10 things about feedback as a gift you’ll kick yourself for not doing/knowing
Derek Robertson , CEO
(Chartered FCIPD, MCMI, MInstLM, NLP Practitioner and Coach)
Author of The Great Cape Escapade (A Fable about effective meetings)
6 min read
Introduction
It’s been a long time since guru Ken Blanchard said ‘Feedback is the breakfast of champions’. Feedback when folks do a good job ought to be as natural as porridge oats. Success will create the conditions for them to do more of the same and stretch themselves to do more. Sadly, what we hear from our participants disagrees. Instead, the feedback they get is:
- Only when they screw up
- Is non-specific
- Demotivates
Feedback is a gift
By comparing feedback to a gift - like a birthday present – we can know what to do to get it right all of the time.
10 gift comparisons
| Gifts | Feedback | Feedback | |
| 1 | Are not the same when you miss the event. For example, a late birthday present. | Timely | Needs to be as close to the event as possible to be powerful. |
| 2 |
Need to match the person’s likes, styles, etc. Ever received a gift and thought, “They don’t know me at all.” |
Requires thought | Before you start, know what you want to achieve, how best you should go about it, how might they react. |
| 3 | Must be kept safe. Wrapping also helps it have the best possible impact. | Needs careful wrapping | Needs delivered in purposeful yet impacting ways. Focus on the behaviour or skill, not the person. |
| 4 |
You may want to give lots of gifts to a loved one but that might overwhelm. Too many gifts lose impact. |
Prioritised |
Keep to the big impacting feedback areas. Focus on the vital few. |
| 5 | What if they don't like it? What if I’ve misunderstood their likes and dislikes? | Involves some risk | To look another human being in the eyes and give meaningful feedback means taking a risk. |
| 6 |
A £100 token with no shop name is useless. Clothing in the wrong size won’t fit. |
Specific | Feedback must be based on fact and/or observed behaviours. |
| 7 | Hair gel for a bald man is a useless gift. | Actionable | Only feedback about things the person can do something about. |
| 8 | An e-card and token is quick but perhaps loses some of its power because of the lack of human interaction. | Discussed |
Never feedback and disappear. Instead, give time for discussion. |
| 9 | Your gift may end up donated to a raffle, or placed in the person’s basement never to be seen again. | Can only influence what happens next | In the end, it’s up to the person what they do with your feedback. They can reflect, use it and change, or reject it. |
| 10 | If you are not too concerned about the person, everything about your gift will reflect that. | What’s in your heart will determine its usefulness | If you genuinely want to help the person, everything about your feedback delivery will reflect that. |
Prioritise being specific
There is a world of difference between, “Great job” and “Your tenacity to produce a report of such quality and accuracy in such a tight timescale was greatly appreciated by our customer.”
We know from research that the person getting the specific feedback draws the following conclusions both consciously and subconsciously:
- They really noticed
- Tenacity, quality and accuracy are valued behaviours
- I’m valued
- I’m going to keep this up and more.
WIN feedback
The WIN approach started in Eastern Europe as a sports coaching model. It is popular because:
- It provides a common language for behaviour-based feedback
- It is the starting point for building a constructive feedback discussion
- It can be used not only to provide developmental and potentially difficult feedback, but to also give praise.
The WIN 3-step process
| What | Describe specifically the situation/behaviour/action |
| Impact | Describe the impact that this had. It can also be very powerful to add a feeling word in, that represents how it made you feel |
| Next steps | Make a suggestion or request as to what they can do differently/better and invite their response |
Example: supportive feedback
| What | "What you did well in your update report was follow our team’s standards, used plain English throughout and provided logical recommendations. |
| Impact | It meant I could sign it off quickly and I know it impressed the senior team. |
| Next steps | What I think you could do next time is make more use of formatting such as a diagram set out the process. What’s your thoughts?" |
Example: challenging feedback
| What | "What you did less well was respond with confidence to the team’s questions. |
| Impact | I felt the impact of your hesitant responses was that it undermined the quality of your quality research and recommendations. |
| Next steps | I believe you could do better next time by thinking through likely questions and your responses. Also, I’d suggest you repeat back each question before you answer. It means you can confirm your understanding and give you some thinking time. What do you feel about that?" |
Your takeaways
- Quality feedback oils the wheels of performance
- Thinking about it as a gift to a loved one keeps you on track
- You can easily make a great start by resolving to be specific
Final thought
Being good at giving quality feedback is a zero cost way to create the conditions for motivation.
Your next action
Check out the following free resources and downloads to help you: