Should You Tell your Girlfriend, “You Need to Improve?”
Well, if you do you know what will happen! The situation may not be very different with spouses, children, siblings, or team members. Yet feedback is crucial for personal and professional development. How did I improve my performance and learning? Want to know? Please read on.
My journey with feedback began in a public sector company where feedback was a column filled by the manager in a physical appraisal form in April every year. As my ratings were high the feedback was also positive. Such once-in-a-year feedback as part of the annual appraisal did not help me improve my performance nor did it help anyone else.
Later, in a private sector company, I experienced a slight improvement with mid-year feedback and an annual appraisal. This approach gave me a six-month window to work on areas needing attention. However, I still found it challenging to gauge whether my efforts to improve were truly effective. Managers are usually little hesitant in giving honest and straight feedback. So, I reached out to managers to seek feedback for improving my performance and learning, It worked!
Through my consulting work with over 100 organizations, we’ve discovered that the most effective feedback isn’t tied to appraisals or raises. Instead, we advocate monthly “feedforward” sessions. These meetings analyzed fact based past performance to help individuals create a plan to improve and optimize performance. This approach allows for appreciation of work well done, identifies areas for growth, and creates action plans. It is a “Start-Stop-Enhance-Continue” methodology.
The best companies have adopted continuous feedback, with monthly structured sessions being ideal. However, most organizations still rely on annual performance reviews, where managers often struggle to provide comprehensive feedback on a year’s work. Fortunately, there’s a growing trend towards more frequent, “medial” feedback sessions alongside annual appraisals.
Continuous feedback and structured action plans empower employees to take charge of their performance, learning, and career. Cumulative enhanced performance of individuals and teams creates high-performance organizations. When performance doesn’t meet expectations despite ongoing feedback and support, employees can better understand why they might not receive anticipated raises.
Key takeaways:
1. Embrace regular feedback as a tool for growth, not criticism.
2. Seek opportunities for continuous improvement.
3. Focus on actionable insights and forward-looking plans.
4. Remember that feedback is a two-way street – be open to giving and receiving it.
By fostering a culture of ongoing feedforward and improvement plans, we can transform the feedback process from a dreaded annual event into a valuable tool for personal and organizational success.
What is your experience with feedback?