific instance. The same goes for praise. Don’t tell your team member they are encouraging to the team effort. Give a specific example of when they were encouraging.

Tie Actions to Consequences. Recently, Andrew Parker, director of marketing and communications for Zenger Folkman, gave an excellent example of how to tie actions to consequences during feedback. He writes:

When delivering tough feedback, many folks don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. The best way to do this is to review how their actions led to a specific consequence and not insult their intelligence, competence or otherwise. Case in point: I had a boss tell me one time that because I had failed to review my work with him before sending it on to a client, I provided something substandard and the client was displeased with our work. He never called me dumb, stupid or clueless. He demonstrated how my actions had led to this outcome. Then, he followed up with several kind comments about things I was doing well and that I need to work in this one area to improve. After that, I never had a problem—and I never felt bitter to my boss about that conversation.

Making the connection between actions and consequences can help your employee improve in their job and give you a specific and non-threatening way to convey areas where they need improving.

Purposeful Follow-Up

End your feedback meeting with a plan of action. Ask your employee to come up with ideas for his improvement in a given area. In your plan of action, have your employee do a few specific tasks in a specific amount of time. Following up in this way will ensure that the feedback you gave has not fallen on deaf ears.

Feedback can be a vital tool for you as a leader. Learn how to give it well and inspire your team members to dream, learn, do and become more.

Sources:

Effective feedback is something that every good manager should offer to employees.

Good feedback drives individual and company-wide performance. It motivates

employees and, in turn, fosters company-wide productivity. To some, offering

feedback is daunting, and to others, knowing how to offer valuable feedback is

somewhat of an “unknown.” It is important to consider that feedback is not praise,

it is not criticism, and it is not advice. Good feedback is about offering constructive

information in response to efforts toward reaching a particular goal.

Consider the following key elements to improve your feedback and the overall

success of your team:

Effective feedback is goal-oriented.

Feedback should be catered toward moving employees closer to their own

performance goals, or toward the betterment of the company. If your response to

employee performance does not have to do with these objectives, it is likely

unnecessary and will actually result in counter-productivity and frustration.

Effective feedback is specific.

Clear communication should take place when offering feedback. When offering

information about employee performance, managers should relay specific examples

to demonstrate why efforts were effective, or illustrations of where goals were not

as successfully reached. Furthermore, it is important that the recipient of the

feedback relays a clear understanding of what is being communicated.

Effective feedback is empathetic.

It is important to view the perspective of employees when offering feedback.

Consider the last time you received feedback that mattered to you – information

that you took to heart and that encouraged better performance on your part.

Usually it came from someone who genuinely cared about you, who appreciated

where you came from and where you were headed.

Effective feedback is timely.

Don’t wait until the quarterly review to offer feedback. Immediate response to

employee performance will be more meaningful and applicable when the action

taken is fresh on the heart and mind of the employee.

Effective feedback is honest.

Feedback that is fake, forced, or not completely truthful is neither good for

employees, nor for the overall organization. In fact, it can actually create barriers

skepticism. As a manager, honesty can be hard at times, but trying to tell people

what you assume they want to hear can actually hurt their effectiveness; on the

other hand, providing constructive, truthful feedback in a gentle, empathetic

manner is proven to build employee engagement and productivity over time.

Effective feedback is consistent.

It is important to offer constant feedback, and to follow up on feedback given.

People want their efforts to be recognized. Acknowledging the work of employees is

guaranteed to increase engagement and motivation. Offering consistent feedback

helps people to know whether they are on the right track, and how they can better

contribute to an organization’s success.

Effective feedback leaves room for improvement.

It is important, as you offer feedback to employees, to get their input regarding how

you offer feedback. Asking employees how you can better respond to their

performance will increase trust and lines of communication overall, and it will help

you to improve your ability to offer better feedback to other employees, and your

own managers as well.

What is your greatest challenge with giving feedback? Share in the comments or contact

us at bridgebetween.com.

Tag: feedback

Make Feedback a Vital Tool for Your Team Members

Specific Planning

Tactful Execution

Purposeful Follow-Up

Tips for Offering Effective Feedback