Feedback Essentials: What Are We Feeding?

Feedback is the breakfast of champions according to Ken Blanchard, but somehow we’re averse to adding it to our diet. The usual culprits are: lack of time, lack of relevance (either on the what or when) and fear of upsetting the relationship.

So when the feedback is given it tends to be vague, generic or dealing with issues in the past that cannot be resolved despite being given new information. No wonder most view it as a meaningless chore.

The good news is that people do crave meaningful feedback. So the answer lies in tweaking the ingredients not getting rid of the meal itself. Here are some things to consider:

1. Open with finding out what they already know. Nothing feels like a waste of time than telling someone the obvious.
2. Proceed in order of criticality / impact on performance. Remember the 80/20 principle. The goal is not be exhaustive but impactful.
3. Focus on what the individual has done and can do. Keep bringing the discussion back to this — avoid getting sidetracked by external influences. Remember COI > COC.
4. Drive the conversation through questions. Make them think through their performance not just respond with “agree / disagree”. This will be difficult initially, be patient.
5. Most importantly, feedback is not something you “do / give” to another person, but something that the receiver takes ownership of. This is the only way that the feedback process will be a sustainable, transformative and who knows even something both parties look forward to.

Go ahead and try this in your diet!