Feedback – Page 2 – New Horizon Partners

Feedback for the Boss

A leader has the responsibility to provide frequent feedback to each of their team members. Feedback identifies specific behavior or action and asks for more of, less of, or a continuation of the same behavior or action. When we, as a leader, observe an action or behavior by a team member, a discussion about the behavior and its impact guides future behavior. Feedback is an effective way to guide and shape behavior to align with the organization’s vision and goals.

But what should we do when we observe the behavior of our boss and feel it could be beneficial to offer feedback to him or her? Is it appropriate to provide feedback to a boss? When and how should upward feedback be provided?

There are instances when it is ill-advised to provide upward feedback. Although an effective leader always welcomes appropriate feedback, no matter what the source, there are some bosses that lack the character to accept feedback, especially from someone lower in the organizational hierarchy. These sorts of people either will not hear upward feedback or will meet it with some form of retribution. There are also organizations in which the corporate culture discourages lower-level team members from providing input up the chain. In either of these cases, offering upward feedback could be career threatening.

In most organizations and with most bosses, upward feedback could be acceptable, or even welcomed, if it is done well. Providing feedback to the boss has a different form than the three steps of feedback for peers or team members, but it does follow some of the ten tips for any feedback. Below are a few guidelines specifically for providing effective upward feedback:

Build upon relationship. Hopefully a comfortable relationship of open communication has already been established. If the boss is a good leader, he or she will have established this relationship and the two of you know each other fairly well and have frequent conversations. When this relationship is established, there is not a gulf between the two of you and the feedback conversation does not feel completely uncomfortable or out of character.
Ask for permission. When offering feedback upward, it is best received when not adversarial or perceived as an attack. You may have received or perceived an open invitation to conversation. Even in such case, it may be best to ask for permission with a question such as, “Could I mention something about ….?” Often it is beneficial to schedule the meeting at a future time with a comment such as, “Could we meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss how we will be working together on this project?”
Operate from a position of positive support. In an upward feedback discussion, make it clear that you are for and not against the boss. The tone of the conversation must demonstrate that you are interested in the success of the boss and that the feedback is intended for his or her benefit, not as a criticism or an effort to usurp.
Speak from your own perspective. Again, “you” messages often sound adversarial while “I” messages can be less so. Therefore, upward feedback is different from standard feedback in that we want to identify behaviors based on their impact on either you as an individual or on the team as a whole. As an example, “I feel most invested and creative in projects when I have greater autonomy. I appreciate your feedback and input, but I wonder if you would be open to setting a schedule to periodically review my progress together.”

If done poorly, upward feedback can feel combative or adversarial and damage the relationship with the boss. Done well, upward feedback can position someone as a valuable resource and trusted advisor of their boss. It holds the potential of improving your relationship and working situation.

Are you able to provide effective upward feedback? Are you able to receive it gracefully?

Three Steps of Effective Feedback

Providing feedback is one of the most important tools for developing followers and achieving desired results. Feedback communicates the actions or behaviors that we desire to see more of, less of, or the same in the future. So, with effective feedback we can shape the behavior of a person and we can move towards the most desirable results for the organization.

In other articles we have provided advice and guidance on providing feedback, such as ten tips for feedback or a description of the necessary context for feedback or the character traits for making feedback effective. You can find a compilation of articles on effective feedback here.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines feedback as “the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source.” A similar definition is found in BusinessDictionary.com, which says that it is the “process in which the effect or output of an action is ‘returned’ (fed-back) to modify the next action.”

In seminars intended to teach the skill, we break the feedback process into three, easy to remember steps – identify the specific action, describe the impact, and set the expectation. Feedback can only be effective when these three steps are completed. Let’s look at these three steps in more detail.

Step 1: Identify the specific action, behavior, event, or process. Operating under the assumption that we have an established relationship of communication with the intended recipient of our feedback, the specific conversation might begin with a description of the action, such as “the way that you helped the team reach a consensus” or “the three conclusions as you wrapped up your presentation.” Corrective feedback might begin with something like “the tone that you used in replying to Joe seemed very condescending” or “the facts that you presented don’t support the conclusions that you drew.”

Too often people think that they are providing feedback with a very general statement, such as “great job on the presentation” or “you add a lot to this team.” Such general statements could be considered affirmations, but they have little value for guiding future behavior, thus not really constituting feedback. The more specific and descriptive our statement, the better guidance it provides for future behavior.

Often feedback is better received when we first ask for permission, especially in the case of corrective feedback. Also, when providing corrective feedback, a bit of positive at the front end makes the recipient more open to the negative. An example might be, “Your presentation was good with a logical flow of the background information and each slide was a nice, bite-sized addition to our understanding, but may I offer some advice?”

Step 2: Describe the impact of the action. There are two elements of impact that are necessary for effective feedback. First, the personal impact or impression on the feedback provider. And second, the broader impact, whether it be on the organization, audience, peers, or whatever.

The personal impact makes the feedback just that – personal. Feedback becomes more digestible when the provider can share a feeling prompted by the action. Did their action, behavior, event, or process make you feel happy, intrigued, disappointed, angry, confused, excited, or whatever emotion was present? If this is important enough to provide feedback, there should be some emotion that arose, telling you that you should address it. Perhaps this is a good time to remind us that feedback is important, so we may need to train ourselves to notice those opportunities to feel something and to provide feedback.

The second half of describing the impact is to provide a broader context. Was the action in line with organizational goals or not, did it disrupt a meeting or discussion, is it likely to have hurt the reputation or effectiveness of the recipient, did it demonstrate behavior in line with or contrary to the organization’s desired culture, etc? Again, our goal in feedback is to be as specific as possible in order to tie the referenced action with the results, either positive or negative. Specifics make it more likely for the communication to be clearly understood and accepted, thus increasing the likelihood of long-term impact. A statement such as “you were rude, and I don’t want that to happen again” has little value. Rather a statement such as “I was disappointed to hear the rude comment you made when you said ___. That sort of comment breaks down the cohesion of our team and makes it more difficult to work together. We want this organization to be a place where each person is valued and accepted.” is more likely to gain the attention and acceptance of the recipient. Another example of describing the impact could be “The information in your presentation was so clear but I noticed that you said ‘um’ frequently. That habit can make your audience think that you are not confident in what you are presenting.”

Without demonstrating the impact, both personally and in the larger context, a comment about certain action can feel more like a slap on the back or a slap on the wrist, depending whether it is positive or negative. Without demonstrating the impact, such comments have little impact on the future. Therefore, they can’t be called feedback.

Step 3: Set the expectations for future action, behavior, events, or processes. Feedback is about identifying what we want more of, less of, or the same amount of. The third step of the feedback process is a statement or a discussion of our expectations relative to the specific action that we are addressing. The feedback process must provide clear expectations for the future.

Depending upon the situation, the third step of the feedback process might also include consequences or a plan of action. If we are talking about a serious negative action or behavior, the process may call for identifying the disciplinary action that will take place in the event of a next occurrence. If we have communicated the specific action and the specific impact that action, it is only natural that a specific consequence be communicated.

On the other hand, the feedback discussion may be related to an action or behavior that is beyond the recipient’s present capabilities. In this case, the discussion may call for either the feedback recipient to develop a developmental plan of action or it may require that the feedback provider and the recipient together define a developmental plan.

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” – Harvey S. Firestone

Effective feedback is crucial for effective leadership. To be able to spot opportunities where feedback is appropriate and to then provide it in a way that helps in the development of the recipient, is the best way to guide the growth of the people that we lead. To nudge the actions and behaviors of team members to align with organizational vision, goals, culture, and strategy is the best way to maximize the effectiveness of the organization. Many leaders underestimate the power of feedback and overlook the constant opportunities for providing it.

Are you providing enough feedback to those around you? Are you providing feedback in a way that maximizes its benefits?

The Character for Providing Effective Feedback

Effective leadership is built upon a combination of competency and character, with character the higher priority. Without strong, positive character traits, competencies can seem hollow to those that are called to follow. This is especially true for providing feedback. Character opens the door for providing competent feedback.

It is easy to learn the basic elements of feedback and to develop the skill to deliver these elements. Feedback identifies specific action or behavior. Feedback describes the impact of the action or behavior. Feedback requests more of, less of, or continuation of the action or behavior. Anyone that is seeking to lead others can learn these three elements and then develop the habit of watching for behavior, either positive or negative, and providing feedback using the three elements.

The problem with providing feedback that is built upon competency alone is that it often falls flat for the recipient. The old saying that “talk is cheap” applies here. Feedback is only truly effective when it is provided within a relationship and delivered from a caring heart. Effective feedback is motivated by a desire to build into the future of the organization and into the future of the individual. Without the character required, the feedback recipient will quickly feel that your feedback is just an effort to click the box or achieve self-centered goals.

On the other hand, providing feedback that is backed by character becomes evident to the recipient that the leader truly cares about the person and is seeking the recipient’s growth and success. Character provides a relational foundation for discussion and understanding so that the feedback is clearly comprehended, accepted, and implemented. Feedback that is backed by character is valued by the recipient whereas feedback without the character-based relationship is often either resented or ignored.

When we speak of the character that supports effective feedback, the traits that we should seek to build into our lives might include the following:

Caring, thoughtful, courteous, kind
Candid
Commitment to doing what is right or necessary
Faith in others
Forward-thinking
Goal-oriented, growth-oriented
Humble
Observant
Optimistic, positive
Respectful
Results-oriented
Sensitive
Sincere

Before a leader can be truly effective in building team members and providing effective feedback, they must be sure that they have and are consistently developing these character traits. With such character, development of a positive relationship is a natural consequence. With a strong and positive relationship, team members seek feedback driven by a desire to perform up to the standards expected by the leader.

Have you developed the character traits that open the door to providing effective feedback?

Feedback Is Always Positive

Oh, don’t misunderstand the title of this article. Feedback is sometimes affirmational and sometimes corrective. Feedback identifies specific actions or behaviors and then asks (or directs) the recipient to provide either more of, less of, or the same amount of such action or behavior in the future. Sometimes we are providing a positive reaction or affirmation to a team member’s action or behavior and sometimes we are providing a negative reaction to the action or behavior. Sometimes our feedback says, “Yes, keep it up!” and sometimes it says, “Cut it out!”, all within the guidelines for providing effective feedback, of course.

But, as leaders, we prefer that the process of providing feedback always be a positive experience, whether it be affirmational feedback or corrective feedback. There are two primary motivations for providing feedback. One purpose of feedback is to guide the actions and behaviors of team members to align with organizational vision, values, and goals. A second purpose of feedback is to develop team members in both character and competency, as a means of building both the person’s future and the organization’s future. It is this second purpose especially that guides all feedback to be a positive experience.

Effective leaders develop a strong relationship with their team members in which it is clear that the leader has the best interests of the team member at heart. While we want to achieve the organization’s current objectives and we value the current contributions towards those objectives, we never lose sight of the value of the person and their longer-term potential. This vision for the person is not constrained within our organization but is viewed through the lens of what is best for this person.

This view or desire to play a role in the positive development of each team member becomes then the context in which we provide feedback. Of course, we want our team to work well together. Of course, we want the organization to accomplish its objectives. But, if we truly value the people that we lead, their personal development and ultimate success is viewed as equally, if not greater, in importance.

When a leader is guided by his/her value of people and desire for their development and success, this becomes a foundation for a strong relationship of mutual trust and respect. In such a relationship, the frequent communication that takes place continually reflects this desire. Feedback is just a part of this positive relationship and its ongoing communication. Naturally, affirmational feedback has a positive feel. But even when it necessary to say, “That behavior does not serve the team well and it does not serve you well”, such corrective feedback can and should be both given and received as a part of an effective leader’s desire and practice of developing a person. While we may be pointing out actions or behaviors that should not be repeated, we are doing so out of a desire to help the team member grow or move in a direction that will benefit them personally in the future. If we have done our job of expressing our belief in the person and desire for their development, all feedback should be viewed as positive, in other words, in the best interest of both the feedback provider and the recipient.

Are you developing the kind of relationship that produces feedback that always feels positive?

The Context for Feedback

Imagine a situation where the only time that your boss said anything to you was when he/she pointed out what you had done wrong. How motivated would you be? Would you look forward to seeing your boss again soon? Would you value the feedback that you received? Too often in the workplace, this is exactly what happens.

Feedback needs to take place within the context of open communication. We need to have a relationship of open and positive (in the sense of caring and truthful) communication before team members are willing and able to take in and act upon the feedback that we provide. This communication needs to include both performance conversations and personal conversations. And the communication needs to flow in both directions – as a leader, we need to be open, even seeking, feedback from team members.

The personal conversations are aimed at developing the relationship of trust and respect that defines leadership. These are conversations about background, interests, dreams and aspirations, and family. In these conversations we hope to learn about the person, not just about the worker.

The performance conversations that need to take place on a consistent basis should fall into six main categories, as follows:

Career conversations – one of the responsibilities of a leader is to assist in the personal and career development of team members. Towards this end, there need to be conversations in the area of career that develop an understanding of previous experience, general interests, and career goals. From these conversations flows a specific definition of career growth plans and developmental opportunities.
Goal-setting conversations – each team member needs to have a defined set of goals that include achievement goals, performance goals, and learning and development goals. Many organizations utilize a performance management system that calls for annual goal setting, but the timing should be flexible and should cover all of these areas.
Check-in conversations – these are the conversations in which goals and progress can be reviewed but the most important objective is identifying and addressing the relevant challenges and opportunities. The purpose here is to raise awareness and solve problems midstream that might stand in the way of achieving goals or call for revising them.
Performance review conversations – at some point there needs to be a conversation that addresses the level of achievement of goals. This is generally a part of an organization’s performance management system. If we have done an adequate job of check-ins, there should be no surprises come review time.
Compensation conversations – this one is obvious and generally a part of most organization’s performance management system. It is best to have two separate conversations, one regarding a review of performance and a separate one regarding compensation.
Feedback conversations – when we have established a pattern of open, caring conversations and built a relationship of trust and respect, feedback conversations are a natural part of the relationship. In another article we have described effective feedback in some detail, so here we provide a quick review. Feedback conversations should sometimes point out specific actions or behaviors that we value and encourage repeating and sometimes point out specific actions or behaviors that are not beneficial to the organization and should not be repeated. When we give corrective feedback, it is good practice to begin with a positive comment. Feedback always refers to specific action or behavior, our reaction to it, and the results to the organization from it.

All of these conversations can generally be accomplished in a few minutes each. It is better to build a pattern of frequent, focused, on-the-spot conversations than to hold a long meeting covering everything that should have been addressed long ago. With a larger organization, it is impossible to have these conversations with everyone; therefore, make it a practice with direct reports, and have some of these conversations with people at the next level while coaching your direct reports to adopt the practice. With a pattern of communication and a relationship of trust and respect, feedback becomes a natural part of the ongoing dialogue.

How well are you communicating with your team members? Are you developing the culture of open communications throughout your organization?

The Value of Feedback

Feedback, from an engineering perspective, is the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output. In the workplace, the term ‘feedback’ is used to describe the helpful information about prior action or behavior from an individual, communicated to another individual (or a group) who can use that information to adjust and improve current and future actions and behaviors.

As a leader, we need to cultivate the habit of providing frequent feedback to those around us. Some people fail to provide feedback because of a fear of stepping into what might be negative emotions. Others neglect providing feedback because of the time required to do so, even though a feedback conversation can often be accomplished in just a couple of minutes. Those that fail to provide adequate feedback fail to see the value, not recognizing that feedback is an investment in the future that provides a great return on the investment.

Here are a few of the reasons that feedback is important:

Builds communications – Providing consistent feedback builds a habit of comfortable, candid conversations. When we build that relationship with people, it makes it easy for both parties to present and hear the truth. This eliminates the potential for surprises or hidden information in the future.

Demonstrates value and respect – The investment of time and effort into providing frequent feedback demonstrates that you as a leader care about the other person and that you are committed to their growth and success.

Communicates vision, goals, and expectations – The feedback process of pointing out actions and behaviors and the results produced, either positive results or undesirable results, provides an opportunity to clarify and communicate specifically the organization’s expectations. The feedback discussion can tie expectations to organizational vision and goals.

Leads to better decisions – Consistent feedback leads to better decisions on both sides of the relationship. Providing feedback provides guidance and development for the individual in decision-making. It also provides insights for the leader, both into the person and into the process.

Provides feeling of belonging and engagement – When a person receives individual feedback, the risk of perceiving oneself as simply a cog in the machinery of the organization is eliminated. The person develops an appreciation for their contribution to the mission of the firm.

Continuous learning and development – Leaders should be building talent for the future. Studies show that one of the important elements for employee satisfaction is the availability of career development opportunities. Feedback is one way to provide guidance for growth.

“The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” – William James

Motivates people – Of course, people like to hear that their efforts are valued or appreciated. Perhaps surprisingly, studies show that people crave corrective feedback even more than positive feedback. The important conclusion is that feedback is highly desired and is a great motivator.

Improves performance – This almost goes without saying. A consistent flow of feedback identifies the actions and behaviors that produce positive results and identifies the opportunities for correction or improvement. Feedback guides future behavior towards positive results.

Develops acceptance of leadership – Leaders that do a good job of providing feedback are perceived to be more effective leaders. Therefore, the leader/follower relationship is stronger when consistent and effective feedback is provided.

Promotes innovation and change – Providing feedback promotes the exchange of ideas and energizes people. This atmosphere leads to creativity and innovation.

For each of these, you can easily imagine the opposite where there is a failure to engage and provide feedback. The result is poor communication, lack of motivation and engagement, and an organization stuck in a quagmire of the past.

Instead, with a culture of consistent and effective feedback, the organization experiences increased satisfaction, higher retention, a stronger team, higher productivity, and a positive future. Benefits accrue to the giver of feedback, the receiver of feedback, and to the organization.

Want to know more about giving feedback? See the ten tips for giving feedback or check out the whole series of articles on effective feedback.)

Are you giving your team members enough feedback? Is it effective or how could you improve?

Separation Should Not Be Surprising

Firing with respect and compassion

Call it what you may – dismissal, discharge, layoffs, workforce reduction – firing a team member is not an easy task. This is the reason that it is often not done well. People want to sidestep the issue until it is unavoidable and then want to get it done quickly and move on. But separation should not be surprising. The entire process should be done with compassion and respect, no matter the circumstances.

There are three broad reasons for separating an employee:

Firing for cause
Reduction in force
Dismissal due to performance

Let’s look at these three categories and examine how we might do them with respect and compassion.

Firing for cause is generally the result of behavior on the job that is illegal, unethical, immoral, or in violation of company policy. In these instances, it is clear that disciplinary action is required, therefore there is no surprise to the team member. To not step up to our responsibility as a leader can be detrimental to the organization. When we suspect that some activity has met this criterion, we need to gather facts and then have a conversation with the person or persons involved. If, in fact, the person has stepped out of bounds, immediate dismissal is often the most appropriate outcome. In doing so, the discussion needs to be about the behavior and the implications or results of the behavior, both to the organization and to the individual. Rather than a response in anger, some compassionate guidance regarding the choice’s made might be helpful to the person’s future.

A reduction in force is often due to a downturn in business and the need to cut costs. These circumstances seldom crop up overnight, so our responsibility as a leader is to present the facts to the organization and communicate the need to cut expenses. With strong communications and culture, some organizations have voluntarily taken an across the board pay cut and rallied around other cost-cutting rather than seeing a workforce reduction. Some people might argue against presenting the facts of a downturn to the workforce as causing fear, but remember that clarity, not secrecy, drives out fear. If the team understands the situation, when staff reductions are necessary, they are not caught by surprise.

Dismissal due to performance is the most common and the most difficult firing situation for most people. It is important to remember that this situation is frequently as much the leader’s responsibility as it is the individual team member’s. It can result from putting the wrong person in a position or not clearly defining the expectations. And this is the situation where employees are most often caught by surprise due to a lack of clear communication.

Effective leaders provide feedback, both positive and corrective, to their team members on a consistent basis. If a person is not meeting the performance standard, here are three steps to deal with the situation in a positive and compassionate fashion:

The first step should be feedback to point out the deficiency, the effect of the deficiency, and to develop a plan of action for improvement. This feedback session should be a dialogue in which the action plan is jointly agreed upon targeted at bringing performance up to standard. (For more thoughts on effective feedback, see this series of articles.)
Performance and progress on the plan of action should be reviewed periodically. It is possible that the action plan may need to be adjusted or reinforced.
When it seems impossible or improbable for this team member to meet the performance standard, an alternative course should be discussed. If they had been promoted from a previous position in which they were successful, would they prefer to move back to that position? Are there other positions in the organization where they are more likely to be successful? (This should not be a case of pawning off the problem to a different manager.)
If the person is unable to meet the performance standard and if another more appropriate position is not available, then it is time for dismissal. To do so with compassion may require offering some transition assistance. This might include extending employment for a short time while allowing time for a job search, providing outplacement assistance, or helping with connections and referrals.

Firing with compassion and respect is the right thing to do because it demonstrates respect for the person. It may one of the best ways to demonstrate the character of the leader and the culture of the organization.

Are you able to lean in and act with compassion when someone needs to be fired?

Seeking and Accepting Feedback

Some years back I heard the story of a well-known minister and his response to feedback. After preaching, he would greet the members of the congregation as they exited. Of course, many of them simply offered a greeting of “Good morning” or something similar. But there would always be some who would gush about the wisdom of the sermon or the pastor’s gift of presenting. And then there would be others who were quick to point out their better understanding of the passage or the weaknesses in the pastor’s ability to explain or relate to the congregation. For both groups that offered feedback, the pastor had the same response: “Thank you!” He responded in a clear attitude of humility and gratitude both to affirmation and criticism.

As a leader we should value opportunities to receive feedback from those around us, be they peers, superiors, or subordinates on the organization chart. Feedback, whether it be affirmation or criticism, provides a different perspective. We are often blind to certain weaknesses that could use some growth, or we denigrate strengths on which we should more often capitalize. Research has demonstrated that the most effective leaders value and seek feedback. There seems to be a cause and effect relationship here. Effective leaders get to that level because they are intentionally and consistently growing. Feedback is an important tool for identifying and prioritizing our growth opportunities.

While we should value and seek it, requesting feedback is not the easiest thing to do, especially when this is a new habit that you are seeking to develop. Here are some steps that lead to effective feedback:

Lay the foundation through open dialog.Feedback is only of value when it is honest and accurate. Before someone will be willing to give you feedback, especially if that person is a subordinate, they must experience you as an open listener. They must be completely comfortable that you are able and willing to hear honest feedback without repercussions. Without a context of safety, your request for feedback will only prompt platitudes or responses that are postured to please you. Before seeking feedback, develop a culture or reputation of communication, safety, and connection.

Ask for feedback in a context of learning.Another step toward receiving honest and accurate feedback requires proper posturing of the request. When seeking feedback, first explain the purpose and motivation. To simply blurt out “I’d like some feedback” leaves the observer hanging. Instead the request should begin with something like: “I am working to improve___ and I want to learn ____. Would you be willing to provide me with some honest feedback?” An explanation of your motive behind the request reduces the risk experienced by the observer and sets the context for the feedback that you are seeking.

Ask the hard people for feedback.It’s easy to ask a friend for feedback and that can be helpful, but don’t stop there. Seek input from those that are sometimes critical or with whom you haven’t been able to build a connection. Their input might be on the growing edge and the discussion may help build the relationship.

Be ready for feedback and be an active listener.The feedback that you receive may be positive or negative. Positive feedback tells you what is going well or identifies strengths, but negative feedback identifies behaviors or traits on which you’ll need to work. Being surprised or responding defensively is the worst reaction one can have when receiving feedback—especially when it was feedback that was requested. A poor response demonstrates to the observer that you really have no interest in hearing honest feedback. When seeking feedback, you need to be ready for either the positive or the negative. In either case, the best response to feedback is generally: “Thanks. Please tell me more about that or give me some examples or suggestions for alternative behaviors so that I can better understand.” The first statement of feedback is often a general statement. The purpose of seeking feedback is to find actionable descriptions that guide your development plans. Therefore, when seeking feedback, you need to be ready to hear, explore, and understand. Summarize and use the great question, “Please tell me more.” If you sincerely seek feedback, your part is listening to understand, not explaining, defending, or judging.

Know that it is not about you.Well, it might seem to be about you, but it should be about your behavior, attitude, or words. If it feels too much about your personality or character, ask the questions that will identify the behaviors that you need to understand. Be sure to keep perspective and purpose in mind if you feel yourself ready to defend. Handle your emotions off-line. If you have a reaction to something said, you might respond with a “wow, that’s tough to hear” as long as you thank them for their candor and express your appreciation for their input. Then, find a separate place and person where you can deal with the emotions.

Take action on the feedback.If you seek feedback, take the time to process the input received, to develop a plan of action, and to actually work on growing. This may require sorting out the feedback that you hear and prioritizing the areas that will provide the greatest impact on your growth in effectiveness as a leader. There will be input that you decide to discount or ignore but be sure you are truthful with yourself. Sometimes the thing that strikes us the most identifies a blind spot with which we need to deal. But don’t ask for feedback and then ignore it or get too busy to use what you have learned about yourself. To do so devalues the provider of the feedback and communicates that we weren’t serious.

Circle back to encourage the culture.Once you have received feedback and begun a growth plan, circle back to express your appreciation to those who have provided honest and helpful responses. Perhaps offer a short description of the action that you are taking or ask them to hold you accountable and provide more feedback in the future. By doing so, you demonstrate the reality of your desire to grow and positively reinforce their willingness to provide feedback.

It is common for people around us to avoid the volunteering of feedback, either because of a fear of backlash or because they expect that we may not be interested. An effective leader seeks to grow and improve and they value other people and their opinions. Therefore, they are always open to feedback. Leaders accept feedback with humility and gratitude. Sometimes we need to “prime the pump” by seeking it out. Once we establish a reputation of positive acceptance of feedback, we may even find team members willing to volunteer comment when they see areas for growth. A leader’s ability and willingness to accept and act upon feedback from those around us helps in our growth and also in building the relationship of trust and respect that is necessary for effective leadership.

Are you receiving regular feedback from a variety of sources? How does it guide your growth and development?

Feedback and Character

How to Deal with Character Issues when Providing Performance Feedback

One of the most important guidelines for providing effective feedback is to focus on behavior or action and the results or effects that follow. This guideline makes feedback effective because it deals with facts that can then be examined and discussed. The result of the discussion is to identify behavior that produced positive results and encourage continued development along this line or to identify the results of behavior that is unacceptable or below standard and develop a plan of action for improvement.

How do you deal with a team member who has a character issue that is causing problems in performance? What sort of feedback do you give this person in an effort to identify and turn around the character issue? Can you simply call out the character issue, for example saying, “You are rude”?

The guideline still applies, performance feedback needs to be grounded in performance and results. Calling out the character issue directly runs the risk of creating a personal battle or devaluing the person. The best solution is to follow the guidelines for effective feedback and then use the discussion as a springboard into some character coaching.

Here is an example feedback session where there is a significant underlying character issue, one in which a team member does not value other people:

You: “I need to discuss a behavior that is causing a problem in our team meetings. I sometimes notice that you roll your eyes and sigh heavily when some of the other team members provide input. This behavior causes them to feel devalued and they stop providing input. The team is most effective when we can bring together all ideas to build the best solution and each team member needs to feel that they are a valued part of the team. Are you aware of this behavior?”

At this point you may think that you have made it clear what behavior is unacceptable and why. You need to first verify that the other person understands the behavior and that it is unacceptable. A response here might be either unawareness of the behavior or some comment about the value of other people’s ideas. Some further explanation of the behavior and the results may be required. When there is a clear understanding, it is time to move to the next step.

You: “In my experience, people are sometimes unaware of the habit of rolling their eyes, but it is generally interpreted by others as derision. Since it interferes with the functioning of the team, I am asking you to refrain from this behavior in the future. I think that we have two choices for our discussion now. In either case, the end result needs to be that you don’t roll your eyes or express your disapproval of other people’s ideas in our meetings. One choice would be to discuss your plan of action to break this habit. The second choice would be for us to have a deeper discussion of what might lie behind this behavior. There may be something deeper that produces this behavior and you might be well served in understanding and working on the deeper issue. That could involve some coaching on my part to perhaps help you understand why you roll your eyes. Which direction would you prefer for our discussion? Would you allow me to provide some coaching to help you deal with this issue?”

You have made it clear that you cannot allow this behavior to continue and that a solution needs to be defined. The choice is an action plan, skirting the character issue, or confronting it through some one-on-one coaching. Coaching about character issues should only be done with permission or when invited, so the question needs to be asked.

At this point the other person needs to decide whether he/she will simply stop the behavior (a difficult thing to do in these situations) or if they trust you enough and value the relationship enough to let you help them understand the character issue and begin work at that level. In either case, you need to be clear that the behavior needs to stop and the consequences if it does not stop.

The discussion does not end here. If they choose the route of just curbing the behavior, the two of you need to define (best to let them define with some guiding questions from you) and agree to the plan of action for improved behavior. If they allow you to help them dig into the character issue, you need to agree to a specific plan for how that coaching will take place.

Providing feedback for behaviors are fairly straightforward. If someone doesn’t meet the schedule, there are implications and an action plan for improving the ability of working to a schedule. If the quality of someone’s work is deficient, there are implications of the low quality and an action plan for improvement. On the other hand, if the behavior is a result of a character issue, an action plan addressing the behavior alone may be difficult. Yet, we cannot change someone’s character and attempting to do so would be problematic without the invitation of the person. The best route for such a problem is to build a position of trust and respect in which people are ready to allow or even invite the leader to coach them to a new goal in the area of character.

How do you deal with character issues that affect the workplace? Are you able to address them in a positive way?

Five Styles of Feedback

Providing performance feedback to team members is an essential part of a leader’s task. Effective leaders are focused on the engagement and development of the people in their organization. Feedback is one of the most important tools for evaluation and communication to help individuals understand their performance and to identify and pursue growth and learning opportunities.

What does effective feedback look like? In the book, Coaching for Performance, author John Whitmore identified five levels of feedback. The following description of styles of feedback is adapted from those five levels:

Attacking Feedback – Attacking feedback, rather than addressing performance, is personal criticism. Examples would be, “You are rude!” or “Why can’t you do anything right?” This type of feedback, if we can call it that, violates all of the guidelines for effective feedback.

Judgmental Feedback – While not specifically a personal attack, judgmental feedback still has that feel of degrading the person. An example – “That report was unintelligible and worthless” The recipient doesn’t need a big leap to infer that the statement reflects directly on his/her personhood and value.

Sterile Feedback – “The report was okay, but the conclusions didn’t seem very strong” is an example of sterile feedback. It is not an attack, but it does not provide much value. Unfortunately, this is a common example of what people call feedback in the workplace today because they are afraid to step into a real discussion of performance. It doesn’t clearly identify strengths and weaknesses of performance, nor does it offer much guidance for growth and improvement.

Ownership-Oriented Feedback – Ownership-oriented feedback leaves the ball in the other person’s court. “I looked at the brochure that you just finished. What do you think about it?” Any conversation that follows is not likely to focus on any issues of performance or lead to a quality discussion of opportunities for improvement. It would be an unusual person who would identify weaknesses in his own product and seek a discussion for growth.

Growth-Oriented Feedback – Growth-oriented feedback is, of course, the best type of feedback. The purpose for feedback is not to look at the past but, rather, to use past performance as a basis for defining action for a better future. Quality feedback might sound like this example: “Now that your report is finished, can we look at it together? What is the purpose of the report? How well did you address that purpose? What was the process used to develop the report and would you do anything differently? What comments have you received and would any of them change the way you developed or presented the report, if you were to do it again?” The questions used in the discussion are driven by the leader’s perception of areas for potential growth. Quality-oriented feedback is targeted to find the opportunities for growth and development and the result is an action plan to move forward.

In another article we presented ten guidelines for effective feedback. Effective feedback should include specific examples of behavior, either positive or negative, and the effects that were the results of the behavior. From the discussion of the behavior and the results, a coaching discussion should draw out a plan to build on positive behavior or to correct negative behavior for the future. Feedback builds on an analysis of performance to identify and pursue growth opportunities.

Which style of feedback do you most frequently use? What skills do you need to develop in order to consistently give growth-oriented feedback?