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Submitted by roycesj on
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How do I create more opportunities to give feedback (positive and negative)?

In the podcast this week (Feedback 'Dialog' Is Stupid Guidance), the stat was quoted about retention after daily feedback, and improving if there were multiple feedback sessions per day.  Because of our roles, there are some directs that I see and hear about performance rarely - often only in their 1-1s.  So I've been using their reports and calling out what they are talking about to give feedback in those settings.  But I don't see a good way to get to more feedback than that.  What are others doing differently to be able to give that much feedback?

Chris Zeller's picture
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Hi Royce,

Feedback is a form of communication and you have an opportunity to provide it any time communication and behavior intersect. Yes, in a perfect world, it's face-to-face because you have personally observed behavior that can be remarked upon. 

There are, I think, two ways to slice this.

First, if you're not physically co-located, how might you more directly observe your directs' behavior in real time? For example: Take a look at their calendar. Are they facilitating meetings? Attending meetings facilitated by other people? (Ask to) join the meeting, observe your direct and ask if you can give them feedback once the meeting is over. "Hey Emma, can I give you some feedback? When you ignore questions from the folks who are downstream of us in the process it makes me worry that we're damaging that relationship. Can you do that differently next time?"

Second, if you can't deliver the feedback verbally, what other modes of communication are available to you? I think of email (though the timing might cooperate there), phone, and text.

For example, if they email you a deliverable, you could call them. "Thanks for the email, Tim. I just read through it. Can I give you some feedback? When you write a short executive summary and indicate the slides that have the analysis and conclusion it helps know where to focus my attention. Great job -- keep it up."

It's more difficutl to do and might require a little creativity, and I'm confident that you can find ways to work in more regular feedback. Texting your directs 3 times a day might feel clunky at first but if it helps maximize effective behavior and minimize the ineffective, who cares?

Chris

 

 

 

roycesj's picture
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Chris - thanks for the additional ideas.  To clarify, the problem for me is more the first, than the second.  Your ideas will help - thanks again!