DL Providing Feedback by The Coaching Institute

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Providing Feedback We’ve covered a lot of ground on how to contribute to creating a transparent culture, with high-performers who want to succeed. If this is done, and done well, this next step is easy, and more significantly… welcomed by the team. We have an attitude in our business that there’s no hierarchy of feedback. I personally do not care who contributes to improving us, as long as we improve. I am never going to defend a status quo because someone who’s junior in our business came up with an idea that tells us how to change it. If there idea is good, and improves us, we’re doing it. I don’t care of the feedback comes from outside the business, from another business, from random conversations, from programs I purchase, from team members, from chance… I just don’t care where it comes from, just so long as we’re getting feedback on how to improve. I appreciate and value feedback. If someone cares enough to help us, I’m listening. There are plenty of times our team members notice that their ideas are listened to and acted on. I find it puzzling when they share that they’re not used to having their ideas acted upon. I find that really weird. Why on earth would a business knock back ideas that improve the business? That doesn’t mean every idea is acted on. That would create complete anarchy and be counter-productive.

We act on the ideas that improve our business, and that meet our criteria –  Sustainable  Replicable  Scalable  Manageable given current resources  Hasn’t been done before, or was but the timing then was wrong, and timing now is better  Doesn’t challenge or threaten Core As easily and as willingly as I will act on a great idea we’re ready to implement, I will just as quickly decline an idea that doesn’t meet the criteria, and I give the feedback as to why immediately. I don’t expect anyone to sulk, pout or in any way act precious about the knockback. It’s not them that’s being rejected. The idea is not workable. Because we have high quality people, this isn’t an issue. It can be. I have had a poor enough team that did act preciously towards their contributions, and expected every idea to be fully acknowledged, discussed and considered, even when I already knew it was never going to work. Egos and feedback don’t go together that well. I recall bringing in a manager who had the ‘I know best’ mentality. We have great systems, and the assumption, because I am entrepreneurial, was that we lacked them. They went about criticising what we did and saying they’d need systems for what they wanted to do. Performance began to drop as uncertainty crept into the team. People hesitated making decisions because of the feedback and began to doubt themselves. Performance dropped more. We showed them the systems, and it was like they didn’t exist. Performance dropped more. Obviously, we changed this arrangement. Not before, however, the damage was done. Interestingly, the systems we had in place stopped being used. It was as if we had to relearn from scratch what we had already done, very well.

Don’t do the Feedback Sandwich We do not recommend the ‘feedback sandwich’. This is where the things they do well are listed, followed by the ‘real’ feedback you actually want to share, followed by an overall ‘great job’ comment. Yuk. Anyone who starts a sentence with, ‘I have some feedback for you. I love how you blah and blah, and I think you’re really good at blah…’ is going to finish it with, ‘…my concern is that there’s a tendency to blah…’ We know the criticism is in the middle there, in between the two compliments. I think it’s insincere. My team does as well. In reviews (next section), they insist we ‘cut to the chase’ so they can learn how to improve. We do discuss what they do well, it’s just not done as a way of Trojan Horse-ing the negative. If they’re doing something well, we talk about it. If there’s a stretch, we talk about it. I don’t know why anyone feels good after being delivered a stretch through the positives, given it suggests they can’t handle hearing it. Having said that, I do hear about companies where how we give feedback would be considered ‘bullying’, and the ‘feedback sandwich’ is a requirement. As is a second person as a witness. Good grief. Anyway, however others may ride, we chose to create and maintain a culture that welcomes feedback, where once it’s given, the person receiving it is thankful, and if they’re really going for it, will seek other views to add to the picture so they can know how to improve.

Feedback Linked to Reviews Our team leaders love reviews with me, because we can really ‘get into it’ discussing them. It’s all about them, their team, the business and their ideas for how to improve. The conversation is informal, scattered with changes in direction, exploration of ideas and innovations and generally filled with suggestions for the next quarter’s professional development for them. The feedback in reviews should not be surprising, just given in more depth. All feedback you want to give in a review should be given throughout the regular days of work, in real time, as the event occurs. No one should be shocked by their review. If they are, we let them down. We’ll cover reviews fully in their own section, but when it comes to feedback, give it throughout the quarter, so the person is already acting on it by the time they come to the review (or not, depending on the person, and that’s a form of feedback to you).

Ignored Feedback Sometimes, a team member will not act on the feedback that’s given. This could have a number of reasons:  They don’t know how to interpret the feedback given  They don’t know how to act on the feedback given  They forget because they get busy and it’s new and unfamiliar  They don’t agree with the feedback  They aren’t capable of acting on the feedback Any of the reasons must be explored. Obviously, the last reason is a concern, as it means we’ve given them something to aim for which is more than they are capable of achieving. If you see it not acted on, check in, and find out what their thinking is around it. Just ask. Listen for understanding, and for ability. Check in again once they’ve shared what they heard that they understand, and ask how they plan to act on the feedback. Sometimes, with so many things to do, feedback can be overlooked. It can be challenging to change behaviour when there’s so much going on, and the feedback is unfamiliar, and doing what we know is comfortable.

That status quo must be challenged. When someone refuses to act on the feedback, it’s tougher. Bring them to behind closed doors, and spend little time on them justifying (this becomes a pattern, if it’s allowed, and pointless). Share why the feedback matters. To do this, you need to be clear on why it matters, and very clear what you’re going to communicate. Given you have the respect of your team member, reiteration, and bringing focus to it (given they’re capable and have the competence) should be enough. I can’t give further advice or suggestions here, because it’s becoming a potential legal issue, and that’s way beyond the scope of this manual! I’ll dodge the legal route, and talk to what I can make suggestions on. Where they refuse, I assess if this means this is as far as they’re capable of going at the moment in terms of their development. For example, I had one team member who needed to get better as a team player to take on the next level of responsibility they wanted. They wouldn’t do it, didn’t get it, didn’t value it and were puzzled as to why they weren’t getting the additional responsibility they wanted. Copyright © The Coaching Institute | All Rights Reserved Disruptive Leadership | Providing Feedback V3 | 23th August 2016

The feedback was given – several times – both informally and formally in the review. It was pointed out that several of their team members had made the same observations about them. They began to see it, but way too little. They were simply too selfish and self-involved. The feedback was given in the review, in writing and verbally, that they would not be advancing in our company as long as they were unable to work well with the team. They left a few months later.

Creating the Feedback Culture There are so many little things we do that make the level of feedback we give each other possible.  We live the values and give feedback when we see people living them.  We share what we admire about each other at least twice a week – formally, through our Wow Meetings.  We do Secret Wows to share our appreciation of one another.  We have very relaxed standards in terms of ‘formalities’. The F bomb is used. People say what’s on their mind. Jokes are made at each other’s expense that I know in many organisations would have people complaining of bullying. I’m not talking about hard jokes, that humiliate. We’re talking good-natured ribbing amongst friends who socialise with one another and love that they feel so comfortable together.  We recommend books and further learning to each other and have a whole secret group on Facebook dedicated to sharing what we are learning that we think will benefit each other.  There is easy, good humour that in many companies would be completely rejected. We have achieved this because of the incredible level of trust we have with one another.  We’re transparent. If there’s something going on that people can help with, we share it with one another so we can all participate in solving the problem.  We never undermine each other. We don’t protect ‘turf’. We don’t try to get credit, but share it around as much as possible.  We do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, without fuss.  No one clock watches.  No one blames others for their own lack of results. Or where they do, they get feedback.  Mistakes are encouraged as part of the learning process. The mistakes are required, or nothing brave will be championed.  We seek to understand, rather than to be understood.  We seek ideas, not credit.  It’s not ‘I’ and ‘you’. It’s ‘us’ seeking excellence.  We are cool if there is a fierce conversation, and people bring passion. Copyright © The Coaching Institute | All Rights Reserved Disruptive Leadership | Providing Feedback V3 | 23th August 2016

This is a lot of reasons why we can give feedback to one another the way we do. We shock ‘outsiders’, and find their nervousness around direct feedback tedious and pointless. If the outcome is to rock out at what we’re doing, then feedback, learning, and improving is required. Unless there’s another way?

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SHARON PEARSON Disruptive Leadership Module 5 Providing Feedback Edition 1 | Version 3 | December 16 Published by The Coaching Institute Copyright 2016 © The Coaching Institute All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. In some instances, people or companies portrayed in this book are illustrative examples based on the author’s experiences, but they are not intended to represent a particular person or organisation.

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