We know what feedback is, even if we frequently don’t like receiving it. And we don’t like receiving it for good reason.
Imagine a time in the past when you held a job in another organisation. The ‘phone rings and when you pick it up your boss is on the line. He says something like, “I want to see you in my office. Got some feedback for you.” What would you be expecting to hear about?
If you’re like most people, you’d be expecting to hear the worst. What the problem is, where you went wrong and what you need to fix; which makes feedback in many organisations one-dimensional. That dimension being what went wrong. Not much about what went right.
More than half the problems related to human performance at work can be traced back to inadequate data. Part of this is inadequate direction and guidance, but the majority is inadequate feedback. The reality is that we don’t get much feedback generally. So in the absence of feedback we tend to think we’re doing well, even when we really are not. But the other issue is that we often don’t get the full picture – where we are on-track as well as where we are off. Since feedback is essential for learning, this situation hampers our ability to get better at what we do.
The inclination of managers to focus on what’s gone wrong means that not only do employees often dislike receiving feedback, but managers often dislike giving it. By my estimation, about 80% of frontline managers avoid providing corrective feedback when it really is needed because of this.
The problem with feedback in this regard is that it focuses on the past. On what has and hasn’t occurred. Feedforward, on the other hand, focuses on the future. On the variety of things that can be, not the limited things that have been. This difference has a profound effect on how the conversation might go, and therefore on the motivation and engagement of your employees.
Let’s take a corrective feedback conversation. It will often go something like this:
| Frontline Manager: | Acting assertively – “Here’s the issue I’ve noticed. Why did you do that?” |
| Team Member: | Acting defensively – “These are my excuses.” |
| Frontline Manager: | Acting aggressively – “Well it’s not good enough. Here’s what you should have done. Get it right from now on.” |
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Put yourself in the team member’s shoes. What would you think and how would you feel about the effectiveness of your manager, the usefulness of the conversation, your level of engagement in the change requested, and your general level of work motivation resulting from this conversation? I’m guessing a rating of ‘low’ on all counts.
Take the same situation, but with a focus on the future. It may go something like this:
| Frontline Manager: | Acting assertively – “Here’s the issue I’ve noticed. Remind me, why it will be important for us to get this right when we experience the same situation again in the future.” |
| Team Member: | Thinking forward – “Well, for this reason and for that reason.” |
| Frontline Manager: | Inquiring further – “So what could you do differently when you face a similar situation in the future to ensure you get it right?” |
| Team Member: | Problem solving – “Well, I could do this or that.” |
| Frontline Manager: | Providing tips: “I think that the first of those ideas particularly has merit. Additionally, here’s another suggestion of something that’s worked for me that might help you” |
| Team Member: | Grateful for the guidance – “Thanks. That’s a great idea. I think that’s something I could use.” |
| Frontline Manager: | Seeking commitment: “So, can I get your commitment to putting that into effect the next time you face a similar issue?” |
| Team Member: | Feeling positive pressure for change – “Yes.” |
| Frontline Manager: | Acting supportively – “Great. I know that you’ll have a similar situation face you after lunch, so let’s talk mid-afternoon to check how that changed approach has worked for you.” |
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Again, put yourself in the team member’s shoes. What would you think and how would you feel about the effectiveness of this manager, the usefulness of the conversation, your level of engagement in the change requested, and your general level of work motivation resulting from this conversation? I’m guessing that your rating will be a lot higher on all counts.
I notice that discussions that are mostly past focussed feel more like an interrogation that creates defensiveness. While discussions that are mostly future focussed feel like a supportive coaching discussion that emphasises problem solving and creates opportunities. To my mind, that is the essential difference between feedback and feedforward.
Picture by Artbeat Creative
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Morgan MacLaren