#1 Way To Speed Up Your Feedback Is Honesty!

Football and dance For example, players on sports teams about to win a championship have no problem telling one another how to make a play better. An NBA player going to the playoffs is used to hearing honest feedback all the time from teammates who have an equal share in winning.

Likewise, in professional dance, the honest feedback that dancers exchange is called “notes.” After a rehearsal, everyone in the dance troupe is asked, “What are your notes for this piece?” Go faster, more lighting, start farther from the left, and so on—honest comments tossed out with the full understanding that they’re for the good of all. Interestingly, what went well—and should be repeated even if it was an accident—is just as important to call out as what didn’t go well. A delay of a split second, a slightly exaggerated movement, and a facial expression can add up to a great performance.

You can have this advantage too Honest comments to sports-team and dance-troupe members are quick and part of the norm. The give and take of feedback is fast flowing when two conditions are met: a clear common goal and a feeling of trust. In your role, you can heighten both of these conditions by skillfully leading everyday feedback in your group.

Great feedback can come in seconds (not weeks or years) I have timed people giving feedback to one another in top-level management teams. When everyone knows why they need to collaborate and there’s a climate of trust, the team can brainstorm more than thirty candid feedback comments to each person—a mixture of positives and improvement items—in ten minutes or less per person. When there’s no trust or no reason to work together, there’s dead silence and a reluctance to say anything to anyone, good or bad.

Notice and repeat Try this honesty approach and you will be surprised at how fast your feedback conversations go. If your perceptions are accurate and you include honest positive feedback as well as honest improvement feedback, the other person is very likely to listen—and return with honesty. And you both will reach lightening speed success!

Read The Feedback Imperative for more information on how to give great feedback!