ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > October > 23
Monday, October 23, 2006
Performance Feedback: Too much or not enough?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“I never get any feedback in my job!” “Our boss never tells us anything!”
I hear it all the time, AND receiving feedback is one of the main ways we grow in our jobs.
If you have a boss like that, here is a link to what could be the perfect gift for your boss.
Oh, be careful what you wish for though! AND it’s never too late to give our boss feedback either!
If you want to get better at giving feedback, the guidelines for giving it fall into four categories: content, manner, frequency and timing.
Very often the feedback we get is judgmental and we get defensive. Then our ability to really hear the other person is cut off. You know the outcome of this type of interaction.
Why do you think we don’t give or get much feedback? I think that we’re afraid to do it. It “feels like” we’d be confronting the person. Or maybe we’re just unsure of how to do it well. Or we may think that there will be consequences.
On the other hand, when do you remember getting feedback on your performance and really appreciating it and learning from it?
A 4-step model for giving feedback that I think is very effective goes as follows:
When you (give the actual example of the person’s behavior),
I feel (state how you feel about it without being judgmental - sad, mad, glad, worried),
Because I’m thinking that (state the behavioral impact on you).
As an option, I’d like to suggest (state an alternative behavior).
Some of my experiences with getting feedback sound more like war stories. What’s been your experience? What’s been motivational and what’s been a turn off?
