Thursday, October 16, 2014

If Only It Was This Easy

If only it was this easy to give feedback.
Push the button and the receiver know if you are happy, ok or not content.

How you give feedback is critical to so many factors in developing engaged teams of leaders that will move your organization forward.  Heck, for that matter, how we give feedback to our spouses, partners, kids and beyond is just as important.

Think of this when delivering feedback:

  • what is the purpose of the feedback?
    • are you trying to help, grow or change?
  • do you have specific examples that can show the changes the feedback is offering?
    • being clear in articulating feedback with examples of actions as well as alternatives can help provide a better picture of next steps or changes in action
  • are you ready to have a dialog & not just 'dump and run'?
    • providing feedback should lead to an exchange of thoughts and ideas ~ if there is no exchange, then something is missing - start over.
Feedback is the 'breakfast of champions' according to Ken Blanchard - and he is right.  It is not as easy as pushing a button - it can be hard to take, and even harder to act on.  If we do give feedback like the buttons in the image above, clarity, exchange and examples are clearly missing.

Take your time with feedback - don't just push the button.

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