3 Principles of Feedback that Works
I wrote, “Don’t give your boss feedback on his poor performance,” in, “Solution Saturday: My Boss is a Terrible Leader.”
So, what makes feedback work?
Feedback:
Angry faces, loud horns, smiles and thumbs up are feedback. You look in the mirror before going out, feedback. You step on the scales in the morning, feedback. Speaking of scales…
You’re excited to step on the scales if you think your weight’s down. You avoid the scales if you stuffed yourself last night.
When options are available, you choose to hang with people who affirm you and avoid those who criticize you. (“Negative Feedback Rarely Leads to Improvement,” HBR Magazine Jan.-Feb. 2018)
Principle #1. People prefer affirmation to criticism. Have you given abundant praise?
Feedback and learning:
Wilma’s* new job often takes her to Mexico City. Her clients speak English, but she hired a tutor to help her improve her high school Spanish.
Imagine a Spanish tutor who doesn’t correct pronunciation. Wilma wants corrective feedback. She might be frustrated with her performance, but seeks correction anyway.
Principle #2. Improvement seeks feedback. Do they desire improvement?
You don’t intentionally choose stupid.
Corrective feedback offends those who feel they’ve arrived and motivates those who seek to improve.
Imagine receiving disconfirming feedback about performance you believe you’ve mastered. You justify, rather than explore.
Self-justification says:
- You can’t do it any better than I do it.
- They’re over sensitive. Get used to it.
- You don’t understand the challenges I’m facing.
- You don’t appreciate my achievement and skill.
Spanish and weight:
The scales shout, “You’re fat!”
Good pronunciation advances Wilma’s client relationships and her career. She has a stake in the ground. It matters.
Principle #3. Before giving corrective feedback, explore why it matters to the recipient. Why does feedback matter?
- How is work more fulfilling?
- How might personal success connect with making corrections?
What makes feedback work? Not work?
*Fictional character.
This is excellent. As a preacher I often get feedback. However, it’s not usually helpful since it is so generic and general. I’ve learned from you to say “tell me more.” or ask “what specifically did you find helpful or challenging?” On the other side, God’s word gives us feedback whenever it’s read. The 10 commandments are the scale for the soul, to go with your metaphor. If we’re not living right, we don’t want to read God’s law. Dan, thanks so much for this!
Thanks Pete. Life is filled with feedback. I find that declaring an intention helps. I’m working to improve xyz… what should I keep doing? What might I improve?
What makes feedback work? Individuals who are open and willing to listen and understand that things change, people change, and we need to accept the changes and work them together for the future. “Be advised not all change is good” if we don’t prepare for all the options, which can be complex.
Not work? People without vision on their own “EGO trips”! Those who rule with an “Iron fist”, unreceptive to dialogue comes to mind. Those who “don’t really care what gets done or how it gets done”, just so it gets done! There needs to be clarity and oorganization.
Thanks Tim. There’s a focus on receiving feedback if your a leader in your comment. This is so important. Power seems to blind us.
One of the biggest hindrances to a feedback rich environment is leadership that doesn’t seek and receive feedback.
When giving feedback, be precise. ” In today’s meeting, you interrupted people 12 times.”
Describe or discuss specific changes that will produce better results.
Thanks Paul. It’s terrible to hear, “You’re a bad listener.” That’s just discouraging. Your approach is so much better.
Great point Paul! I once was told in a review session to “Be careful how many angels I had dancing on the heads of pins”! I had no idea what to do with that! Lately, I’ve been experimenting with using an Appreciative Inquiry approach which lays some positive context before getting specific and rather guides self discovery. In your example it might go like this: “I appreciate your participation in the meeting today. You seem to be very committed (passionate, etc) to the topic and I would like to hear how you feel the meeting (or process) went.”
I find that feedback also works when it is timely. I don’t believe in providing feedback for something that happened weeks ago. If I see it or hear it I address it at that moment or not too long after. I also turn the table and seek their input on improvement. It also helps to acknowledge when you see efforts of improvement after the discussion. I find it makes any future improvement discussions more beneficial because you can refer to improvements made before jumping to additional challenges. These conversations are never easy but they are best done individually, unless it’s a group issue. I had to ask my entire staff to step up their professional attire. That was uncomfortable, but needed. They were a little too relaxed and it was allowed with their previous leadership.
Thanks for this post.
Thanks hampton. Timeliness is especially relevant when the feedback is about a blindspot. If you can see yourself in the moment, you have greater opportunity to understand the issue and make adjustments.
When feedback is delayed it often becomes a debate about what really happened.
Dan –
I take a slightly different view on feedback than what you discuss. It is not simply that of people making comments because there is so much around feedback that comes from self-perception and self-analysis. Feedback has strong components in measurement and expectations and goals and objectives, too.
Feedback in the workplace sucks, both the kinds you captured above plus the measurements and tracking aspects of it. I’ve done a few blogs on it and this one captures the issues of “performance analysis” with a simple checklist. It should be food for thought, since it is part of the tools for self-improvement, too.
https://performancemanagementcompanyblog.com/2013/04/26/performance-feedback-breakfast-of-champions/
Feedback does NOT simply have to be a conversation and a coaching opportunity. It can also be something easily self-managed and thus intrinsically motivated.
Thanks for extending the conversation, Dr. Scott. Much appreciated.
Nice work, as usual, Dan. I find that feedback is most often useful when it is wanted. I often ask myself, “Jim, do you want to ‘share’ this with someone because it is what THEY want, or are you simply trying to demonstrate how ‘smart’ you are?” When I orient the feedback in a way that will be useful and wanted to them, I am more successful. When I ignore who the audience is, it is a waste of time.
Be well…
Jim
Brilliant Jim. This is where leaders can model the way. They can “want” feedback by seeking feedback.
Your idea of focusing on useful and wanted gets me thinking about power. People will power might be tempted to use feedback as a tool to pressure or manipulate. Powerful people are less able to take the perspective of others.
What makes feedback work?
Providing any. So many times I see people who work away and get no “feedback” at all until something goes wrong! It’s like walking through a room blindfolded you can find the furniture when you trip over it, but it isn’t a very effective way of mapping the room, is it?
Love the illustration of walking through a room blindfolded. Thanks Mitch.
Your comment reminds me of the importance of filling people’s buckets with affirmations.
I think the SBI(Situation, behaviour, impact) is a simple effective model of giving feedback.
Thanks Zac. You gotta love simplicity.
Simply give feedback that offers a positive solution forward. Do not deprive people of the information they need to do their jobs. If you are tiptoeing about prima donnas you are in failure mode.