After working in corporate world for more than a decade, one
thing I realize important is getting proper, timely, constructive and useful
feedback. Honestly in past few years I don’t think I received feedback consistently from anybody except my wife. My wife always has feedback about what I say, do,
dint say or didn’t doJ
. Jokes apart, after amassing decade of experience, managers thinks you know it
all. They assume you doing mistakes you are committing deliberately.
Proper – The feedback
should be given in a scheduled meeting so that the person comes prepared to
receive it. It has to be done in a closed room where no one can listen to the
conversation. It has to be verbal communication. Sending feedback in writing is
required for documentation purpose but not adequate to communicate the message.
Also giving feedback in front of the team to be strictly avoided.
Timely – Most managers
observe the mistakes and wait for performance rating discussion. They would
want to use this mistake as a weapon to justify the rating. But if the mistake
is done in January, waiting till December conversations is not going to help
the individual. He might commit more of the same mistake, assuming he is doing
just fine.
Constructive – Lot of
managers misunderstand feedback to rebuke. I have seen managers who shout in
the name of giving feedback. In an urge to speak-up the mistake to be
understood, they shout at the individual. Some managers in an attempt to be too
nice, they won’t give any feedback. Neither is appropriate. Intent should be
genuine concern on the staff to help him improve. Only constructive feedback
explaining what he should have done better is going to help.
Useful – In delivering
feedback, the focus should be on the improvement to be brought in, not on the
mistake. Sometimes, managers attribute a collective mistake to one individual. As we cannot change the past, the focus should be on improvements to be made in future.
I know people who have not received quality
feedback in years. So if you have a manager who gives you feedback, you
consider yourself lucky. Problem with feedback is receiver enters the room
expecting praise for all the good stuff he did, giver comes prepared with mistakes
committed. A quality feedback would comprise of a mix of acknowledgement,
appreciation for the good efforts followed by improvement sought in matters
that did not go too well. Feedback is a luxury. So whenever you are given quality feedback, do not
forget to say “Thank you!”.
