10x Your Impact: Mastering the Art of Feedback - Career Challenge
In this career project, learn how to give feedback positively
“I’m busy, I don’t have time for feedback”
When we have so much work, it's hard to make the time to receive feedback from our peers and give feedback to those who need it.
In fact, we can even end up behaving defensively when giving feedback because we don’t have the time to be thoughtful and see the benefit.
After all, if we are busy, who has time to make changes?
Not me!
Could it improve my work?
Maybe
But I don’t have time to improve my work.
Just take a step back and truly think about that statement.
We get stuck in this 'busy' spiral. It doesn't end. We don't really improve by being busy.
A way out of this trap is by being intentional with our feedback and making feedback part of our habits.
As a result, we can positively influence and improve the work of others.
We can realize our goals because others will work hard to get there through our coaching and leadership.
If you want to increase your impact on an organization, being GOOD at giving and recieving feedback is ESSENTIAL.
If you want to grow your career by increasing your impact, you must positively impact others.
Feedback is the fastest way to grow your skills and deliver your best work.
You might wonder, 'What do you mean, being good at feedback? Isn't feedback just providing some sentences on how to improve something?
Not quite
There is an art to giving feedback; it’s a skill and we improve at providing and receiving feedback by being intentional and making time for it.
We learn to be humble, listen, choose and be decisive on which feedback to take on board and then work to improve.
It's the most beautiful growth cycle that really changes the way we work and collaborate.
Giving and recieving feedback takes practice
Giving feedback is an indispensable tool in any professional environment. It helps identify strengths and areas for improvement, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth. Yet, giving feedback is not merely about sharing your thoughts or observations. It's a skill, even a muscle, that needs to be exercised regularly. We can learn and refine our approach by observing how others provide feedback.
When you lead, you should be providing feedback every single day, whether it is to team members who report to you, whether it is colleagues who collaborate with you, or even if it's your own leadership - by creating a practice of feedback and asking for feedback yourself, it is a significant way to level up your skills, providing you reflect, choose which part of your skills to work on if relevant and go.
This challenge should help you experiment with a few things. Above all, when giving feedback, don't be a jerk. Always be kind and thoughtful. I know it takes practice and effort, but your mission as a leader is to lift people up and higher, not tear them down. If they are torn down, how do you expect them to do the work you need them to do?!
Remember a feedback practice is both
Taking feedback and acting it professionally
Providing feedback
If you can't help being a jerk when giving feedback, stop or avoid giving negative/constructive feedback if you can and start first with only positive feedback. 'Great job' and 'I liked this about your presentation' etc.
This post is broken into 2 parts.
Part 1 is some guidance, suggestions, and techniques you can research, try, and explore for yourself.
Part 2 is then a habit routine to try out for about 4-9 weeks that includes being aware of the amount of feedback you're giving regularly and being intentional about increasing the amount of positive feedback you give and how.
Part 1 - Feedback Techniques
Here are some actionable approaches to enhance your feedback-giving and feedback-taking skills:
Observe how others give feedback. People at different organizational levels and roles may have varying feedback styles. Learn from them to diversify and improve your own approach.
Practice giving positive feedback first. In combination with listening to others, try giving positive feedback by finding something you think is good and positive about a piece of work, a meeting or a presentation and give your peers that feedback. Examples are 'That was great!' and 'This part of your presentation was fantastic.'
Understand that MOST FEEDBACK IS OPTIONAL You don't have to incorporate or add the change when receiving feedback. Unless your manager or skip specifically asks you to do something, it is always a suggestion. Feedback should be seen as suggestions for improvement rather than orders. This also goes to the feedback you provide. This perspective shapes the way feedback is given and received.
See constructive feedback as just ONE way you or others can do something differently. When you understand number 3, this becomes easier when you appreciate someone else is just suggesting another way to do something. In the same way, when you provide feedback - if you see it as one way they can do something differently, your tone and communication will be improved. There are 1000s of ways to do stuff - you're providing feedback on one way, suggesting another; there are at least 998 ways left. Stay open-minded.
Understand the context by asking questions and understanding more before you offer your thoughts. Feedback should be based on a comprehensive understanding of the situation. You always need more information to make a fair assessment. Ask questions if necessary to fully understand the situation. What is the purpose of the work? Who is the target audience? What are the expected outcomes?
Focus on any specific feedback requested. Concentrate your feedback there if someone asks for input in a particular area. This shows respect for their self-awareness and willingness to improve in specific areas.
Look at feedback frameworks. Models like the sandwich model (good, constructive, good) provide structured approaches to giving feedback. They can guide you in delivering balanced and effective feedback.
Use "I" statements. Instead of saying, "You did this wrong", say something like "I think this part could be improved by...". This makes your feedback feel less personal - and less 'attacky'
End on a positive note. Finally, summarize your main points and end with an encouraging statement. This leaves the person feeling motivated and positive about improving.
By trying to utilize these techniques, you grow substantially as a leader and impact your organization's culture in immeasurable ways. You'll notice people like working with you because you make them feel good; they probably feel like they can both grow and feel happy about their skills around you, and you will find you can provide targeted coaching to people to deliver on your vision because of this.
By seeing feedback as something you practice, you grow:
Empathy
Inquisitiveness and open-mindedness
Notice your assumptions are often not the way
Improve the quality of your work and that of others
Learn about ways to improve which you never even thought about
Part 2 - Create a Feedback Routine
Providing impactful feedback takes practice. By being intentional about your training, you will reach higher levels of impact. You don't become a 'master' of giving feedback and then get to sit back; you should consider implementing input as part of a regular routine as a leader.
Below is a mini-habit schedule you can try and challenge yourself to that will help you incorporate a feedback practice into your week-to-week routine and help you be more 'intentional' about it.
Week 1: Pay attention and log how often you give feedback to your peers
Week 2: Increase this by 1 more piece of feedback, ensuring this is only positive feedback (note: positive feedback is ALWAYS only positive 'great job, this part of your presentation was great!)
Week 3: Increase this by 2 more pieces of positive feedback
Week 4: Increase this by another 2 more pieces of positive feedback.
Now, you should be giving 4 more pieces of feedback a week than when you started out.
Week 5 - Reflect: Over the past 4 weeks or a month, how much did you increase your feedback. How did you provide that positive feedback, and did it have any expected or unexpected results?
Week 6 - NOW ASK for feedback yourself and specifically log or remember if you felt it was positive or constructive - also, if somebody was being a jerk without reacting - they probably need to do this challenge too.
Week 7 - Repeat week 6. Why? Before you give feedback aimed at improving, you need to get used to taking feedback aimed at improving. Otherwise, you think you'll become a feedback-providing-but-not-taking jerk.
Week 8 - Ask specifically for areas of improvement. 'Hey Sarah, how do you think I could improve this?' PAY ATTENTION to how they do it - they also might be a jerk about it, but this is all about observation
After 2 months of intentional improvement around giving feedback, you should have loads of reflections. This includes how someone else's 'constructive' feedback made you feel, how you want to provide feedback and more.
Reread Part 1 of this challenge as a reminder before going into week 9 and beyond.
Week 9 - NOW - If you're ready and ready to NOT be a jerk, try adding 1-2 pieces where you think somebody could do something differently when you get the opportunity to do so.
You have completed the challenge and will consider creating feedback as something intentional you do and check in with yourself on.
Summary
These strategies and practices around feedback can significantly enhance your leadership skills, positively influencing your organization's culture profoundly. You'll find that your team enjoys collaborating as you create an environment where they feel valued and confident in their abilities. This atmosphere fosters their growth and enables you to offer focused coaching, helping them align with and contribute effectively to your vision.
I hope this has helped how you can work to improve yourself and others through feedback!
