Dealing with feedback is tough task on both sides: for team members and their leaders.
Still in any case represents a fundamental moment in working life and “making it happen” the right way is something that marks the difference between performing or not.
So why do I need to bother with feedback and performance evaluation?
First of all for a slightly selfish reason: evaluating performance (especially on a continuous basis) allows you to keep resources aligned with objectives, motivated and, above all, productive. Without steering the experienced behaviour continuously toward the ever-changing conditions we experience, the risk of going off track toward expected results is high. And clearly you don’t want to rely on being lucky, don’t you?
Do it the right way, don’t improvise
If you decide (which I strongly recommend) to go for feedback, you have to keep in mind that it must be with all those characteristics that make it unique and significant. If you consider the last feedback you received, How it was? Was it a positive experience? Was the interview a two-way discussion (i.e. did you have an exchange with the person who evaluated you)? Did you expect it differently?
As we said other times two are the characteristics of a good feedback: being constructive, but also having a positive connotation. While the first one is pretty straightforward, the second one requires a bit of attention: “giving a positive connotation? does not mean expressing only the positive indications but transferring the negative ones in such a way that leaves somewhere a hope of recovery.
If there’s no hope for recovery is better to approach the discussion for something different like for example an exit discussion.
Unfortunately, feedback is not always well-formed, nor is it regular because in many organisational cultures, leaders avoid providing feedback and when they do it they execute the exercise only in formal meetings. Instead, it is important that it is provided regularly, and that it is meaningful.
It is clear that frequency and significance are key elements of this process so that it is relevant for our employees.
And this requires lot of work: as a rule of thumb for every hour of feedback you have to consider at least same amount to get there prepared. And this leads to the risk that, being an often complex and “time consuming” process, we often, however, outside of the annual reviews may not dedicate too much time to think about the reasons why we are providing feedback.
So what is the ideal schedule of a feedback meeting?
Recognise what works, state clearly and in context what is not working and define what needs to be changed, set measurable goals in a reasonable timeframe.
Most of all ask for feedback on yourself, you will find very interesting ideas even if they can sometimes be “painful”
