How To Power Feedback By Aligning It To Skills

A senior leader at a tech company complained that though they had ‘drilled’ feedback into their team multiple times, performance was not improving. If anything, it was getting worse.

On asking what they would consider changing, their response was, “People’s openness to feedback”.

Stories like this are familiar and common. You would probably be right to believe that the word ‘feedback’ makes people get into fight, flight, or freeze modes. But, data says otherwise.

65% of people seem to welcome feedback and want more of it.

But obviously, no one wants it ‘drilled’ into them.

What is feedback?

It is a two-way dialog through which managers and team members can discuss employee performance. There are two components to feedback –providing an assessment of past performance and creating opportunities to improve performance in the future.

As a leader, you need to create a culture of positive, two-way feedback in your company. Feedback cannot be a post-mortem analysis of an employee’s failings. Instead of dreading feedback, people should be able to look forward to it.

Why does feedback need to be positive?

Research shows that it takes less effort to build up existing skills and competencies than to address weaknesses. Providing feedback using positive psychology techniques makes people feel valued. They open up to suggestions and alternate ways of doing things. Even if their performance is not on track, they are more willing to listen and act.

If you understand people’s competencies with a tool like The TMA Method, feedback conversations can be smoother and more meaningful.

What are some mistakes you may make during the feedback process?

Some managers take pride in being blunt and ‘to-the-point’ while giving feedback. That can be a major source of friction with people. That’s why they say, “Say what you mean, but don’t say it mean.

”There are common but highly avoidable mistakes while sharing feedback:

1. Not engaging in dialog: Before sharing your own perspective, lead the employee into the conversation and ask them for their opinion first.

2. Making it personal: Even for criticism, criticize an action and not the person. Avoid labeling the person. For example, “One of the documents you sent had a serious error” is more likely to bring change instead of “You are careless.”

3. Being wishy-washy: Techniques like the sandwich method, where you mention a positive in the beginning and the end and ‘sandwich’ negative feedback in between, are outdated. They end up confusing the person and take away focus from errors. Someone getting constructive feedback should be able to understand precisely what they could have done better.

4. Not specifying next steps: The purpose of feedback is to use the past to build better for the future. Without agreeing on the next steps and promising support, you fail in your manager’s duty.

Agree on a timeframe and the frequency of periodic reviewsand document the action planfrom the discussion.

How can you align feedback to skills?

Highlight the key strengths of your people and explain how to use them at work. For example, if someone is creative, allow them to develop and implement new ideas.

Instead of forcing people to develop ‘weaknesses,’ provide tools that mitigate them. For example, if an employee struggles with being detail-oriented, look at what their job is. If they are an accountant, provide them with tools or software that checks the accuracy of their work.

Or else, create an extra step in the process to validate all information before sharing it ahead.