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Top Tips for Providing Effective Feedback

7/11/2011

9 Comments

 
One of the most significant roles you have as a project manager is to lead and motivate the team. You have to focus on enabling team members to thrive. Look after them, value their contributions, and make sure that communications and relationships are good. 
 
Building relationships and gaining the trust of team members require you to be patient, open, and trustworthy – and to set sufficient time aside for impromptu conversations and regular one-on-one sessions. These conversations and sessions are opportunities for you to coach and support the team member and to provide and receive feedback. 

If people are to do their best, they need to know what they are doing well and what they could do better. Everyone needs feedback – especially
team members who are relatively inexperienced or new to the project or
organization. But also team members who are experienced and doing well need to know that their contributions are being appreciated.
 
As the project manager, it is your job is to provide feedback.

If feedback is to be effective, it must be given in an objective and constructive way; otherwise, it may be ignored or misinterpreted. Take the emotion out and keep it as factual and objective as possible. This is especially important when delivering so-called negative feedback. 
 
Do not focus on failures and mistakes. Always assume that people
mean well and that they are doing the very best with what they have. Focus on the way forward and encourage people to take steps in that direction. 

 
Think carefully about how you communicate your message, as everyone reacts differently. If you want the person to have positive feelings about making a change, make sure that your message has that effect. Be mindful of your body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. First think about what you want to communicate and which effect you want to have on the team member – then make sure your body language supports that message. 
 
Remember that providing feedback is a two-way process. Who is to say that the team member you are talking to actually did a bad job? Could it be that your instructions and support were lacking? Keep an open mind and allow for the possibility that you could be wrong. Listen carefully to the team member’s comments and views without interrupting. 

If a team member has made a genuine mistake or truly needs to improve in some way, be as specific about the situation as you can and give concrete examples of the behaviors that concern you. The more specific you are the more accurate and helpful your feedback may be.

-> Make your feedback factual and constructive
-> Be as specific as you can, and give examples
-> Do not criticize; focus on the way forward
-> Encourage an open dialogue by asking for comments
-> Listen without interrupting 
-> Allow for the possibility that you could be wrong
-> Be honest 
-> Let people know when they have done a good job
-> Be mindful of your body language; it must support your message
-> Know which emotional state you want your team member to end up with

 
It is important to give feedback when a team member does something good, too. After all, everyone likes to feel important, valued, and appreciated. Often projects get so busy that you may forget about the little things that can make a big difference and boost morale. 
 
Make it a habit to give sincere praise on a regular basis. Let your team members know when they have done a good job. If you do not tell them that they are doing well, they may never know that you have noticed and appreciate their performance. They may eventually start doubting themselves. People love the feelings of success, contribution, and knowing that they make a difference.

If you liked this post, you may also like:
Create a Highly Motivated Team
My Story - Working Smarter; Not Harder 
Delegate Effectively and Thouhtfully
10 Tips for Handling Conflict

9 Comments
Stan Yanakiev link
8/11/2011 02:16:18

Very valuable post, Susanne. Providing feedback is very important but tricky that's why we often see either lack of feedback or providing feedback in a way that does not achieve anything positive. I have also touched soft skills in The Missing Soft Link post
http://stanyanakiev.com/2011/08/13/the-missing-soft-link/

Reply
Benjamin Mitchell link
9/11/2011 04:57:28

I like many of the points you raised (encourage a dialogue, listen, allow for the possibility you might be wrong), but I'm confused about some points.

You say that the ways of gaining trust involve being honest, open and trustworthy.

You also advise "do not focus on failures or mistakes", "take the emotion out" and "know which emotional state you want your team member to end up with".

Would advise a manager to communicate these points to the team member? For example, would you advise a manager to say "I'm deliberately not going to focus on a mistake or my feelings of disappointment because I want you to feel happy" or "I have feelings about your performance which I do not want to speak about because I think it would be unproductive"?

If you wouldn't advise a manager communicating these points to the team member then I'm puzzled about how the communication would be consistent with being honest, open and encouraging trust. Can you see my point of view?

Would you be willing to share an example of what you'd advise a project manager to say in a situation where they evaluated a team member's performance negatively that was was consistent with being honest and open and encouraging trust?

Reply
Susanne Madsen link
9/11/2011 08:17:30

Thank you for your comments Bejamin. I value your feedback.

My point is that we DO have to be honest, and we DO have to feedback unproductive behaviour, but as we do that we should not be overly emotional nor should we focus on the negative aspects only.

As managers we have a duty to help our staff develop and progress. We can do that by focusing on the way forward and on which steps they can take to improve - rather than criticising them.

If a team member is not performing according to the goals you have both set, DO be honest, but don't linger on the negative aspects. Help provide the stepping stones for the team member to progress instead.

I hope that clarifies your question?

Kind regards,
Susanne

Reply
Benjamin Mitchell link
9/11/2011 09:28:59

I share your interest in providing effective feedback in ways that demonstrate honesty and openness that lead to increased trust. I agree that being overly emotional and focussing only on "negative" aspects of a team member's behaviour are unlikely to produce effective outcomes.

I'm interested in specific examples of what to say or do that would produce openness, trust and honesty. I think it's easy to say we should produce these outcomes but actually producing them is a different and more important issue.

Advice such as "do not focus on failures on mistakes" and "don't linger on the negative aspects" are too abstract for me to know if I understand what you mean (does "linger" and "focus" mean the same thing for you as it does for me?), and it doesn't help me know what I should do or say in a future situation to be consistent with your advice. I think having an example of specific statements or dialogue would help me with both points.

You ask whether your reply clarifies my questions. Your response gives me with more information about your goals and intent, but I didn't see concrete examples of what you'd advise someone to say, so in that sense it didn't address my questions.

Benjamin.

Reply
Susanne Madsen link
10/11/2011 13:28:21

Hi Benjamin,

I hope the following examples around “negative feedback” are useful;

Let’s say you work with a team leader who has released some software into the live operating environment without properly testing it. Some of the team’s quality assurance steps have been missed out and as a consequence the software has been released with errors.

What I would not say to that team leader is: “You have clearly made a mistake. QA steps have been missed out prior to releasing the software and you should have known that. At your level I would expect more professionalism and due diligence.” Basically you are telling the team leader off. You focus on the mistake; you don’t offer any dialogue and do not help him improve.

What I would say in that situation is: “Oh dear! What happened with that last release is not good. It created some serious problems for our customer. Going forward we need to make sure we tighten our testing and release process so that it doesn’t happen again. How do you think we can do that? … Is there anything I can do to help us improve our processes? … What steps will you take from now on to make sure all processes are followed?
In this case you focus on how the mistake can be avoided going forward and which steps the team leader can actively take to help ensure that. You don’t dictate a solution, but coach the team leader to come up with the answers and take responsibility.

Another example;

Imagine one of your team leaders has promised the customer that a product can be delivered at a certain date - without having checked back with yourself or the remainder of the team. It turns out that the date is rather unrealistic because the work package hasn't been planned out in sufficient detail and no contingency has been factored in. It’s not the first time the team leader has done this.

What I would not say to the team leader is: “It’s the second time you have promised a delivery to a customer without ensuring that proper planning and estimation has taken place. That’s unacceptable for someone at your level. In future all communication to the customer must go through me!”

What I would say is: “We need to get better at covering our backs and ensuring that the dates we provide to our customers are realistic and achievable. That’s the only way we can do a good job and make our customers happy. Remember that it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. What do you think needs to happen for us to be able to better plan our work packages before we talk to the customer? … How can I help you with this? … How can you better withstand pressure from our customers and not provide delivery dates and estimates until we have properly analysed and planned the work?


If these examples are not useful for you, please send me your specific scenarios and I would be happy to advise on that basis.

Kind regards,
Susanne

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11/7/2013 00:29:47

As supervisors we have a responsibility to help our team create and improvement. We can do that by concentrating on the way ahead and on which actions they can take to enhance who you say you are. now I have no choice but to shut up and keep me.

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Energyshot4success link
17/10/2013 06:49:54

Very useful publish, Susanne. Providing views is very essential but complex that's why we often see either lack of views or offering views in a way that does not accomplish anything useful. I have also moved sleek abilities in The Losing Smooth Weblink publish

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