My employees don’t need or want feedback… I figured it all out on my own and no one gave me feedback… Employees that need feedback are slackers… Feedback will only make the situation worse… I’m too busy to hold my employee’s hands… They will figure it out...
Have you ever thought or said one of these statements? Assumptions are sometimes accurate. Often, they are not. Until they are tested, we will never know.
Most of my consulting has been within the technical industry, and I have noticed feedback given among team members is usually weak at best. And when it is given, it’s often a brutally honest speech or so sugar coated that you have to read between the lines. So how do we find that middle ground? We must first consider our assumptions surrounding feedback.
Here are a few ideas to test your assumptions:
- Assume the best about your people. This may be difficult for those of us who are critical of ourselves and skeptical of others. Ask yourself: “Why would a reasonable, rational person make that decision or take that action?” In other words, allow the other person to be human (like you and me), and give them the benefit of the doubt.
- Take a step back and remember the times you have received important and career directing feedback. Be honest with yourself. None of us did it on our own. Someone intervened. Perhaps many people have impacted your career. What worked with you? How is this person different from you?
- Treat your employees as individuals. What motivates them? How do they prefer to receive feedback? Get to know them well enough that you can carry on a dialogue. They are not a generational description or stereotype. Each person is an individual with unique motivations and preferences. It is crucial to learn those traits and adapt your leadership accordingly.
- Dialogue with them about the problem you observe. State what you observed and the personal impact the issue has had on you. Don’t make it a speech or an interrogation. Instead, seek their counsel. Stay curious. Then, ask open-ended questions seeking honest explanations and thought processes. In the process, you will learn their thinking and maintain open communication with them.
- Allow the person to state the solution. This is a conversation, so you add your advice and wisdom, but ultimately, they must own the problem and the solution. Then offer your support and be sure to circle back to them with support and further feedback in days and weeks, not months or years.
- Give frequent feedback. Make sure you are giving frequent and timely feedback. This is best done in real time, not annual reviews. You demonstrate that you care about them by how often you are sharing feedback.
- Affirm them. In this article, we’ve mostly considered corrective feedback. However, it is extremely important to also express appreciation for positive contributions as well. Affirmations and corrective feedback show our direct reports that they are important and matter to us. So show them that you care about them by communicating with them.
In a world of filtered selfies, we see only what we desire to see. None of us see ourselves clearly. And in the absence of feedback, we all live in a world of assumptions.
The job of manager is to engage our employees at a level that inspires excellence and extra effort. You can make a difference in the lives of your employees, and your firm has entrusted you with this responsibility. Push through your assumptions in order to grow as a manager of people.