- everydayfeedback
Four Weeks to Fantastic Feedback: Week I —Make a Clear, Easy Plan
Updated: Nov 3, 2020
You may have procrastinated about giving regular, honest, feedback, but you truly believe it will help your team. Now…[drum roll please]—You are ready to make it happen! To make it work well in your organization, commit to spending four weeks with conscious, committed actions and then watch to see the effects.
Answer three questions in writing and get ready to communicate your plan to everyone on your team.
Why do we need to do this now?
Create a simple message about the burning reason you want to start up feedback now. Come up with a couple of bullet points. For instance:
Several of you are asking for frequent feedback & coaching.
As we start to expand into new business areas, I want all of us to feel fully equipped.
We’re at a critical juncture as we hire all the new people, I think feedback to and from each of us will speed us up.
What do we mean by feedback? Feedback is information, plain and simple. It is information about past performance that can guide future success. It is observations by others who work with us and share the same goals, and it’s suggestions about how we can improve.
How will we implement feedback? Explain the first step everyone will experience. Will you be kicking all of this off with some simple feedback conversations? When will you meet with each person? Set up a 20-30 minute appointment with every individual. Set the expectation that you will be making a few suggestions for each person and that you expect them to give you recommendations as well. Reassure people that no one is being singled out. Everyone will receive a few positive reinforcements and a few suggestions for how they can better contribute to team goals.
After the first set meeting or two, let them know future feedback sessions will be more informal and dialogue can continue quickly anytime or anywhere.
Excite people with the new possibilities Remind people what is possible for this team to achieve if everyone is committed to continuous learning and helping each other along the way. You have just completed the beginning of something fantastic!
Read The Feedback Imperative for more information on how to give great feedback!