It was late on a Tuesday night, and I was running home while still trying to finish up a few last-minute work items. I remembered that I had received some feedback from one of our engineers on how they thought their team could improve. So, I sent a quick Slack message to my leadership team that said something like, “Hey—this engineer told me team X is really struggling, and I am worried about morale. Can you all please help here?”
After sending the message, I headed home and continued with my evening. Little did I know that the next day, I would wake up to a thunderstorm of activity. My message had been cascaded down to other leaders, and they were demanding context, asking questions, and were generally upset. I spent most of my morning calming people down and getting us all on the same page.
So, what went wrong?
I was trying to do the right thing by providing feedback candidly to the team, but my efforts ended up leading to a lot of unnecessarily spent time and energy.
I bet this sort of story isn’t surprising to many of you. It can be very common for leaders to hear bits and pieces of information, try to help, and, in the process, add more noise than signal to their teams.
I believe, based on feedback given to me by my teams, that one way to drastically help with this is to improve the way in which you give feedback. Here are 3 simple steps that will make all the difference.
Be Clear
Being clear with your feedback is an essential first step for leaders looking to foster a positive and productive work environment. Clear communication helps to minimize misunderstandings and ensures that the feedback is actionable and focused on specific behaviors or outcomes. Kim Scott, in her book Radical Candor, emphasizes the importance of being both clear and caring in feedback to achieve the best results. She suggests that clarity comes from caring personally about the recipient while also challenging them directly to foster growth and improvement.
In my example, the initial feedback lacked clarity in several key aspects. The message sent via Slack was broad and vague, mentioning only that "team X is really struggling" and expressing concern about morale without specifying the issues or suggesting potential solutions. This lack of detail likely contributed to the confusion and upset among other leaders, who found themselves without enough context to understand the severity of the issue or how they could assist effectively. This scenario underscores the principle that feedback should not only point out a problem but also provide enough context to be understood clearly by all recipients.
To improve clarity, you should:
Specify the issue - Clearly define what is not working or what needs change. Instead of saying a team is struggling, detail the particular challenges, such as falling productivity or missed deadlines.
Use examples - Provide specific instances where the issue was evident. This could involve mentioning particular meetings, projects, or outcomes where the team's struggles were apparent.
Add data - When possible and appropriate, bringing data to your feedback can provide a really clear understanding of where things are falling short.
By adhering to these guidelines, you can ensure that your feedback is not only heard but well understood.
Make it Actionable
Making feedback actionable is crucial to ensure that it leads to tangible improvements and positive changes. When feedback is actionable, it specifies what needs to be done, how it can be accomplished, and who will be responsible. This clarity helps the recipient understand exactly what is expected and how to proceed.
With my example, the feedback provided lacked actionable guidance. Simply stating that the team is struggling and expressing concern about morale doesn't equip my leadership team with specific steps to address the problem. This absence of direction can lead to confusion, as seen with the cascade of questions and concerns that followed. It demonstrates a key principle: without clear actions, feedback can generate more uncertainty than progress.
To make feedback actionable, you should:
Define clear objectives: Feedback should include specific, achievable goals. For instance, if the issue is with a team's performance, the objective might be to improve project delivery times or enhance communication within the team.
Break it down into steps: Describe the exact actions needed to reach these objectives. This could involve setting up regular check-ins, providing additional training, reallocating resources, or revising current workflows.
Assign responsibility: Clearly indicate who is responsible for implementing each part of the feedback. This accountability ensures that tasks are owned and thus more likely to be completed.
Set deadlines: Establish a timeline for when the actions should be taken and when improvements should be reviewed. Deadlines help maintain momentum and make it easier to track progress.
Incorporating these elements makes feedback more than just an assessment—it becomes a roadmap for improvement. It is important to note, though, that getting to this level of actionability doesn’t need to happen at the start. It takes time and conversations to effectively go through each of these steps. That being said, outlining some initial thoughts to these questions from the start will help immensely. It shows your team that you have some clear ideas on how you think things could improve and gets the conversation started with tangible ideas on how things could improve.
Encourage Dialogue
The final crucial step in delivering effective feedback is to "Encourage Dialogue." This step ensures that feedback is not just a one-way communication but a collaborative discussion that respects and values the recipient's perspectives and insights. Encouraging dialogue helps in refining solutions, deepening understanding, and fostering a supportive work environment where your team feels valued and heard.
Benefits of Encouraging Dialogue:
Enhances Understanding: By encouraging dialogue, leaders can ensure that their feedback is understood correctly and that the recipient can clarify doubts immediately. This two-way communication helps in adjusting the feedback based on the recipient’s input, which can lead to better outcomes.
Builds Trust and Respect: Open dialogue fosters a relationship built on trust and respect. When employees feel their views are welcomed and considered, they are more likely to engage positively with the feedback process.
Promotes a Culture of Learning: Dialogue allows both the feedback giver and receiver to learn from each other. This can lead to continuous improvement and innovation within the team as new ideas and strategies are discussed openly.
How to Encourage Dialogue:
Ask Open-Ended Questions: Instead of closing off the feedback with declarative statements, ask questions that encourage the recipient to express their thoughts and feelings about the feedback. For example, instead of saying "You need to manage your time better," ask "What challenges are you facing with managing your time?"
Active Listening: Show genuine interest in the employee’s responses. This means not only hearing but understanding their perspective, acknowledging their feelings, and responding thoughtfully. Active listening demonstrates that you value their input, which can increase their engagement in the conversation.
Create a Safe Environment: Ensure that the feedback session is conducted in a setting that feels safe and private. This can help the recipient feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns without fear of judgment or repercussions.
Follow-Up: Schedule follow-up meetings to discuss progress and any new challenges that have arisen. This shows commitment to the development of the individual and keeps the lines of communication open.
In my initial scenario, encouraging dialogue could have transformed the outcome significantly. Instead of me sending a broad message to the leadership team, a better approach would have been to first have a one-on-one discussion with the engineer who provided the feedback. This could involve asking for specific examples and suggestions for improvement. Following that, a meeting with the leadership team could be organized to discuss the engineer's points in detail, allowing for a collective brainstorming session on potential solutions. This would not only clarify the issues but also involve everyone in the decision-making process, making the feedback more actionable and accepted.
It's incredibly easy to offer feedback that, while well-intentioned, actually leads to confusion, wasted time, and little progress toward meaningful change. Leaders, in particular, must be vigilant because their feedback can cascade through the entire team. I have learned a great deal through my experiences of giving poor feedback and hope these three simple, yet powerful, steps can help you and your teams avoid the painful lessons I've had to learn firsthand.
I’d love to know any other tips you have on giving great feedback! Or any failures you could share to help us all learn.