Feedback Is a Key to Successful Organizations

Over the past several years, I have read books and articles that point out how an annual performance review is not even close to sufficient as an approach to performance improvement. Hooray; I agree! No, it is not!

A far more effective approach to helping people maximize performance is to develop a company culture that encourages timely and honest feedback.

When we see a colleague, whether she or he is our boss, a peer or a subordinate, do something good (or not so good), we should say what we observed and how we felt about it.

For example (positive feedback): “At this morning’s client meeting, when you said “………………….,” I was proud of your focus on our client’s needs.”

Or (constructive feedback): “At our team meeting earlier today, when you did not ask if we had questions or for our input at all, I felt as if you do not value what we think.”

In these two examples, the feedback is timely, it is specific and it mentions how we felt as well as how the particular behavior affected us. The feedback is not judgmental and it is not general. It does not judge the person, which could cause defensiveness. It simply states how a specific behavior made us feel.

If handled properly, in that we first ask permission to share feedback, there is a good chance the person to whom the feedback is directed will be receptive and accept the feedback willingly and with an open mind. They have the chance to appreciate, process, and use it as an opportunity for improvement.

On the other hand, we should not say something like, “Are you ready for some advice or for some news you won’t want to hear?” This kind of question could put the person on the defensive from the start. In fact, this is why we should offer positive feedback as well as constructive feedback. However, it may be better if we don’t pair the two types of feedback together.

Allow me to explain. Asking if we may share something, if it is all positive, will likely make the person feel more receptive in the future when we have constructive feedback to offer.

Frequent, timely and honest feedback, offered properly, can really help people work on their continuous improvement. Annual, semi annual, and even quarterly performance reviews are not nearly as effective. In fact, most bosses dread doing them, and employees seldom value receiving them, as the reviews are often not helpful to improving their performance, achieving their goals and advancing their careers.

Thing about it in terms of athletics: coaches work with teams or individuals—football, figure skaters, baseball, softball, gymnastics, golf, tennis—constantly, often every day.

The Center for Creative Leadership has a helpful guidebook about feedback. One of their key points is that feedback should help a person become more conscious of her or his actual behavior and/or the message it sends. This helps with self-awareness, which is so important to our success.

I believe that creating a company culture that encourages timely and honest feedback will enhance a spirit of sharing, collaboration and support, and a striving for continuous improvement.

Ideally, it begins with the CEO and high-level executives seeking and offering feedback with a spirit of wanting to help, allowing themselves to be vulnerable, and acknowledging that they want to know how they themselves may improve. It requires a sense of security, a quiet confidence: “I may be good at my interactions with others and my leadership, yet I want to be even better; I want to strive for continuous improvement”.

For those of us who are up and comers, let’s be the spark plug that creates this spirit of helping one another through encouraging feedback among our team members.

My invitation to you is to learn how to properly offer feedback so that our colleagues—boss, peers and direct reports—will benefit from our efforts to help them further develop their skills. Watch our team or company’s performance, as well as our own leadership skills, improve!