Performance feedback: In business feedback must be immediate, encouraging and clear
Like learning to walk, we need encouragement.
Imagine your parents had tried to help you learn to walk like most managers try motivate their employees? Would criticism, cajoling and feedback once a quarter have helped you learn to walk?
When we help our children learn early skills we use a natural and supportive approach, one which fosters their desire to grow and learn new things. As children we have an instinctive desire to try new things, explore and develop new skills. We are all born natural adventurers.
Feedback tips: As parents coaching kids we give them immediate Performance feedback, rather than waiting for the end of the quarter. We are encouraging, in tone and words, rather than being sarcastic, critical and using negative language. We make it clear the type behaviour we want to see, demonstrating how to walk and guiding them in their pursuit of mastery rather than focussing on what they did wrong.
After a few years many parents forget this style of coaching and Performance feedback and begin using a learned critical style which demotivates and eliminates most of our innate desire to learn and grow, trying new things and being the natural adventurers we were born to be. When a child comes home from school with 5 A’s and 1 E, even if they have never received an A grade before, for most the focus of the discussion would be on the E grade. This is incredibly demotivating … “After all my effort, they don’t care what I did right, only what I did wrong. Why should I bother?”
When coaching remember to give positive feedback immediately, be encouraging and be clear what behaviour works. Demonstrate this best behaviour/action yourself and encourage them to try new things.
If you want to learn how to create One Clear Message and keep your Performance feedback three times positive then contact us today!
Richard Riche
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