Feedback Strategies
Feedback can be challenging to receive, but it can even more challenging to dispense. That is to say, quality feedback is not something you can "phone in" -- it requires thoughtful, engaged participation on the end of the critic.
Giving feedback isn't as simple as just pointing out what's not right. As Zenger and Folkman posit, managers who give employees positive feedback -- ideally specific positive feedback -- are viewed as more efficient by their subordinates. Efficient, respected task leaders are far more likely to inspire their employees to perform at their best, as opposed to a leader who is thought to be tyrannical or impossible to please.
However, not all positive feedback is a good thing. I mentioned specific praise earlier -- check out this article in Cult of Pedagogy: "The Trouble with Amazing." It details the problems that arise when we shower superlative-laden praise on average actions, in an effort to encourage. The article boils down to these three points: 1. Positive-only praise doesn't highlight areas we can improve. 2. Generic praise (i.e. "Good job!") doesn't tell us what we did well, so we don't know what action(s) to repeat in the future. 3. It praises the person (fixed mindset) rather than the effort (growth mindset).
I'm reminded of an activity we once did in marching band back in high school. The leadership team split up into groups and we taught a basic fundamental -- forward march, backward march, etc. -- before giving a brief round of feedback. The challenge? You can't say "um" or "good job."
I distinctly remember that this activity was brutal for me. When I teach, I ramble. When I ramble, I look for space-fillers (see also, "um"). Then, once my default feedback habits were off the table, I started to fall back onto meaningless praise. "Good job, guys. That rep was great!" What does that communicate? Effectively, very little. A comment like, "Pull your shoulders back and get your toes up," may sound callous in our minds, but it's infinitely more helpful.
I'm reminded of a scene from Damien Chazelle's Whiplash: Fletcher, a cartoonishly hard-to-please jazz teacher is talking with his young prodigy, Andrew Neiman. The two discuss the "participation medal" culture that is becoming popular, when Fletcher says, "There are no two words more harmful in the English language than 'good job.'"
While Fletcher is brutal and extreme in his methodology, his point gels somewhat with the ides of this unit. Constructive, specific feedback trumps generic, empty praise every time.
Giving feedback isn't as simple as just pointing out what's not right. As Zenger and Folkman posit, managers who give employees positive feedback -- ideally specific positive feedback -- are viewed as more efficient by their subordinates. Efficient, respected task leaders are far more likely to inspire their employees to perform at their best, as opposed to a leader who is thought to be tyrannical or impossible to please.
However, not all positive feedback is a good thing. I mentioned specific praise earlier -- check out this article in Cult of Pedagogy: "The Trouble with Amazing." It details the problems that arise when we shower superlative-laden praise on average actions, in an effort to encourage. The article boils down to these three points: 1. Positive-only praise doesn't highlight areas we can improve. 2. Generic praise (i.e. "Good job!") doesn't tell us what we did well, so we don't know what action(s) to repeat in the future. 3. It praises the person (fixed mindset) rather than the effort (growth mindset).
I'm reminded of an activity we once did in marching band back in high school. The leadership team split up into groups and we taught a basic fundamental -- forward march, backward march, etc. -- before giving a brief round of feedback. The challenge? You can't say "um" or "good job."
I distinctly remember that this activity was brutal for me. When I teach, I ramble. When I ramble, I look for space-fillers (see also, "um"). Then, once my default feedback habits were off the table, I started to fall back onto meaningless praise. "Good job, guys. That rep was great!" What does that communicate? Effectively, very little. A comment like, "Pull your shoulders back and get your toes up," may sound callous in our minds, but it's infinitely more helpful.
I'm reminded of a scene from Damien Chazelle's Whiplash: Fletcher, a cartoonishly hard-to-please jazz teacher is talking with his young prodigy, Andrew Neiman. The two discuss the "participation medal" culture that is becoming popular, when Fletcher says, "There are no two words more harmful in the English language than 'good job.'"
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| Fletcher has no problem giving constructive feedback. Source: Flickr. |
While Fletcher is brutal and extreme in his methodology, his point gels somewhat with the ides of this unit. Constructive, specific feedback trumps generic, empty praise every time.
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