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The Gift of Feedback

By: Ken Keis

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In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend.
Solon, Greek Politician
638 - 559 BC

The Gift of Feedback
Feedback: Response about an activity, action, behavior, or policy.

Feedback -- real feedback: the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth type of feedback -- is critical to our continued growth, both professionally and organizationally.

The Number One responsibility of any coach (personal, business, or athletic) is to provide feedback to the individual so that he or she can improve. Imagine a coach that focused only on the positive -- NEVER mentioning the things you could improve. That wouldn’t be much help to you.

Feedback is an important strategy in any organizational or professional development process.

Feedback must be intentionally designed to maximize the benefits to all parties involved. So let’s look at potential feedback strategies and considerations.
1. Not all feedback is of equal value.

Make sure that the feedback is coming from qualified or capable individuals. Example: Many years ago I was a member of our local Toastmasters Club. As part of the learning process, each segment of a meeting was evaluated by another member and feedback was provided. The value of the feedback varied greatly, depending on the experience and capabilities of the evaluator. My point is that you should be aware of where feedback is coming from. In some cases, we should take it with a grain of salt.

2. You can’t argue with perceptions.

This is especially true when you are deploying an opinion-based survey or feedback form to a specific group. I was part of a team that designed an employee survey for a Fortune 100 client and its distribution network.
With regard to the debrief of a set of results, one of the distribution-center owners -- let’s call him Fred -- was not pleased with the way his 50 employees responded to the questions. Rather than trying to understand why they responded the way they did (with low scores), in a rage Fred attacked the survey design, called the report fiction, ripped up the report, and stormed out of the room.

Because the survey design reported only raw scores with open comments, his remarks were not valid. The fact is that Fred could not argue with his employees’ perceptions; they were what they were. The real value of such feedback comes from understanding how those employees arrived at their perceptions. Because Fred was one of my consulting clients, I knew his situation. I agreed with the opinions of his staff.
Note: The owner was correct in his concerns that feedback forms need to be designed in a neutral way so that the questions are not leading the participant to respond in a certain way.
3. Feedback or Assessments do not create the result; they only document what is already true.

Fred had not provided a feedback process prior to this survey. Feedback/assessments processes, if designed correctly, do not create the results. They only document what is already true or present. Whereas the owner got upset with the results of his employee survey, his employees had felt that way long before the introduction of the feedback process. That is a critical point for professional developers to remember, especially when there is resistance toward specific results.
Note: Some assessments can present false results if their design is flawed. As publishers of assessments, we are often asked by individuals and organizations to consider their assessments as an option for our clients. A few months ago, we looked at such an assessment.

The purpose of the tool was to document certain personal traits via the participant’s answers to the assessment. The questions and the subsequent report were unclear. Even though the company claimed the results were valid, the assessment did not meet the CRG team’s high professional standards. When selecting feedback tools, please keep quality in mind.
4. Not all individuals or organizations are ready for feedback.

Before any feedback method or content can be successfully implemented, a level of trust must be present.

During an intervention with another Fortune 100 client, we were asked to conduct a 360º Feedback Assessment on the company’s regional managers. They refused. Why? Lack of trust! The participants feared that head office might use the results to potentially fire them. This in itself is a powerful measure of the culture of the organization. In this case, going ahead with the 360º feedback process would have destroyed any remaining credibility the executives had with their managers. We decided to work on trust-building processes first.

In A Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck’s documented that one of the most difficult physiological conditions to treat is Character Disorder. This is where individuals blame everyone else for their condition; they are not open to any feedback where they must take personal or professional responsibility. No feedback will be effective until this condition is first addressed.
5. Why feedback? It improves performance.

Why bother with feedback, anyway? On average, it improves the performance of the individuals receiving the feedback. When low to medium-level performers where given feedback, their improvement was most dramatic. Improvement was less evident in high performers because they were already performing at a desirable level. It makes common sense that feedback toward top performers would have less impact because they have little room to improve.
Note: In a study on the value of executive coaching, it was determined that the ROI was 2 to 4 times the investment. Very few activities provide such a strong return and must be seriously considered as legitimate strategy.
6. Set Up Formal and Informal Feedback.

Feedback will not happen by accident.

First, as a professional, you should take it upon yourself to receive ongoing feedback from a trusted source on the issues that you want to improve.

Second, if you have any responsibility for others’ development, design a feedback strategy that meets the needs and outcomes you wish to achieve. You can use the following processes.
- Set up formal feedback sessions where the individuals involved (in a respectful environment) can discuss the issues.
- Use self-assessments to establish professional benchmarks.
- Use a formal 360º Feedback assessment. This is where several individuals provide confidential and anonymous feedback to a specific individual; the feedback is then collated and presented to the individual for a professional debrief.
Feedback is a gift. When done correctly, it provides each of us with a roadmap to improve our effectiveness and performance. It also does not happen by accident and requires each of us, as individuals as well as organizations, to have an intentional strategy to ensure that feedback takes place. Without feedback, we are all missing opportunities to develop.

All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people.
Alexis Carrel, Author, Reflections on Life

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Ken Keis, MBA, CPC, is an internationally known author, speaker, and consultant. He is President and CEO of CRG Consulting Resource Group International, Inc., Many professionals herald CRG as the Number One global resource center for Personal and Professional Development.

For information on CRG Resources, please visit crgleader.com

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