Once you have appreciated the value to ask for feedback you can easily apply the same concept when someone asks you for feedback. And being requested to provide feedback happens more often than we can imagine. Even more so, if you are a manager and need to provide feedback in a structured process like the performance review.
There’re tons of literature on how to give a good feedback.
Here are the golden rules I apply when I have to review someone’s performance.
The first rule of a good feedback is “less is more”. Select one or two behaviors, aligned with the objectives, that, if changed, will increase the feedback receiver’s effectiveness. Concentrate just on those. The principle “Rome wasn’t built in a day” applies to people as well. Don’t expect an immediate change just because you have told someone that their approach to clients is not professional. As Romans used to say: “repetita iuvant”; you need to repeat your feedback until it is understood and applied.
The second rule is about the precision of the feedback. This example will clarify: “I have noticed that you didn’t greet Mr. Black, who’s been our client for the past 20 years. Mr. Black told me that our service has worsened in the last period”. Precision comes from accuracy and objectivity. It’s a series of photograms you show to the feedback receiver to make them aware of the impact of their behavior.
The third rule is the use of feedforward. Unlike feedback, feedforward concentrates on the future. The concept, introduced by Marshall Goldsmith, is very simple: when I need to address a behavior, it is useful to offer suggestions on how the new behavior should look like. In Mr. Black’s case the feedforward goes along these lines. “Next time, when Mr. Black enters our office, I ask you to welcome him with a smile, ask him how you can support him and when he leaves, make sure that he is satisfied with our service”.
Feedback and feedforward provide the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that will allow us to prepare an objective performance review, or write a feedback form to any provider.