Legacy Magazine

by Kris Whipple

Like many of you, I have a love-hate relationship with feedback. What author and business expert Ken Blanchard describes as the “breakfast of champions,” I consider more like eating vegetables—important, but not necessarily enjoyable. Lack of training, lack of time, fear of confrontation, fear of failure, and painful memories of being at the receiving end of bungled performance reviews are just some of the issues that many of us suffer from “feedback aversion.” The result is reduced staff performance that ultimately impacts your visitor’s experience. If this sounds familiar, the good news is you’re not alone. A study conducted by the University of Missouri found that out of a variety of skills, managers were rated lowest in their ability to give employees useful feedback regarding job performance. Yet properly prepared and delivered, feedback can be a positive, confidence-building experience and one of your best training tools. In fact, whatever your role, the ability to effectively give and receive feedback is one of the most important skills you can learn.

The best feedback includes careful preparation (observation and information gathering), thoughtful dialogue, specific instruction, and positive reinforcement. When delivering feedback, just remember the acronym FAST:

Frequent: As a kid it’s likely your parents provided you with a constant flow of feedback whether you wanted to hear it or not. They didn’t wait for an annual performance review or special occasion. In the workplace, limiting feedback to annual reviews is like attempting to lose weight by dieting only one day a year—both are doomed to fail. Outstanding performers become frustrated by the lack of recognition, while weak performers will interpret your silence as approval. Unfortunately, many leaders still treat feedback as a once-a-year event, rather than an ongoing process. Consider incorporating feedback into meetings, e-mails, notes, and voice mails. Ideally, time should be should set aside each day just for giving and receiving feedback. While this may seem like a huge investment of time, it will pay back handsomely in increased morale, motivation, and productivity.

Accurate: Nothing is more demoralizing than receiving feedback based on inaccurate information. Always base your feedback on expectations that have been agreed upon and communicated up front, rather than personal opinion. Before delivering feedback, do your homework. Observe, organize your thoughts, and be sure your assessment is based on fact, not hearsay. Avoid exaggeration (if the person has done something twice, don’t say, “You’ve done this at least four or five times.”) and always focus on the behavior, not the person. Wing it and you run the risk of losing your staff’s respect and trust. Remember that as you’re assessing your staff, they’re assessing your judgment, professionalism, and integrity.

Specific: Your staff can only improve if they know specifically what they did right or wrong. If it’s the latter, they also need to know specifically what the “new and improved” behavior looks like. Describe what you observed and heard, explain how their behavior (either good or bad) impacts the organization, and support it with specific examples and relevant facts. Avoid vague descriptions like “unprofessional” or “lacks focus.”

Timely: When it comes to training, timing is everything! It’s a well-known fact that a behavior rewarded is likely to be repeated. Reward and recognize desirable behaviors quickly and often. On the other hand, if you’re sharing feedback around an emotionally charged event, it may make sense to wait a day or two (but never more than a week). If the feedback is especially important or serious, schedule an appropriate time and place even if it means a delay. Never deliver important or negative feedback in the hallway or in front of others.

Above all, remember that the key to delivering effective feedback is intent. If your intentions are positive and sincere, and if you clearly have your recipient’s best interests in mind, your feedback sessions will be much more successful. However, if your purpose is to “fix” or blame someone, or your feedback is delivered out of frustration, anger, or revenge, it’s just as likely you won’t succeed. Writer, scientist, and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.” Demonstrate your belief in their capabilities and make sure you communicate your positive intent in words, tone, and body language. Treat them as if they will succeed and most often they will. However, expect the worse and you have a very good chance of getting it!

And if you’re the one receiving feedback? Again, the key is intent. If you truly want to improve, assume the other person’s intent is sincere and take the feedback as a useful gift (even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time!). On the other hand, if you determine that the intent isn’t clear or at worse, is counter-productive, choose an appropriate time and speak openly about the dynamic that you felt during the conversation. Calmly explain your concerns, request clarity, and actively listen to their response.

The next time you give or receive feedback, consider its intent. Keep this in mind and you’ll be sure to find success no matter which side of the feedback conversation you happen to be on.

Kris Whipple, CIG, CIT, CIP, is an interpretive consultant/trainer in Naples, Florida.