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WHEN FEEDBACK DOESN’T WORK:�FEEDFORWARD

Salimah Chunara

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ZENGER AND FOLKMAN

  • When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
  • You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

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WHY DO YOU NEED FEEDBACK?

Because it’s a basic skill:

guides, like a road map

catalyst to changes in behaviors

and attitudes

attention

accountability

pulse check

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WE NEED…

Clarity

setting clear, aspirational targets; goals with action items and deadlines, when check ins will take place to share feedback

Structure

creating a clear structure; plan out events, appreciation

Energy

maintaining energy and involvement throughout the organization; highlight different teams, socialize with them, volunteer together, PD together

To Listen & Apply

exercising strong leadership—ask your direct reports what they would like from you and how you can help them try to be as specific as possible, share learning from PD, without your team there wouldn’t be a role for you

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FOCUS ON FEEDFORWARD

  • Feedforward
    • Engage in a loop
      • Consistency
      • Clarity and structure
      • Real examples
      • Model it

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      • What if it’s all negative?

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MOVE FORWARD

Review what to do vs not to do

Comprehend their context

Active engagement from both parties

Accept and listen

Schedule a follow up, within 2 weeks at most

Feedback is useless if there isn’t a plan in place, a buy in from both ends, and consistency. 

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GO ALL IN

  • It seems obvious:
    • Change the culture
    • Empower employees
    • Encourage feedback and act with urgency
    • Model it from the top so it’s reflected everywhere else
    • Increase avenues of collecting feedback
    • Invest in more efficient and robust tracking tools

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MAYA & NICK

Nick and Maya work together at their call center. When Maya takes a lunch, Nick picks up her work, and when Nick takes a lunch, Maya takes on his work.

They balance each other at work—Nick is great with the customers, and Maya has strong product knowledge. Lately, Nick has been taking longer lunch breaks and asks Maya to cover an extra 15-20 minutes for him throughout the week. Lunch time is busier because it’s a popular time for customers to call in. This puts Maya behind on some of her daily deliverables and causes her to work about one hour over time a day, which she is not getting compensated for. Her manager wants to speak with her about her deadlines, and does not know about Nick’s extended lunch.