Here at Everest People we love sharing our knowledge. Meredith MacKenzie (People and Culture Specialist) and I have had the privilege of presenting to Chamber of Commerce events in three Waikato locations, meeting a wide variety of business leaders and managers.
Here are some insights from our presentations:
Giving feedback within the workplace can be daunting, especially if it is about something that needs to be done differently. When you are hesitating to have that conversation, take a moment to recognise that the longer the imperfect behaviour continues, the more ingrained the habit becomes and the more difficult it is to reverse it. In addition, other staff see the behaviour continue and either think it is acceptable or conclude that you don’t have the courage to address it.
Delivering encouraging and constructive feedback is essential to a high performing team and, like anything, the more we do it, the more natural it becomes. Always be specific with your feedback, give an example of the behaviour and the impact, and then ask a question to involve the other person in a conversation about the situation.
Questions starting with “How”, “what”, “when”, and “where” are good openers. Try to avoid using “why” questions as this can lead to emotive reactions rather than considered responses. Be genuinely curious, there may be something you don’t understand or didn’t see.
Being upfront about concerns and issues is a great way to build trust in your working relationships.
Strategies for gathering and maximising feedback value
If you are asking for feedback, outline the purpose, especially if you are a leader/manager. Most people do not feel comfortable delivering constructive feedback upwards and some will think it’s a trap initially. Our recommendation to managers is to start with a small ask – “What is one thing that I could do differently to support you better or make your job more rewarding?”
When you receive feedback, respond rather than react. If you can feel a defensive or negative reaction coming, buy yourself time to process by saying something like “I will take some time to think about that and come back to you”. This reduces impact on the relationship and your reputation, and shows your staff it’s okay to need and take a moment. Set the standard you want the team to maintain. And that means coming back to continue the conversation within a reasonable timeframe. Your response might be “Thank you for being willing to share that, I’m going to work on it”.
Techniques for preparing and delivering constructive feedback.
Take a moment to breathe. Plan in advance what you want to cover. If it is tricky, or you are just learning to do this, go over it with someone you can trust to tell you honestly how it sounds. When you do open the real conversation, listen attentively to the other party’s perspective, there could be relevant information that is news to you.
If you or the other party are feeling ‘off’, reschedule for the following day to avoid reactions, and if there are emotions during the discussion, pause or take a short break before carrying on.
Come to an agreement on the next steps, who will be doing what, and then follow through on that. If you have offered support or guidance, be available. If you said you would check in, do that.
Timing
If the task is not a regular task, give feedback before the next time the task is being performed so the person can immediately put it into action and prove their capability.
Here is a real example of that: At the second of three presentations, I made an error. We did not get the chance to debrief after that session, so before this one, Meredith let me know of the error so I wouldn’t repeat it. Perfect timing – I was aware of it without fixating and overthinking.
Jo Stuart | Trainer