Feedback corrects behaviors and creates understanding while offering a chance to ask questions. It should teach the reason behind a rule or practice, and can also serve to detect outdated policies.
Best practices
- When possible, pull a person aside. Privacy eliminates outside pressures and possible insecurities.
- Be clear. Beating around the bush makes people work to understand you. You should do the heavy lifting and include all necessary information.
- Be kind. Taking feedback takes vulnerability and bravery. Use the Introspection step to make sure you aren’t holding onto any secondary emotions and that you understand yourself.
- Explain reasons. Explaining the reason behind a rule helps it land — and creates an opportunity to reexamine the rule itself. Maybe the need has changed, and this is a chance to find a new Solution.
How to give feedback
- Use Introspection to assess the situation before you give the feedback.
- Decide how to deliver it:
- Quickly, in the moment if it’s urgent (a customer’s experience is on the line), simple (quick procedural guidance), or expected (during training).
- Pull them aside if it’s denser information you expect questions about, or the receiver looks stressed and may benefit from a breather.
- Ask for the person’s attention (pull aside if necessary).
- Explain your thoughts: ask any questions you need, explain what you wanted to teach, and explain why that rule or best practice is in place.
- Allow for conversation or questions. Be eager to answer; explore the receiver’s thoughts. This is where you may detect obsolete practices and find solutions — and where a lot of the learning happens for both people.
Sometimes larger problems reveal themselves during feedback. Those larger conversations are usually handled with a Targeted Conversation to avoid taking too much time on the spot.