With great regularity, team members tell me they’re not receiving enough feedback from their leaders—which, in itself, means that the team member’s not getting the support or encouragement they need to do a great job.
Most people are working somewhat in the dark when it comes to knowing enough about where they’re right on track and where they could be more on track.
And how can they turbo-charge their efforts if they don’t have 100% clarity on where they need to “up the boost”?
How Can I Speak With Such Certainty About This?
Most times I have at least one 360-degree feedback interview program in process. This has me speaking to huge numbers of team members, those who report to the various leaders I’m coaching. It would be rare indeed for those team members to tell me that they get the right amount of feedback to support their performance and on-going development.
My first-hand experience tells me that more than 80% of team members are wanting, and needing, a better feel for their leader’s perceptions of their work…
Are They Working in a Feedback Drought?
Are you one of the rare leaders who’s giving enough feedback, or are you one of the 80+% who needs to give much more?
By the way, it’s not just positive feedback that your team members want—they seriously want to improve and beef up their less than admirable characteristics, behaviours and results too. They want to know what you, their leader, like about what they’re doing—as well as what you’re not so keen on.
And here’s the thing—it’s improbable that they’ll voluntarily tell you that more feedback from you would be useful!
So, let’s focus on that critical question: Are you one of the rare leaders who is giving enough feedback, or are you one of the 80+% who needs to give much more?
How can you be certain that you’re in the 20% group that’s creating highly performing team members who are inspired to give masses of discretionary effort?
Your Leadership Call to Action
Rather than assuming you’re in the 20% group of leaders who give plenty of feedback, I propose that instead, you ask your team members if they would benefit from more feedback.
But I don’t advocate you simply ask that question…
I suggest you ask something like: “In a perfect world, how much feedback would you like from me?”
And then ask something like: “Which aspects of your work are you particularly interested in having more feedback on?”
When you regularly have this sort of conversation with each of your team members, provided you create a candour-inducing, safe atmosphere, I know you’ll be pleased with the impact that your discussions have on discretionary effort and productivity.
Remember I’m here to help if you’re experiencing hesitancy about having these sorts of conversations. Just email me to arrange a time for us to chat.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Stevens has worked with leaders for more than 25-years—hundreds of them.
She’s supported leader after leader (including those who previously struggled to confront the difficult, let alone persuasively deal with the it) flourish—and become confident, courageous and impressively influential.
Carolyn is authentic and results-oriented. She draws on an eclectic array of approaches, tools and techniques to suit the situation.
