Growing Good Feedback

The other day I was looking at my tomatoes, admiring them actually. They're coming along nicely unlike previous years. It's summer here in New Zealand and with the holidays I had some time for idle thinking. I was also thinking about some feedback sessions I've been involved in over the past year and the varying results. What can I do to get better feedback in the new year?

It dawned on me, growing good feedback is like growing good tomatoes, both require preparation and on-going commitment.

In my first year my tomato crop was poor, the harvest was meagre and plants were not Instagram material. "Must be the plants" I thought so the next year I got a variety of plants and more of them. "I'll find one that works" I thought. Ok, I got more tomatoes but they weren't beautiful and juicy. Quite frankly the plants looked miserable. So, I did some homework and figured out the top three factors in good tomatoes are light, water and soil. I re-positioned the garden to capture the best available light and I spent the winter composting and building up the soil. Come summer I watered religiously and the results are lush plants pumping out heaps of beautiful tomatoes.

So how have I incorporated this nurturing concept into feedback? Once again I've identified three focus areas to work in my groups; direction, knowledge and support.

The first factor, direction, is vitally important to good feedback and frequently overlooked.

Quality leadership, a direction clearly articulated and communicated, is vital for good feedback.

How can one expect a group of people to provide feedback on a situation when there is no common understanding of what a desirable outcome of that situation is? Giving feedback on a product launch could turn into an argument about profitability vs customer experience.

Many leaders today abdicate the role of leading for fear of micro-managing. They confuse providing direction, the "what", with dictating the "how" of task execution. Leadership must be present throughout so that the purpose of activities is understood by all which includes defining the purpose of a feedback session.

Leadership Quadrant

For more on the topic of leadership and management see How to Strike a Balance Between Micromanaging and Under-Managing https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/342433

After assessing leadership quality it's time to move on to management and look at the knowledge of our workers. People are more inclined to provide feedback when they have an understanding of the topic. Of course some people have an opinion on everything, what you what is an informed opinion.

To get informed opinions you need knowledgeable people.

 As a leader by positioning your teams in the "Clear vision / High autonomy" quadrant you encourage people to learn more about the direction and to research the how-to of delivery. People learn in order to overcome challenges and because they are valued for their learning and experiences.

During the actual feedback sessions managing the topic of "knowledgeable feedback" is problematic. You don't necessarily want doctrines regurgitated. You want people to think and at times disagree with accepted true-isims however this disagreement must be based on knowledge or experience. All members of the feedback group should be encouraged to participate but remember the quality of the feedback is dependent on their understanding of the topic. Why would you include people in the feedback group who don't understand what is being discussed? For more information on this topic see the work of Adam Galinsky.

 So now we have well led, knowledgeable people providing feedback. What could go wrong? Nothing.

 Doing nothing suffocates feedback.

If you allow the feedback session to end with 999 post-its on the wall and a nice morning tea but no follow-up people will realise how much you care. They see you lack commitment and next time you come to them you will get 998 post-its on the wall and someone who has opted out. They don't care because you don't care. Nothing has ruined your feedback.

You must care. While you are managing the sessions you must care so that everyone is encouraged to provide feedback and feels safe in doing so. But then what? How many times have you lead or attended feedback sessions with the best intentions, seen teams set up to investigate and address issues, then seen it all run out in the sand because no one valued the feedback sufficiently to follow it up. The managers didn't care, the teams felt discouraged and misled. The leader loses credibility. The teams' enthusiasm plummets. Trust spirals downward.

You must care.

Care enough to provide direction throughout the year and when defining the feedback topic. Care enough to encourage knowledgeable participation. Care enough to manage an inclusive discussion. Care enough to value the feedback you have received and care enough to act on it. Care enough to continue the dialog. Care enough to do something about it.

Because at the end of the day, what do you want? A box ticked off and a nice morning tea? Or do you want challenges for people to get their teeth into with assurance that there will be closure?

Some tomato plants react better to the attention than others and it's the same with people. Cultivate all of them with care and respect but don't be disappointed when the results are uneven. 

As usual I welcome any thoughts you may have about following, managing up & down and leading.