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Submitted by suedavis on
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We work in an agile project room. Everyone sits around a common table and works in pairs, and we have a customer surrogate who sits at a desk next to the big table, in easy earshot. I originally wasn't going to give myself a separate desk; I have one now, but it's also placed where I can hear what people are saying at the table when I'm at my desk. Most of the time, though, I sit at the table with my team.

Where should I give people feedback in this sort of environment? At the far end of the room, there's a little table that's out of earshot of everyone else, but it's an obvious Big Deal to take someone down there to chat. Or should I "praise in public; admonish in private?" (But doesn't that break the model?)

WillDuke's picture
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It's not admonishing, it's adjusting. :) You definitely don't want to do them differently, then people will take the feedback differently.

It's good to occasionally praise in front of the group, everyone likes that. But you don't want to adjust there.

I don't know. You have no opportunity to speak with them when other people can't hear? It doesn't have to be PRIVATE, but it should be private. Can you think of any time when you can deliver a message that isn't overhearable? M&M point out that talking while moving works pretty well as people can't get the whole conversation.

jhack's picture

My seating arrangement is similar. Most feedback should be positive, so that's not a problem (and when people overhear you giving affirming feedback, they'll think about doing that way, too!).

Adjusting feedback is minor, so folks shouldn't mind. It's not a big deal.

For major things, I usually find a way to do that away from the group (one-on-ones, mostly) so as to give them an opportunity to save face while thinking through how they could do things differently.

John

WillDuke's picture
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I didn't think about the benefits of feedback splatter. I love the idea though. Others hear the affirming, and adjusting feedback, and benefit from it. That being said, anything other than the most minor of adjusting should be delivered more privately. I don't think that needs to be "at the corner table" as you say, everyone knows.

I once heard a great story about Jim Henson, the muppet guy. Apparently he never had a negative word for anyone's idea, but if he didn't like something, he'd just say "hmm." Everyone knew that "hmm" meant the idea didn't appeal to him. I wonder if "hmm" works at your table. Maybe that's a level 3 adjustment to M&M's feedback model. :)

diathesis's picture

[quote="WillDuke"]I didn't think about the benefits of feedback splatter. I love the idea though. Others hear the affirming, and adjusting feedback, and benefit from it. That being said, anything other than the most minor of adjusting should be delivered more privately. I don't think that needs to be "at the corner table" as you say, everyone knows.[/quote]

I guess if you're _aiming_ for feedback splatter, at the end of one's standup is as good a place as any, as long as one's standup isn't already over-burdened.

suedavis's picture
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[quote="diathesis"]I guess if you're _aiming_ for feedback splatter, at the end of one's standup is as good a place as any, as long as one's standup isn't already over-burdened.[/quote]

Ooo, that's a nice idea... especially since we record our standups and post them to our wiki for upper management to listen to back at the home office.

Mark's picture
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Susan- another great question! Thanks, and I'm sorry this took me so long.

And WOW is this discussion offbase! Feedback SPLATTER??? NO.

NO.

And it's NOT true that "everyone likes" public praise. Some folks HATE being singled out.

My recommendation (and it applies to both positive and negative feedback) is to deliver as best you can NOT IN PUBLIC. It doesn't have to be completely in private, so you can do it while walking towards a meeting, or through the team's area, or while moving to the table a distance away.

Or, as I have often done, it can be whispered to someone with others at the same table.

Can you PRAISE SOME of your folks at a stand up? Yes. But maybe not all. And you don't give feedback of any type in front of others.

But please, NO SPLATTER. The idea of it sounds good, until it's YOUR boss correcting YOU in front of YOUR peers, and your boss does it poorly, and you feel HAMMERED....even though the boss professes to think of feedback as no big deal.

If you've been giving feedback like breathing for 5 years, I'd say you know enough to every once in a while break the rules...but only with someone who has been hearing it from you for 5 years too.

Glad you're thinking about feedback. Right now, stick to the basics.

Mark

jhack's picture

Mark and fellow posters,

This goes to the heart of some of my challenges with feedback. How can it be like breathing if I have to hold it in until we're not in public? (I will stop doing it publicly immediately).

Should I pop out of my chair when I notice someone heading to the break room? I know this sounds silly, but I have almost no non-public opportunities with my directs.

John

suedavis's picture
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[quote="jhack"]Should I pop out of my chair when I notice someone heading to the break room? I know this sounds silly, but I have almost no non-public opportunities with my directs.[/quote]

I have the same problem. We're in one big room in an executive office space; there are some nearby boardrooms that we can book for meetings, but in general, there isn't a concept of "on the way to a meeting", and since the entire team is of the opposite gender, the washroom is out, too.

I've worked around this by dropping most of my feedback in my weekly O3 "bucket", but I do still very much have the "holding my breath" feeling.

jhack's picture

Ideas? Anyone?

John

ashdenver's picture

[quote="mahorstman"]It doesn't have to be completely in private, so you can do it while walking towards a meeting, or through the team's area, or while moving to the table a distance away.

Or, as I have often done, it can be whispered to someone with others at the same table.[/quote]
Is it ever appropriate to provide feedback via instant message and/or email?

RichRuh's picture
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[quote]Is it ever appropriate to provide feedback via instant message and/or email?[/quote]

Instant Message: Maybe...
- if both of you have a lot of experience with the feedback model
- if you have an outstanding relationship with this person
- if you are giving affirming feedback
I would consider this only if there was no other way to give the feedback, and then only very occasionally. I wouldn't recommend it.

E-mail: Never. You cannot ask (in real-time) and get a response to the "Can I give you some feedback?" question. This is a crucial part of the model.

--Rich

akinsgre's picture

First, if feedback is supposed to be delivered with a smile (affirming, or adjusting)

And feedback happens a lot (like breathing).

They why can't you just sit down beside the team member, and deliver the feedback in a low-conversational tone.

Other team members might hear... But feedback isn't "chewing-out", right?

In an agile, programming environment, I'll often discuss why a programmer designed a class a certain way, or wrote a particular block of code.

This is feedback, and it's done loud enough so everyone can hear. That's the point of an agile teamroom. So everyone can understand the programming behavior that will help the team be more efficient.

JorrianGelink's picture

I'm new to the Manager Tools Forum but have listened to the podcasts for awhile (a year now) and this will be my first post, so fantastic!

I love reading the replies here and I hope I can give some useful input. In a situation like that I'm sure it may be difficult to give feedback due to the nature of the area but I'm sure there must be breaks or time to pull someone aside for even 5 or 10 minutes. Do I feel there is anything wrong with praising someone while others are around no, but to give meaningful feedback it's fantastic when you have alone time and if you are tight on options, even giving feedback while standing in the corner of the room would make anyone feel positive or help improve.

Feedback splatter I believe dilutes what you would be trying to get across as you are improving one individual with the group all mixed in with different ideas and opinions.

Instant Messaging really depends on the teammate, I have a lot of crew dedicated to what they do and they love getting feedback over text messaging as sometimes we can't reach each other and waiting until next week doesn't help. It depends on the culture you build and where you want it to go. I ask my team if I can text message them because I care about their development and will do what I can to help them succeed.