The 3-Step Feedback Process
Every Manager's Greatest Tool
Feedback is the greatest tool that a manager has. It addresses behaviors in an incredibly short amount of time and can have a huge impact on performance. In other words, the ROI for feedback is incredibly high.
In this post, I will describe, in detail, the 3-step feedback process and highlight a few key areas where managers usually struggle (and how to avoid them).
The Behavior is something specific a manager observed. If the manager can’t physically describe it, it is not a behavior. The classic example: not paying attention. That is not a behavior. What physical action gives the impression that someone wasn’t paying attention? Were they on their phone, talking with other people, sleeping, etc. Great managers deliver feedback on the observed behavior, not the assumed impression.
By focusing on the observable behavior, two things are accomplished.
It eliminates the debate. An employee can debate whether they were paying attention, he cannot debate he was on his phone.
It provides context so the employee knows what to change.
This is also why you want to give feedback as close to the behavior happening as possible, so people can recall it and create context. If you give feedback on a behavior that happened 3 weeks ago, there will be little or no context for the employee to grasp.
The Impact is a direct result of the behavior. Because that person did the behavior, what is the positive or negative impact. Returning to the employee on his phone, the impact is that others may think he wasn’t paying attention and find it rude, disrespectful, or damaging to his career. Here is it important to draw a direction connection between the behavior and the impact. You’ve set the context, now you need to build on the context.
The impact gives the employee the information they need to decide if the feedback is valuable. If the impact has no meaning, she may not be incentivized to change. Which means the manager will have to describe an impact that is relevant to the individual.
The Next Step is where positive and negative feedback varies a bit. The next step is simply a way to indicate what the manager would like to see next time.
For positive feedback, the next step is to simply do more of the positive behavior. The manager may add a thanks or praise, but the goal is to get the employee to keep doing what they did.
For negative feedback, the manager wants a different behavior. In this case, the manager can suggest what the behavior should be or may ask the employee what they can do differently next time. The key is to ensure that there is a clear behavior described, not just the exhortation to “do better”.
Here are 2 examples – one positive and one negative.
Example 1 (positive): Sadie, I noticed when you were talking with that customer about the problem with the product, that you made great eye contact, smiled appropriately, and gave other non-verbal cues that you were listening. That makes the customer recognize that we care about their satisfaction. Great job and keep it up.
Example 2 (negative): Bill, I noticed in the meeting that during the presentation on cyber safety you were on your phone a lot and typing messages. That gives the impression that you weren’t paying attention and someone could get the feeling that you don’t take cyber safety seriously. Next time we have a guest presenting, can you keep your phone put away? Thanks.
It takes a bit of time to get comfortable with all 3 elements. Once you do, you’ll be amazed at the results.
So what are some common problems managers have?
Confusing behavior and impact. Many managers have trouble connecting these two elements. The best way I know to avoid is the problem is behavior comes from the eyes and impact comes from the mind/heart.
Giving feedback too late. The goal is to give feedback as soon as possible after the behavior is observed. I like to say there is a 24-hour window. Once you get past that, the ability for the employee to change goes way down. It isn’t always possible to give it immediately, but within a few hours should be possible.
Not tracking feedback. I provide guidance on how to track feedback, but the key is if you give feedback on a behavior, you want to remember what it was. If they do it again and you don’t say anything, they will think you are inconsistent. Or if they do better, you want to give some positive feedback to reinforce the behavior.
In the end, feedback is your greatest tool. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.