Before your mind run wild because of the title, let me remind you it’s Monday and it’s too early for anything wild. I’ll like to touch on the topic of feedback. Feedback can be good, complimentary and praises. Don’t we all wish someone always have good things to say about us? Don’t we all wish to bask in admiration? Sure you do, otherwise you won’t be human. We all strive for acknowledgement from others, whether it’s in our personal lives or at work.
How’s that dirty? It’s not unless you are giving the lowdown on bad performance and that’s where the dirt is coming from. Not all feedback are always good news. In fact, most managers will not asked you to go into their office and close their door unless they have some confidential work for you to do or they need to tell you something bad. We almost always wished it will always be the first reason.
Having feedback is not exactly a bad thing. Especially since you learnt from your mistakes. But managers giving feedback have to be precise about what they want. So not just telling the receiver he or she is not good enough at their performances but show them where the areas need to be improved. Point out the areas that requires more attention and give examples on how they can do better. Just by telling someone they are not good enough is going to destroy their confidence and this is something you don’t want them to walk out of your office with.
Let me give you some examples:
– If their sales performance is poor, tell them that they are not closing enough deals, share some sales closing techniques with them, do a role play.
– If it’s a punctuality issue, tell them to show up half an hour early every morning for two weeks and have breakfast with you. After which, the habit is ingrained into them, they will turn up early without you reminding them anymore.
– If it is a cohesive teamwork problem, don’t just tell the person “you need to have teamwork”, pair the person up with someone on a small scale project. If he still don’t do well, pair him with another person. Repeat the cycle. At the end of each cycle, have both of them share each other’s point of view in terms of teamwork.
If you are at the receiving end of the feedback, you have a role to play too. Approach constantly for feedback, don’t wait. If your company don’t practice having regular one on one with you, create one by approaching your boss at certain day of the month and ask for honest feedback about your performance. If he did not shoo you off or patronise you, increase it to bi-weekly.
When you are receiving end of a nasty feedback, please do leave emotions aside. Take a more objective point of view, ask yourself if your boss is judging your work fairly. And do note that I said work not you, bosses should not judge you as a person but your performances at work. Don’t be so quick to brush off a compliment either, ask if there is something you can improve on, anything else you can work on. Trust me, there is no perfect person in the world, we all have room for improvements.
Now some last words for the feedback giver, please be consistent in your opinion. Be clear of the direction you want your incumbent to head. And if you see any good improvement, even it is almost insignificant, be generous with your praises. A ‘good work’ or a ‘keep it up’ makes a lot of difference in someone’s life. You can choose to comment in your replies to an email but I found it most effective if you just take 5 minutes of your time to walk up to the person on your way to lunch and say ‘I love the work you just hand up, it’s just what I need. Good job!’.
Do you have anyone to praise today? Do so now because words are free but the impression you leave is lasting. Agree with me? Follow me here or at Twitter MiddleMe_net for more updates.
MiddleMe 
I definitely agree! So often where I’ve worked, managers tended to be rather aloof and impersonal. Of course, I know managers cannot (or should not) get too personal, BUT they can be too impersonal as well … AND too silent. Receiving regular feedback ~ both negative AND positive ~ is essential … especially positive feedback. I truly believe that positive reinforcement goes a long way in improving the overall work environment, quality and efficiency. As always, wonderful and insightful, very sensible article! 😉
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I think managers can and should get personal with their team but they need to know when and how to draw the line. Your team are humans too and the best motivator, contrary to what people think that the best motivator is money, is human understanding and acknowledgement. I can give you a super high salary but if I continuously give you no human interactions and meaningless work, I believe everyone will resign sooner or later. Thank you for popping by and enjoying my article! 😉
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A word about the way I work: I am calm, smiling, happy, trying to get all of my colleagues, I seeks, without having to request it, to ensure that they offer me what I expect their solutions …
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Ahh.. a positive motivator!
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I appreciate the way you started the blog with your witty style to arouse enough anxiety to go through the blog contents. Love it and you have that naughty style of getting over the situation beautifully. Deserve compliments and please keep this touch of witty artistic writing. 👌
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Thank you so much for taking time to tell me how much you enjoyed my article! Its people like you that kept me going on. So thank you very much!
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thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading you this!
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Thank you for leaving me such a positive comment! It made my day to see my words bringing joy to readers like you. 🙂
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I felt you revealed add one important things here. I also was laughing at the fact “the best laid plans” can go awry!
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I am delighted that you enjoy my post!! There are many more that may tickle your funny bones. Stay around 🙂
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Excellent article. In my managerial role, I always believed that people do the job to the best of their abilities and praise works wonders.
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Hi Sudhir, thank you for reading my post and I’m glad that you enjoyed it. Sadly, everyone seems to know in theory but not many are practicing what they preach. I’m glad that your beliefs are aligned with mine and your team under you are so fortunate to have you as a boss!
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I quit my corporate career of 17 years because people above me were not aligned with me. Workplace bullying took a heavy toll on my mental health and hence I decided to go on my own. It’s been a long struggle but I will come out of it someday for sure.
Keep up your good work. I will surely look forward to your post.
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Yes, workplace bullying is super horrible. I hate it and I want to encourage victims to stand up and speak out even when the bully is your direct supervisor. We are adults, not children pushing around each other in the playground.
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Indeed Kally. Glad you recognize it. Many are not aware. I am spreading awareness …Here is the first article I wrote on this subject…Keep in touch..
https://suvarnaventures.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/the-psychological-damage-caused-by-workplace-bullying-ptsd-depression/
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I read your article and I love it!! Do you mind if I reblog your article and share it over here?
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I will be honored. The purpose is to spread awareness. I had cut off from linked in and social network. Very soon I will spread the word to make people aware. Thank you so much for your help.
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Great articles such as yours are meant to share for the whole world to see. Just be patient with me on the reblogging part. 🙂
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Thanks Kally. very much appreciated. Keep in touch. 🙂
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Have a great weekend, my friend!
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You too Kally. Take care 🙂
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