Читать книгу Management - Michael Heath, Michael Heath - Страница 16

“How am I doing?” This question is so important. People want feedback but they want it to be delivered sensitively and effectively.

Sometime we give feedback that’s positive and says: “I love what you’ve done, keep doing it!” Sometimes we give feedback to make someone even better at what they are doing: “I like this but adjusting this would really help”. Of course it’s the second type of feedback, developmental feedback, that most managers struggle with.

If you have to give feedback to improve someone’s performance then go with these six simple steps.

1 Clarify why the behaviour is happening. “‘Renu, I noticed that you haven’t started preparing your presentation.”

2 Confirm what your understanding was. “I thought we agreed that you’d have a session plan completed yesterday.”

3 First recap the benefits of the agreed behaviours. “You’ll remember we agreed that it would help you decide how much time to dedicate to each area?”

one minute wonder How often do you seek feedback from those around you? How accurate is that feedback? How well has it been delivered? How receptive are you to development feedback that helps you to grow?

4 State your concern. “I’m concerned that you might fall behind and have too much to do before the presentation itself.”

5 Ask the employee to confirm. “What was your understanding when we last spoke about this point?”

6 Conclude with a positive statement. “It’s your big opportunity Renu, let’s make sure that the senior team realise how great your project went.”

You must give feedback as close to the event as you can. I call this ‘fresh feedback’. There’s a time when feedback is ripe and a time when it’s too far past its sell-by date! And sometimes you have to assess how receptive the employee will be. If Renu’s presentation was a disaster then you may want to wait until she is more receptive to receiving feedback.

One last point: make your feedback specific. Talk about behaviours that people can change and make sure that you never use feedback as an excuse for a personal attack.

Well delivered feedback removes blind spots in people’s performance and increases motivation.