Importance Of Feedback

 If there is a perfect tool for growth, to motivate and improve,  effective and actionable feedback is the way to go. Recently I read a book titled, `Delivering Effective Feedback’ by Harvard Business Review Press’ a compilation of research papers and articles by different authors. Though the book I mentioned is for organizations and institutions, especially business organizations, I found it suitable for educational institutions as well. Not only that, even the approach discussed is applicable in every walk of life, be it family or social groups. Feedback can be understood as the process of letting somebody know the progress and the way forward, meaning thereby, to help an individual or a team by providing your observations. Though this seems to be simple but is a difficult and delicate task. Every organization has a system of annual appraisal wherein the head of the team comments on the performance of the team members. Feedback can be ongoing and formal. Ongoing feedback is when you convey to the person or the team on the spot so that either they reinforce the efforts or amend the ways if needed. Formal feedback is what I mentioned, in which all evaluations during the year or a fixed period are put on paper and then conveyed to the concern. To me, this seems to be similar to formative assessment and summative assessment. The ongoing feedback gives you the opportunity to improve before it is late and formal feedback is the level of performance at the end of a particular period or completion of a task. Both have their advantages and we need to employ each as per the need.

You must have heard a statement from many people that positive feedback(comment) should be given publicly and not so positive ones in private. This really makes sense to me but this may not be true in all situations. For example, if an employee did something wrong and the Head feels that all members in the organization are supposed to complete a similar task, it would be better if the feedback is in the presence of all so that the problem is NOT repeated by others. If you follow the rule of giving such feedback in private only then you leave an opportunity for others to commit the same mistake. But at the same time, if the problem is related to an individual, in that case, feedback in private is the best option. But here, I would like to mention that if there is trust among the Head of the team and members then things are almost the same public or private.

The purpose of the feedback should be very clear to all, especially the Head (the one who is supposed to give feedback) and the members of the team. And the purpose is to enable them to give their best and contribute to the growth of the team and the organization. But the word feedback most of the time is taken as a threat by the team members. Chapter 3 of the book refers to giving feedback that sticks. All would have experienced that the moment one asks, “Can I give you a feedback?”, there is a tension, the BP would shoot up and there would be other signs of stress. This is known as the threat response. The writer Ed Batista calls it fight or flight which he also writes as the cascade of neurological and physiological events that impair the ability to think rationally. When people are in this state of mind they are not capable of processing and implementing your observations. If this is the situation, then there would not be much advantage of the feedback. Then, what to do? Let us explore a few strategies/ methods for the same (courtesy Ed Batista).

 

Cultivate the relationship

To avoid threat response, it is important that a cordial relationship is cultivated and nurtured. When team members feel connected with the person responsible for giving feedback, even difficult conversations take place well and are less likely to trigger stress. Gottman cites examples to develop quality relationship.

1. Make the other person feel known: Making the team members feel important individuals and not only the employee or the worker is the key to building relationships. Try to connect with everyone whenever you can.

2. Respond to even small bids for attention: Gottman writes in the book “Relationship cure”, a bid can be a question, a gesture, a look, a touch- any single expression that says, “I want to feel connected to you”. Dacher Keltner says not to miss the efforts made by the employee to get connected to you.

Asking about their personal achievements or the family issues makes the employee happy and they feel connected not only with the senior but also with other team members.

3. Regularly express Appreciation: Some of us are miser in appreciating the team members. To build relationships it is important to appreciate whenever you get an opportunity. Gottman research shows that the ratio of positive to negative interactions in a successful relationship is 5:1. This is just an idea but does not mean that we always have to give five positive comments for one negative.

 

Set the stage

Once you have the base with your employees for quality relationship, now is the time to start(giving feedback), but the following details will be more productive:

Timing: Timing for feedback session is very important. It should be scheduled casually but with a sincere thought so that you and the team members have a positive frame of mind.  The feedback session is of utmost importance and should be given its due.

Duration: Each interaction with different team members or even with the same member would require different duration of time. Some may be short and some may require longer time. Additionally, how many times you are going to discuss will differ from person to person and issue to issue.

Physical location: When you have the feedback meeting in your office/chamber, that will reinforce hierarchical roles while during these sessions we should be at the same level to avoid threat response. So the location can be a conference room, an outdoor location or wherever you both would be comfortable (the issue on which interaction would take place should also be taken into consideration while deciding the location)

Proximity: While you are trying to create a connection, in spite of sitting across the table (which again reinforces distance), try to sit closer and avoid having any obstacles in between. You may even do walk the talk.

Another essential aspect of effective feedback is that you should focus on facts, not on assumptions: David Bradford of Stanford graduate school of Business suggests, “Staying on our side of the net”, that is focusing feedback on our observations and feelings about the behavior and avoiding reference to other person’s motive. For example, when feedback is given to a habitual late-comer, you might say, “You do not value my time, and it is a disrespect.”

In this case you are assuming that the person is disrespectful which may not be the case, because there may be some other reason. A more effective way can be to say, “When you are late, I feel devalued and disrespected.”  As other person`s motives are unclear to us, so avoid assuming and base feedback on facts.

 

Manage emotions: Extensive neuroscience research in recent times tells that emotions are essential to our reasoning process (this is not true in the  case of strong emotions). You may like to avoid threat response, but do not remove all your emotions in your discussion. That can impair the effectiveness of the feedback. Use just enough emotions to engage the team member/members but not too much to provoke the other person with a hostile or defensive reaction. Now the quantum of emotions to be affected will also depend upon our relationship with other person and differ on issues and even on days, so it is always good to rehearse beforehand.

Rehearse and repeat: With some practice, the points mentioned below will improve your feedback skills: -

1. Have feedback conversations more often. Do not wait for the task to end, rather debrief the member even when small steps are taken.

2. Role play difficult conversations: Role play is an important exercise which allows you to learn beforehand, the possible reaction/response. This can be done with a colleague as the recipient, which can allow you to try different approaches. Then you can change the role, you become the recipient and your colleague gives the feedback.

3. Ask for feedback yourself: You should ask your employees to give feedback on your effectiveness as a leader. You will get valuable feedback because as leaders we tend to ignore the impact of our interaction and its response with regard to the employees. When they see you taking the feedback in a positive way then they would be more receptive to your feedback.

There can be many more points added to this but I shall leave it here only to work upon and use effective feedback as a process for improvement rather threat or basis for promotion or an increase in wages.

This is an excellent book containing a number of chapters researched and written by learned people in the field of effective feedback. In my next article, I shall take up a few more topics, like a better way to deliver bad news (negative feedback), how to give feedback that helps people grow etc.

In the end, I would like you to design your feedback based on the expertise of the recipient person or the group. Finkelstein and Fishbach found that in a class of students learning French; when the students were asked what kind of instructor they would like, the one who focuses on the areas in which they are weak or the one who focuses on their positive aspects. They found that the students who were good at French wanted the one who would tell them about their weaknesses and the ones who were new to the language wanted the instructor who would give them positive feedback. This makes clear that the novices in a field would expect and get motivated by positive feedback while the experts would want to be given critical feedback on areas of concern. When you plan feedback, this should be kept in mind because if done the other way round, then the effectiveness of the feedback would be compromised. So, try making your feedback – Goal oriented, candid & constructive and focused on the futuristic vision of self and organization, which is good for the professional growth and growth of the institution.