About Social Media Today
Feedback on Feedback
Let's get something out in the open: I don't like the word feedback. It's a buzzword. Once a word falls into that category it loses its power and effectiveness. It becomes a cliche. Like buzzword.
I've got some suggestions today for finding out how you are doing with people in relation to your mutual goals. The latent professor in me feels the need to first provide some context for the whole feedback thing.
The Whole Feedback Thing
The feedback thing started with the Space program back in the 1940's (that would be Outer Space, not
MySpace . The rocket scientists needed a way to know "how they were doing" when it came to directing the flight path of a rocket. So they set up homing devices to send signals back to earth regularly. That way, they would know whether to make a direction-correction or whether they--and the rocket--were performing as they should. (Maybe that's how the idea of simply talking with other people about 'how things are going' turned into rocket science:-)
You and I probably don't want to take the rocket science approach with our boss, colleagues, and friends. Regardless of your title or position in the grand food-chain-of-life, you are accountable to someone for your performance. So here are a few practical tips to find out how it's going:
1. Performance improves with frequency of feedback.
Ken Blanchard noted that in the early '80s. It's every bit as relevant today as it was when it was then. The more information people get, the more opportunities they have to use it to improve.
2. When you ask "how am I doing?", you create an expectation that you will try to improve.
Make sure you are ready to commit to your part of the bargain before asking the question.
3. Give the other people time to think about how they'll answer your request.
Giving down-to-earth, honest feedback can feel like risky business. If some of your performance is really on the negative side, they need to ponder:
- "How do I say this?"
- "Will it wreck the relationship?"
- "Do I want to risk that?"
Which leads to number four:
4. Your best relationships are with people who say "no" to you.
It takes a high level of trust to say "no" to someone. As a result, we learn to develop trust with people who say "no" as often as they say "yes." Why? Because we know they aren't telling us what we want to hear. Therefore, we can trust them. Check it out. Who do you trust the most? Who trusts you the most?
If you hear honest comments about less-than-acceptable performance, know that you are sitting in front of someone who cares enough to make the emotional investment needed to give you that information. It may be a real gift.
5. At the end of the conversation, say "Thank You" and describe what you plan to do--or think about--as a result of their willingness to talk.
6. Check back and see how you are doing after you've had some time to work on the specific item. (That's how the rocket scientists got to be rocket scientists).
What tips do you want to add?
photo attribution: www.af.mil/.../photos
Link to original post
