By Sally Foley-Lewis
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Right at the moment you give someone feedback, often the last thing you’re thinking of is how you would feel if you received this information in the way it is delivered.
Safety in giving quality feedback means starting with how you would feel if you were on the receiving end of it. These key aspects of feedback are instrumental in ensuring these conversations are successful: private, behavior-focused, supportive, and solution-to-action-focused!
Gain the confidence and courage to start and maintain performance feedback conversations with your team with strategies you can implement.
Think of the last time you received feedback:
Can you pinpoint what worked well and what didn’t go so well?
We give feedback in order to improve a process or outcome or encourage the continuation of a positive behavior. Quality feedback is delivered – actually, it’s more like facilitated – in such a way as to achieve this. Managers need to be clear about what feedback they want or need to give. Maybe start by asking yourself, what is it that I want to achieve by giving the feedback (outcome-focused)?
During a feedback skills workshop, Ahmed realized that he had been giving feedback in all the wrong ways. He may have been a bit tough on himself, but I do credit him for realizing that he’s jumped into feedback conversations while still frustrated or angry, which led him to berate rather than have a conversation. He also admitted to liking the sound of his own voice and the level of authority he could hear in his tone. It came as no surprise that he could connect high staff turnover to his own performance in managing and leading his team.
When feedback is required, consider the place, words, tone, and context in which to deliver the feedback. If you are angry or frustrated, that’s your cue to keep your mouth shut and focus on calming down first.
Here’s is a helpful slogan:
Emotion High = Logic Low
Calm High = Logic High
Even if a manager doesn’t care what the employee thinks or how they feel, poor feedback continually given leads to, or at least contributes to, a toxic culture, low staff morale, a decrease in productivity, and increased staff turnover.
Start with this checklist, and above all else, start by being calm and with a helpful mindset.
Sally Foley-Lewis helps managers be high-performing, purposeful, and productive. Obsessed with boosting productivity and self-leadership that ensures people reach their potential, Sally positively impacts your results, confidence, and effectiveness.
She has authored multiple books. Her book, The Productive Leader, received an endorsement from the renowned global personal development guru Brian Tracy. The drive to support and skill managers comes from her own senior leadership experiences. Sally delivers presentations, keynote speeches, workshops, and coaching – all online and face-to-face – to help skill managers and boost productivity and self-leadership.
Blending 20+ years of working with a diverse range of people and industries in Germany, the Middle East, Asia, and across Australia, Sally has extensive qualifications, a wicked sense of humor, and an ability to make people feel at ease. Sally’s your first choice for inspiration, mastering skills, facilitating action, and achieving results.
Connect with Sally on LinkedIn and at www.sallyfoleylewis.com.
Gain the confidence and courage to start and maintain performance feedback conversations with your team with strategies you can implement.
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