Feedback – How not to MESS it UP - I

Dear Readers,

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.

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