Published by Scott Neilson on 01 Jun 2010 at 02:32 pm
Feedback – getting the results you are after!!!
This is a subject that generally scares people. FEEDBACK!!! “How do I tell someone when they are not performing up to my expectations?” “I hate filling out performance evaluations.” “I hate annual review discussions”. The whole subject is fraught with negatives, and it doesn’t need to be. Feedback must be given…it is so critically important to getting good results.
You achieve better results by giving people positive feedback about what they are doing right than by only giving them feedback about what they are doing wrong, or no feedback whatsoever.
One of the reasons people have trouble giving feedback is because they only focus on discussing the negatives. Many people assume that giving feedback means telling people when they are doing something wrong; transmitting negative information that people will be upset about receiving. It shouldn’t be that way!
Someone once said that you get a lot more mileage out of telling people when they are doing something right than only telling them when they are doing something wrong. Think about it. There must be a hundred ways to perform a task incorrectly, and only one way, or a few ways, of doing it correctly. So, if you are only telling people when they are doing it incorrectly, then they are getting little, or no, information about how to do it correctly. Absent any other feedback they will experiment with many ways, which may be wrong, while hoping to stumble upon that one way which really accomplishes the task. What an unproductive use of time!!!
There is an activity I once saw conducted along these lines. It demonstrated the point quite well. A group was divided into two sub-groups…team A and team B. The task was for each group to blindfold each member of their team, one at a time, and have that person walk across the room and try to put a sticker on a target which was hanging on the wall. Each team would blindfold their contestant, spin them around a few times, and aim them in the general direction of the target. Team A could give NO feedback to their team member who was walking across the room trying to figure out where the target might be. Team B was to clap when their member was going in the RIGHT direction, and make no noise when they were going in the wrong direction. As you would expect, the stickers from team B were very close to the target while the stickers from team A were all over the wall.
The point was clear. You achieve better results by giving people positive feedback about what they are doing right than by only giving them feedback about what they are doing wrong, or no feedback whatsoever.
I have tried to make giving feedback a habit of this in my personal life as well as my professional life. With my children I find it does a lot of good for their self-esteem to get messages about things that they are doing right, even if it is about things that I imagine to be small things. With employees, I find that it is not only a way to ensure the results you seek, it is motivating for them. Feedback, in these cases, is recognition. Recognition means that they are of value to you. Being of value satisfies a core need that we all have.
Bottom line is that I try to spend as much time giving positive feedback as I do giving “constructive” feedback…actually, even more. When you focus on the positives, everyone feels good about it. It contributes to a positive attitude in the workplace. It contributes to continued good performance. Unfortunately, the fact that people are often surprised to get good feedback is a sad commentary on what people have come to expect in the workplace. It reflects that we have gotten in the habit of focusing on only the negatives in giving feedback and managing performance; that punishment is seen as a primary motivator in leading teams.
Oh well, the next minute is the first minute of the rest of your life. It may be time to chart a new course.
Linda Provenza on 01 Jun 2010 at 3:51 pm #
I could not agree with you more! I have read that giving positive feedback is 4 times as powerful as giving constructive or negative feedback.
Amy McGrath on 01 Jun 2010 at 8:45 pm #
Right on! Feedback doesn’t = criticism. And your employees will be more likely to seek your input if they are not afraid that you will criticize them, especially if they aren’t 100% certain that they are going in the right direction. I remember one time in particular when I was working on a brochure and my supervisor provided his feedback. He spent the first part of the conversation talking about what was right about the piece and making me feel proud of my work. I walked out of there feeling so good I hardly noticed all of the red marks all over the piece (the stuff that was wrong). I’ve used (or tried) to use that approach since then. And it works!
Steve Koutros on 03 Jun 2010 at 2:27 am #
Feedback is the continuous verbal dialogue between a manager and an employee. The Annual Appraisal is the written confirmation of what had been verbally discussed throughout the year. Both are critical to the success of the manager and their employee(s).
The employee should feel comfortable andbe encouraged to give feedback to the manager as well. This 360 degree view enables both parties to improve…
Mark Fryer on 04 Jun 2010 at 7:25 am #
Another way of saying this is “Catch people doing things right.” Ken Blanchard’s mantra along with “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” In addition, it must be timely and specific. If you have a child that puts her hand on a hot stove, you don’t wait 6 weeks of 6 months to tell her she shouldn’t do it. You tell her immediately and are specific as to what she shouldn’t do and why she shouldn’t do it.
By building up one’s emotional bank account with positive feedback, it lessens the blow when one has to give a reprimand due to a person’s performance.
In reference to performance reviews, there shouldn’t be any “new” news about one’s performance. There should be very little time spent on what has happened over the last 6 or 12 months but focus on looking forward on goals, personal improvement, and ambitions.