Feedback Is Critical in Improving Performance - Here’s Why, and How, to Do Feedback Right

While we know that soliciting feedback in the workplace is paramount to our success, it isn't a skill set that everyone has. Often, we need to learn how to ask for candid feedback, and alternatively, we may not be great at giving it to others. But giving and receiving feedback is the only way for us to learn from our mistakes, adapt to changes, make informed decisions, and maintain motivation.

In order to foster a sense of transparency in your workplace, you need to create a culture where giving and receiving feedback feels productive. If employees feel empowered to provide honest feedback because there is a history of their input mattering, they will also be more open to receiving feedback about their work. So how do you, as a leader, create this type of environment? Model it for others. It's time for you to learn how to ask for feedback and shake those defensive feelings when it doesn't match your own perception of your workplace performance. There is always room for improvement!

Recently, the Harvard Business Journal highlighted six ways to successfully solicit radical candor from your employees. Read on to learn more about these helpful suggestions so you can start applying them.

Embrace Negative Feelings

It's hard to hear things that you need to improve, but if someone is taking the time to give you constructive feedback, it means they care about your improvement. Embrace this brief moment of feeling uncomfortable and try to focus on how you plan to adjust your actions moving forward. The more you practice receiving constructive criticism, the easier it will be to "digest" it. 

Create the Right Questions to Solicit the Right Feedback

When soliciting feedback, it's crucial to have questions that cannot be answered in a single word. Instead, ask questions requiring your colleagues to give you constructive feedback. Use them regularly in meetings with coworkers and adapt them as necessary. 

Here are some examples of questions that would require the types of answers necessary to guide your path forward:

• "Can you give me an example of how I could have delivered the project closer to your expectation?"

• "Can you please give me some ideas or resources that I could use to improve my strategic thinking?"

Be Comfortable With Others' Discomfort

When you are soliciting feedback, the person on the receiving end of your go-to question may be anxious. It's unlikely that someone who works for you will easily spill all of their deepest frustrations about your work habits, and there may be a good deal of silence. It's important that you learn to sit with that discomfort until they feel comfortable enough to answer. How you handle their feedback will also affect how open and forthcoming they continue to be down the road.

Listen for Understanding

It's hard not to become immediately defensive when you receive feedback, but your job is to hear it and thank the person you are speaking with for it. Take time to understand what they are saying rather than respond to it. A good practice is to take a 10-second pause if you feel you need to respond. Give yourself some time to not immediately react.

Take Action Steps Based on Feedback

Once you take action, be sure to report what you are doing differently. Once people see you applying their feedback, they'll feel validated and likely be more open to applying feedback about their own work. If you still need to make a change, be sure to communicate why. Closing the loop will help you build a culture where candid feedback is given and received appropriately and often. 

Stop Venting and Start Giving Feedback

We've all been to meetings where venting occurs. But it gets tiresome to listen to the same conversations repeatedly without addressing the underlying issues. It's easy to allow venting to dominate the conversation, but it's time to make a shift from venting to giving appropriate feedback. This way, you and your colleagues can develop and take action steps to address shortcomings! To learn more, we recommend reading this article on How Leaders Can Get The Feedback They Need To Grow by Kim Scott, Liz Fosslein, and Mollie West Duffy.

We also recommend checking out our Qualitative 360° Feedback processes which provide the necessary data to understand your perceptions against your desired goals. Whether embedded into a coaching process, team, or leadership development program, or conducted as a stand-alone initiative to identify potential coaching focus areas, this service is consistently rated by our clients as one of the most "profound and valuable" processes in their careers. 

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