FREE online courses on Building a Winning Team - Take Them Higher - Give
Feedback
Daniel Defoe's book, ‘Robinson Crusoe' was
based on the real-life story of Alexander Selkirk, a sailor marooned on a small
island in the Pacific. In the poem
“ The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”, the author, William Cowper, says in one stanza:
“Ye winds that have made
me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more:
My friends do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
O tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I am never to see.”
This clearly illustrates the shattering effects of
being cut-off from other humans (even the wild beasts take no notice of him).
His misery is complete. So also the misery of those of
us who are deprived of ‘strokes', and feedback. Lack of feedback disillusions, leads to loss of direction and
impetus at work, and can break any but the most die-hard individualist. Some
points to ponder on feedback:
Feedback can be both negative and positive. It can be both verbal as
well as non-verbal.
You can create desirable patterns of behavior by (a)
discouraging undesirable patterns of behavior with negative feedback, and (b) encouraging the desirable ones with trumpeted
positive feedback. Ensure
(a) exceeds (b)! Avoid favoritism.
Some tips:
- Essential to General Management as an integral part of learning; it
creates the desire to learn in the approved areas, reinforces impressions, by
concrete approval of behavior, puts the person mentally at ease and increases
self-confidence.
- Not easy; requires courage, skill and mutual respect.
- It should be made clear to the recipient that negative feedback is
related to the worker's performance, not the PERSON!
- It should be given as soon as possible.
- It can be given anywhere… maybe while you are sipping your cup and
walking about.
Encourage two-way communication in adult mode, after the feedback, negative
or positive:
it clears the atmosphere and builds the foundation for better mutual respect.
It softens the blow of negative
feedback and gives the recipient time to regain his composure… and will
increase his regard for you, for being so considerate. Bosses get as much out of feedback, perhaps more, than
they realize.
- It is the twin sister of ‘Follow-up', the other side of the
manager's badge of honor.
QUESTIONS:
- What is feedback, and why is it so important?
- Give your views on what feedback is, and what it should be in an
organization?
