Draw attention to the issue
Create a two-way dialogue about it
Inspire and confirm the commitment to new behavior
How do you do all that as efficiently as possible, without leading to hurt feelings?
Thursday, February 02, 2017
This Seven-Step Guide For Dishing Out Feedback Is Totally Idiot-Proof
Draw attention to the issue
Create a two-way dialogue about it
Inspire and confirm the commitment to new behavior
How do you do all that as efficiently as possible, without leading to hurt feelings?
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12 comments:
Manager or not this totally applies to everyone. I enjoyed the bullet point format and it made it a lot easier to ease someone into critical feedback. I have no shame and little sympathy so I often finding myself speaking my mind regardless of the situation, which has also gotten me into trouble. However I can still empathize with the difficulty speaking your mind can be. The bullet point format was easy to remove emotion from and definitely made confrontation a lot simpler than it sounds. To me it’s like a phone call. It’s easy, you’ve done it before, yet you sit there and stare at you phone for a while in despair before you make the call. Once you dial the number it comes naturally but it’s initiating that is difficult no matter how many times you do it. Starting the confrontation can be daunting but as soon as you do it you might find yourself falling into a comfortable conversation that was hopefully a lot less worse than you were imagining and possibly more natural than the pre-recorded phone message this article and all the self-help books turn you into.
Article Score:
4/10
Notes:
-lacked photos of cats
This article was really helpful, not only for managers, but for anyone working with other people. To begin, in all of those leadership and personality tests, I have always been given the criticism that I'm a pushover and avoid confrontation- and it's mostly true. I think in general, towards other people, I remain optimistic. So when I'm working with someone who's not getting the technique or lacking a good work ethic I gravitate towards giving them the benefit of the doubt or assuming my intervention would be unappreciated. Reading this article was helpful because the seven steps/confrontation statements where all things I would not mind hearing myself when I make mistakes. I think I need to extend the "benefit of the doubt" to recognize that other people can handle critique (especially when done kindly and effectively as written) and that I have an obligation, in some cases, to give feedback.
I was immediately drawn to this article because, as an idiot, I wanted to test their claim that this seven-step system could fail NO ONE. I also like criticizing things so this article is right up my alley.
So the first step is A+ idiot proof. If you’re going to give someone feedback you have to bring it up. So far, so good.
As I continued to read I realized that this is literally just a cut and dry list of how to have a normal conversation. There is no information on content of the conversation though. I thought this would be more along the lines of talking about sensitive material or wording things in ways that are constructive rather than destructive.
The only way they could make this more idiot proof is to include steps like “open your mouth to speak” or “make words come out of your mouth”.
Being a part of the arts means that we are always revising, editing an seeking criticism. Because criticism is necessary to create meaningful work, we often have to give and receive it. Although useful, it can lead to a very uncomfortable topic: conflict. Conflict always seems like this horrible thing, but without conflict, there is no progress or development of work. One of my favorite aspects of this article was the extremely objective stance it brings to the conversation. I feel like the more objective you are, the easier the criticism is received, and handled. Step 5 was my personal favorite. When I receive criticism with no recommendations for improvements, it makes me confused and frustrated often. #5 describes that after giving feedback it is best to follow up with creative support and ideas. Although they may not solution, it still feels as if they are still supporting the person.
I really do think that more people should heed this. In a lot of cases, I have experienced people with a short temper, including myself, and it makes it really hard to work with that person, and it ultimately leads to a less effective day and crew. All that said, this article seems overly simplified. I totally understand that sometimes it is hard to talk to someone about problems--I've had this issue myself, but for a lot of these parts, the key is just to be honest and nice--something everyone was taught in preschool. I think that parts of this were definitely helpful--and it was nice to have it laid out in 7 steps, to break it down nicely, but it was mostly about being nice and respectful. So while I think that this article had great intentions, a lot of it seems obvious and unnecessary, at least to me.
I really agree with the author of this article. I think that giving feedback and criticism can be intimidating because no one wants to hurt someone else. I think this is also really appropriate for most of us at our level in education, because we are on the receiving end of this most of the time right now, and as we go into the profession giving others criticism is going to have to happen. Most of the steps seems pretty obvious but I could see myself in the situation and getting flustered and end up not having a very productive conversation. I think the title of this article is a little unnecessary though. Feedback on work is very important for any employee employer relationship, and it doesn't need to be done in this style only if you think the employee is an idiot. The steps are respectful and productive, good for anytime this conversation needs to be had.
This article is great. Often times I find it hard to give any criticism at all or I feel very bad and want to say sorry after everything that I tell them. I think this article brings up some great tips and perspective on giving criticism that is beneficial to both parties. I like how the article starts off with the fact that it is always necessary to be respectful. I believe that a lot more can be communicated and accomplished when respect is one of your main goals. I also agree with the fact that its good to give them a chance to explain that isn't defensive. I also very much agree with the idea that brings them along with finding a solution. It helps them think independently about what they can really do to solve the problem, but also gives you the ability to advise the decision as well. lastly, the part about why it matter is great. not only does it tell them why its important, but it can give you an opportunity to remind them that you appreciate their work and expect good things out of them.
The most important advice this article offers is the idea of sharing the responsibility of solving the problem with the person you are giving feedback to. I don’t think you should ever assume you know the solution to a problematic situation that you are not directly involved in. There might be nuances to the situation that you are completely unaware of. However, there is also something to be said for having distance from the problem and providing an objective perspective. That’s what the emphasis should be on a shared responsibility. And I think that this balance is something managers struggle with finding when they are working through an issue. Either they assume they know what’s best for everyone and steamroll anyone else’s ideas or they are too tentative to provide suggestions and they allow someone who is way too close to the problem to come up with a solution that does not address the bigger picture. Creating a space where all parties can be heard is vital to solving difficult issues because you never know who might have an ingenious idea when given the chance to be heard.
I am really pleased that the blog brought up this topic. I feel that it is one that is often ignored, drawn away from, or just mishandled and misunderstood. Communicating efficiently is a vital skill for any collaborative community even outside of management. I really like that a method is broken down into key, easy to remember statements, then further developed. The formatting is helpful, because then you have those three key points in the back of your head as you’re reading and it keeps you engaged, as opposed to just reading various information. The presentation of it is clear and concise which I appreciate. However, the term, “fool proof” throws me off a little bit. I do not personally believe that there is any “fool proof way” to communicate and offer feedback. Yes, the three basic steps are great, but only for foundational use. All people are different and knowing the best way to approach that individual will increase the rate of successful communication and feedback with the person.
I really enjoyed this topic and think it is not only helpful for Managers but also Employees to understand what they should expect from a good Manager. An old friend of mine once said to me when you are giving a critique of work and you have been presented with a member of a team who is doing something poorly or incorrectly, you should ask them "What can I do to make sure this is more clear in the future?" Meaning, you as the manager are taking responsibility for the problem because perhaps the training provided wasn't initially clear to the employee. Then you can agree to make any needed changes or they might say "I just need to do better" etc. So then if it happens again, you as the Manager have removed the fault from yourself because you can say "Well we talked about this before and you said you needed X" so then it is on the Employee. I think this concept resonates through the article while it is also providing other great tips.
Everyone needs to understand how to take feedback, and we hear a lot about that all through our lives, especially in the arts, but what we don't learn at 5 is that it is equally important to give feedback in a productive way as it is to be able to take it well. This a absolutely a large part of a job in management, and I am glad that the article discusses that but everyone in the world gives feedback, whether it is little or small, important or unimportant, we all have told our friend that one shirt is better than the other, or we like the wall painted red not blue. We all do it in small ways, and if everyone could just learn how to give feedback, and express their opinion in a way that wasn't so harsh I think it would serve us all. Everyone is a member of a team at some point in their lives, or has to work very closely with other people so we should all know how to manage what we say and how we say it for the sake or our careers, and what I can only imagine is a fair share of marriages.
I went into this expecting another article where the author thinks they know best and try to force their views onto the readers, but this was anything but that. I think this is a really great way to address problems happening, especially in a team scenario where feelings and opinions need to be respected and are crucial to the success of the entire team. I especially appreciate how this article provided examples for clarity, because so often these articles can be misconstrued or misinterpreted and used inefficiently or incorrectly. I do think, however, that it is important to include a disclaimer of some sort that every situation and conversation and person is different. Making sure to understand an employee's background is an important part of this process, though I do think that the step where it is opened up for their side of the story could give an opportunity to address this.
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