Often times as a leader, you neglect to provide good and timely feedback to your subordinates, peers and colleagues. It is something you know you should do, but it gets pushed down on your priority list as you deal with the crisis of the moment. As a leader you spend a good deal of time measuring and reviewing information to understand all the factors that impact your business. You determine specific quantifiable data and measure against that data. But when it comes to giving specific and timely feedback, you do not engage in the same rigorous practices.
I was recently working with a leadership team and asked how many of them felt they received enough timely and meaningful feedback from their boss. Out of a group of 40 leaders, only two people responded yes! When I asked, “How would your direct reports respond to that question?” sadly, they said the same way! As one leader put it, “It is something I know I should do but I just don’t seem to have enough time.” Another leader said, “I don’t feel I have good skills in this area and it always comes out sounding like criticism, so I tend not to give as much feedback as I should.”
In working with a team suffering from low morale, several members stated that the leader was not holding people equally accountable for results. The leader seemed to be preoccupied with other issues and had no time to address the lack of performance by certain team members. The individuals who were delivering results were waiting for the leader to act and senior management was waiting for the leader to act. When this did not happen the team became disengaged. The manager of this leader started questioning whether he put the right person in the job.
Leaders often neglect the very important task of providing good and timely feedback. If people are doing a good job tell them often and challenge them to do even more. If people are not meeting expectation, tell them so they have a chance to improve.
For feedback to be highly effective:
- Make sure it is timely
- Be clear about your intention
- State the specific behavior
- State the impact of the behavior
- Ask for input
- Coach the person
- Follow-up on a continual basis
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