What does it take for feedback to succeed?
Working with feedback can be exciting. A mature feedback culture, where people feel free to exchange feedback, does not develop overnight. People need to experience a safe environment in which they are open to learning from and with each other. In which they therefore dare to speak out. For this, psychological safety is a prerequisite.
If you want to know everything about implementing feedback in teams or the entire organization, then Treams' Feedback Toolkit is highly recommended. In the Toolkit you read about the different phases you go through as an organization to make feedback successful. You get tools such as work forms and questionnaires and more background information. Below we look at a specific part: the feedback training.
Why give and receive feedback training?
The impact of feedback depends in large part on how the feedback is given. If it is not done in the right way, the recipient may perceive it as a personal attack. During a training course, your people get the skills to formulate and share feedback in a constructive way. That way, feedback becomes a gift. Your people will not only come to appreciate it, but will actively apply it.
How do you set up feedback training?
Setting up effective feedback training requires a structured approach. Here are the key steps:
1. Define purpose
What do you want to accomplish with the training? Possible goals are:
- Raise awareness about the importance of feedback. You want your people to see how important feedback is for development and growth.
- Develop skills to give and receive constructive feedback. This mainly involves feedback techniques that people need to master.
- Implement feedback structurally within the organization. Consider workshop formats where people experience what it is like to give and receive feedback and what they can do with it.
2. Determine target audience
Think about what target audience the training is for. For example, are they office workers, executive professionals, managers or administrators? That matters for both the content and design of the training. Also consider the size of the group of participants. That, too, matters for how you design the training.
3. Program design
Based on the purpose of your training, create a program for the training. You may want to provide one training, but you can also design a number of consecutive training sessions. Each training then builds on the previous training. An example of a series of trainings could be:
- training on the background and importance of feedback
- training in skills for giving and receiving feedback
- workshop in experiencing feedback exchange
Of course, factors such as time, budget, the number of participants and the culture of the organization affect the number of training sessions you can provide.
3. Making training interactive
Training is always intensive. Participants get a lot of information to process. It helps when you add interactive elements. That way you keep participants involved and give them the opportunity to better understand the material. For example, you can use:
- Role-plays to mimic realistic situations. Let people experience what it is like to work with feedback. Do it low-key though and avoid any kind of insecurity.
- Case studies to analyze feedback in real-world contexts. Have participants apply the knowledge they have gained to example situations. What goes well in the example, what should be different, how would they approach it?
- Practical examples from the participants' own work environment. When have you faced feedback or when would you have liked to receive feedback? Always keep it safe and avoid personal attacks at all times!
Keep in mind that interactive sessions sometimes require multiple trainers or facilitators. Is the group of participants too large and need to be divided into smaller groups? Then engage more facilitators for certain forms of work.
4. The topics of feedback training
Good feedback training combines theory and practical exercises in recognizable situations. We list a number of topics that you can include in the training.
1. The basics of feedback
What makes feedback effective? In training, cover the core principles. Consider the proper intentions with which feedback is exchanged and separating person from behavior. Address the purpose of feedback, which is to facilitate growth and development.
2. Giving Constructive Feedback
It is important that people know how to give good feedback. Feedback is only effective if the recipient can do something with it. All the do's and don'ts of feedback, with examples, can be found in Treams' Feedback Toolkit.
We highlight a few points that should at least be covered during Feedback skills training:
- Make feedback specific
- Employ a positive way of phrasing
- Base it on actual observation
- Share feedback in a timely manner
- Speak from yourself
3. Asking for Feedback
The way you ask for feedback affects the feedback you receive. It helps the feedback giver if you ask specifically what you want feedback on. "What did you think of my way of presenting?" is clearer to answer than "What did you think?
- What specifically do you want to get feedback on?
- About what moment or event would you like to receive feedback?
- What do you want to accomplish with the feedback?
4. Receiving feedback
How a person receives feedback is personal. Thus, its impact on some will be greater, or different, than on others. In extreme cases, one person may easily disregard it while another may lie awake because of it. Receiving feedback is also something you can bring to attention. Discuss during training, for example:
- How to stay open to feedback without getting defensive.
- Be able to turn criticism into opportunities to grow.
- Be able to actively listen and follow through to better understand feedback.
Receiving feedback is ultimately the crux of the whole story. That is where feedback has effective impact and where growth and development occurs.
