Top Time Tip #64 The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback!
28th September 2005
By guest contributor and my friend Jasbindar Singh, of SQ Consulting. www.sqconsulting.co.nz
I still remember the day some years ago, the moment even, when I had just finished a 45 minute presentation and was approached by a member of the audience who proceeded to tell me all that was wrong with what I had said and done. Needless to say, I was gobsmacked - I'd barely had time to draw breath, leave alone digest someone else's appraisal (irrespective of its value!).
Okay - so this is rather an extreme example. Typically, giving feedback in our work setting is usually within a more formal or accepted context such as performance appraisal and performance reviews, manager and leader as coach, and specific skills training.
However, the example above contains some useful feedback lessons:
Choose your time and place well.
Make sure that feedback has been asked for or that you have a relationship or context in which giving feedback is an accepted part of that relationship or process.
Giving feedback is not about "dumping on the other person".
Be clear about your own intentions in giving the feedback.
Make it constructive.
How to give effective feedback:
- Focus on behaviour, not the person.
- Focus on observation and facts rather than inferences.
- Focus on describing, not judging or giving advice.
- Avoid absolutes - "either/or", "always/never".
- Focus on descriptions of behaviour which are in terms of "more or less".
- Keep to specific examples in the "here and now" rather than generalising.
- Focus on exploration of alternatives rather than providing the answers or solutions.
- Focus feedback on the amount of information the person receiving it can use at the time, rather than all that you have to give.
Why is feedback so important?
Research shows that feedback has the power to direct behaviour and motivate performance. You might even recall a time when this happend to you. What made the feedback so useful or significant? What did the feedback provider do that made it easy for you to receive their message?
And while we are on this topic, the following approach may help you receive feedback:
- Practice good listening.
- Ask for clarification if you are left with a mixed message.
- Ask for examples, if the feedback sounds general.
- You can share and say where you agree, disagree and why.
- Ask for time for reflection and have a further advancing conversation later.
The SQ Perspective
The SQ perspective is that our ability to learn, develop and grow is fundamentally tied with our ability to be open to feedack. We are constantly adjusting, re-calibrating what works or doesn't and the feedback loop is a critical part of that self-adjusting/ learning process.
Giving and receiving feedback is an important factor in increasing our effectiveness. As Sir Winston Churchill said, "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
SQ Application
Over the coming weeks, I would like to invite you to become more conscious of the following:
How you give feedback.
How feedback is given to you.
How you receive the feedback.
Check out Jasbindar's new book 'Get Your Groove Back'. We've heard a lot about EQ, but less people know that SQ is a further and even more advanced form of intelligence. She also made a significant contribution to 'Getting a Grip on Leadership - How to learn leadership without making all the mistakes yourself'
From our readers - Another thought-provoking angle on open plan environments
Dear Robyn,
Your lead article last time, about Battery People, hit a raw nerve all right. I am an education advisor now and have been a teacher for many years. I have taught in open and closed classrooms, with desks and without. I have found that children are most productive when they are in closed classrooms, and when they have their own desk but are allowed to work in pairs or small groups.
Whoever invented open plan classrooms had no idea about the noise level of children working together, the distraction element of another teacher's "exciting lesson" even if it was in whispers, and the confusion of little new entrants getting lost in the withdrawal spaces. The last school with open plan that I was in put in walls after a high turnover of staff due to constant migraines!
Regards, Monica North, TEAM Solutions Maths/Numeracy facilitator, School Support Services, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland
All the best 'til next time
You love a bargain? http://www.gettingagrip.com/products/bundles/
© All Rights Reserved to Robyn Pearce, GettingAGrip.com.
Admin Office: PO Box 29 586, Fendalton, Christchurch 8540, New Zealand Ph. + 64 3 351 2140 http://www.gettingagrip.com/
|
