3 tips for a person feedback

Imagine a person has asked you to give them feedback on their performance. This sounds easy - but there are several reasons why it can be difficult. First, the person may or may not be open to your views - even if they say they want a reality check. Second, there is an art to giving feedback. Let’s explore three tips for making this happen.

* You can build-on what the person does well.

Start by watching the person in action or seeing an example of their work. Looking at their performance, ask yourself the following questions.

a) What is the person doing well?

b) How can they do more of these things - follow these principles - to succeed in the future?

Many people have been taught to give feedback by simply criticising what the performer does wrong. Spotting the person’s strengths - and building on what they do right - is a much more difficult skill. Sounds simple, but what do you look for in a person’s behaviour? You can focus on the 5 ‘As’ of their performance. Be super specific and try to give concrete examples.

- Attitude. Look for when the person takes responsibility and shows a positive attitude.

- Ability. Look for when the person shows real ability and flashes of talent.

- Application. Look for when the person really applies themselves, overcomes setbacks and works hard to reach the goal.

- Adventure. Look for when the person shows a sense of adventure, creativity and imagination.

- Achievement. Look for what the person actually achieves, delivers and finishes.

Build-up a catalogue of what the person is doing right - then move onto the next step.

* You can focus on what the person can do better – and how.

Looking at the person’s performance, ask yourself the following questions.

a) What can the person do better - and how?

b) What tools, knowledge and ideas can I pass-on to help them to improve in this area?

Build-up a catalogue of what the person can improve - then move onto the next step.

* You can put the feedback in a way the person can accept and use in the future.

Bear in mind that people can only take so much information on board at once. This is particularly so if there are many things they must improve. So you may want to use the 3:2 ratio.

* Three things the person can do to build-on their strengths.

* Two things the person can do to manage the consequences of their weaknesses.

This is not a hard and fast rule - but it is a reasonable guideline. Some individuals will say: “Just give it to me straight, no messing about.” That is fine, but it is still vital to encourage them to build-on their strengths - rather than devote all the time to their weaknesses.

Sort-out the messages you want to give to the person. Then comes the hard part: getting your messages across in a way the person can receive. Looking at what you want to communicate, ask yourself: “How can I put these messages in a way the person can accept and use to achieve success?” Finally, before giving the feedback, it can be useful to clarify the following themes.

Strengths

The key messages I want to give the person to help them to build-on their strengths are:


*

*

*

Weaknesses

The key messages - and the practical tools - I want to give the person
to help them to manage the consequences of their weaknesses are:

*

*

*

Giving Feedback

The specific things I can do to communicate these messages in
a way the person can accept and use to succeed in the future are:

*

*

*

Giving feedback is an art. It is often not about what you want to say; it is about what the person can receive. Great encouragers are good at giving feedback, however, and helping people to achieve even more success in the future.

3 tips for delivery

Great workers focus on desire, discipline and delivery. They begin by having a strong desire to reach a specific goal. They then follow daily disciplines and continue until they deliver. Looking back on your life, can you think of a time when you followed these principles? You may have been learning a skill, writing a book, launching a product or whatever. What did you do right then? How can you follow similar principles in the future? Let’s explore these steps to doing fine work.

* You can focus on desire.

Looking to the future, think of a goal you want to achieve. You may want to take care of your health, start a business, lead a team or whatever. Start by describing your goal, then consider your desire on several levels. First, be crystal-clear on what you really ‘desire’. Make sure you know the real results you want to achieve. Second, be clear on the benefits. You can keep focusing on these when times get tough. First, be clear on your level of motivation for reaching the goal. Make sure it is at least 8/10. Try completing the following sentences, then move onto the next step.

Desire. The specific goal I want to achieve is:

*

The real results I want to achieve by reaching the goal are:

*

*

*

The benefits of reaching the goal will be:


*

*

*

The desire I have to reach the goal – on a scale 0-10 - is:

____ / 10


* You can focus on discipline.

Great workers develop good habits. Tiger Woods, JK Rowling and Steven Spielberg, for example, follow their daily disciplines. So do people who want to change their life-styles. Sophie, for example, wanted to retake control of her life. She wanted to be healthier, happier and feel successful. That meant developing fresh habits. First, she began eating healthier food. Being an inveterate ‘nibbler’, she chose to eat fruit, rather than bags of crisps. Second, she returned to attending dancing classes on the weekend, rather than sit waiting for her husband to return from his golf. Third, she developed the habit of getting an early success at work each morning and this helped to set the agenda for the day. How can you follow this path in your own way? Bearing in mind the result you want to achieve, try completing the following sentence.

Disciplines. The disciplines I can follow to work towards reaching the goal are:

*

*

*

* You can focus on delivery.

Great workers are good finishers. They keep going until they deliver the goods. Professional writers, for example, break-down their assignment into chunks, establish a daily rhythm, encourage themselves on the journey and so on. “That’s the way I do it,” said one author. “Writing a book takes at least a year. So I set the goal of completing at least 3 pages a day. Reaching this target produces a sense of success.” What is your successful pattern for finishing? How can you follow it to reach your goal? Try completing the following sentence.

Delivery. The specific things I can do to do my best to deliver are:

*

*

*

“Delivery is crucial in my business,” said one MD. “So I also use this three step model when leading teams. First, I establish that the team really has the desire to reach a specific goal. I ask: ‘Bearing in mind both the pluses and minuses involved, are we prepared to do the hard work?’ Second, I encourage people to pursue the required disciplines. Third, I do everything possible to ensure that people deliver the goods. Previously I made mistakes by assuming people were motivated, but not checking this out properly. Now I go through all three stages.”

You will follow these steps in your own way. Whether you are working as an individual or leading a team, you will focus on desire, discipline and delivery. This will give you the greatest chance of success.