Dear Readers,
Peter Drucker, the Management Guru, improved his performance
very drastically in his first job after his Boss told him very openly that his
work was really not up to the mark and he would not have a place unless the performance
was improved.
Feedback is a blessing in disguise. Feedback, when given appropriately (of course, when taken & evaluated
objectively with an open mind by the other person) will help one to better himself
and know his blind spot.
This is one of the Social Work principles that I
studied in my college which I think is very much relevant in Corporate as
well. Every employee deserves proper
dignity; At the time of giving feedback, it’s very important to treat them with
respect however bad their performance is or whatever the issue is.
While giving feedback, highlight the
consequences of the mistake rather than pinpointing or highlighting the
mistake. The first one is a Green zone feedback
and the second one is a Red zone feedback.
Praise in public and reprimand in private and NEVER do
it in REVERSE. Though it sounds like a
very common sense approach and basic rule, it’s one of the most flouted rules
in feedback giving.
I remember the first feedback that I’ve got from my Boss
when I started my career. It was not a
good feeling for me though the lapse was very much on my side.
When I had few people reporting to me, I realized the real
importance of giving feedback and trust me, I really messed it up leaving a bad
taste.
Feedback is an important tool to build great teams and
organizations.
Having come a long way, I would like to share my
thoughts on importance of Feedback in
this posting.
Is Feedback
important?
When Kamal Hassan, one of the actors well-known for
his versatile talent in India, got Life time achievement award for completing
50 years, he said the credit should go to all his Critics, the people who
criticized him in his career journey. He
said, but for those criticisms, he wouldn’t have got the opportunity to learn
and get better on an on-going basis.
Peter Drucker, the Management Guru, improved his performance
very drastically in his first job after his Boss told him very openly that his
work was really not up to the mark and he would not have a place unless the performance
was improved.
To put it simply, the value of feedback is as simple
and powerful as the above cases; It is a necessary tool for People development in
any set-up.
Feedback is a blessing in disguise. Feedback, when given appropriately (of course, when taken & evaluated
objectively with an open mind by the other person) will help one to better himself
and know his blind spot.
Feedback is one of the important tools for Managers to
build their teams and to improve the performance of the team and organization.
Are we
hesitant to give Feedback?
Many times, we are hesitant to give feedback and we
shy away from giving open and honest feedback.
Sometimes, we tend to postpone till the dooms day, fearing conflict or
how to convince the other person. People
tend to take feedback personally, especially in India. It can be misunderstood like personal
disliking causing friction in the relationship.
So what is at stake is relationship and hence Mangers hesitate to give feedback.
On the other hand, one goes overboard and gives feedback
in an inappropriate way de-motivating the team in the best possible way.
Both are not good.
I would like to talk about few thumb rules to share feedback in an effective
way.
1) Interpersonal
Relationship – Trust and Confidence
The first and foremost important pre-requisite is that
there should be enough trust and confidence in the relationship between two
people, the supervisor and the team member/s, involved in the feedback process. When it’s missing, however well intended or
however sugar-coated the feedback is, it’ll not fetch the right result.
So, the first step is building trust and genuine
confidence in the relationship with the team members.
The onus of building effective working relationship
and healthy working environment lies with the Boss / Supervisor. (on the same
lines of what Gallup said - Onus of motivation lies with the boss)
2) Dignity and worth of the individual
This is one of the Social Work principles that I
studied in my college which I think is very much relevant in Corporate as
well. Every employee deserves proper
dignity; At the time of giving feedback, it’s very important to treat them with
respect however bad their performance is or whatever the issue is.
Managerial position is not about power. It’s all about responsibility. Responsibility towards treating people with respect,
motivating and developing them on a continuous basis.
3) Red
Zone and Green Zone Principle
While giving feedback, highlight the
consequences of the mistake rather than pinpointing or highlighting the
mistake. The first one is a Green zone feedback
and the second one is a Red zone feedback.
When the feedback flows from Red zone, people
become defensive and they don’t accept their lapses.
It becomes personal in the latter and people
would not be open to accept.
When it is from Green zone wherein consequences are
highlighted like customer feedback / revenue loss etc., the chances of one
feeling guilty of his lapses and realizing it are very high.
A big challenge in following this practice is to
resist the temptation to pin-point the mistake to prove somebody wrong.
Another point that I would like to clarify is “Spade is
called as spade” here too and it’s just the acceptable approach that is being emphasized
here.
4) Old
is Gold- Give Feedback in Private
Praise in public and reprimand in private and NEVER do
it in REVERSE. Though it sounds like a
very common sense approach and basic rule, it’s one of the most flouted rules
in feedback giving.
That’s it for this week and I am going to share some
more thoughts on the same topic next week.
What do you think about Feedback as an effective tool
for People Development? Would appreciate
your “Feedback” and thoughts.
diD yOU enJOY ReADinG ThIS ArTIcLE?
If yES,
yOU maY sHAre it wiTH Your FriENds tOO.
