How to Transform Negative Feedback: Put On Your Rubber Suit

Posted by Sonia Di Maulo, Throughout her 15+ years in Communications, Media, and Adult Education, Sonia is able to confirm that inspiring feedback increases confidence, trust, and performance. Are you ready to feedback? Sonia is the author of the inspiring Ready to Feedback

50560 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/02/25/how-to-transform-negative-feedback-put-on-your-rubber-suit/How+to+Transform+Negative+Feedback%3A+Put+On+Your+Rubber+Suit2010-02-25+19%3A00%3A55Sonia+Di+Maulo

The Ideal World

In an ideal world everyone is able to deliver potentially difficult feedback with grace and respect. Managers and leaders are able to:

1. Start with the positives to establish trust and build confidence.
2. Offer suggestions that improve future performance.

Benefits of Investing in a Quality Rubber Suit

There may be times when you receive feedback that makes you feel crummy. It feels like:

• It erases all the things you did that were good.
• No one appreciates the hard work or sees the positive results.
• The only focus is on the past and what went wrong!

Given that no one is perfect (not the employee or the giver of feedback), it’s important to have perspective. We’ve all heard the saying that the best way to change something is to start with yourself.

Here are some tips you can try when receiving difficult feedback.

• Self-assess your performance.
• Celebrate the positives.
• Accept the feedback as a fact to consider.
• Acknowledge the time invested to give you feedback as a gift.
• Choose one improvement item that you feel you can work on, and communicate this.
• Don’t let well-intentioned suggestions for improvement erase your accomplishment.

Put on the rubber suit and choose how to use feedback! It’s important to let some feedback bounce right off. This will help you avoid internalizing events that makes you feel unworthy and creates self-doubt. Hold on a minute! I am not saying to dismiss ALL feedback because “without feedback we are flying blind” (great quote by Joseph R. Folkman author of “The Power of Feedback”). The benefit of investing in a quality rubber suit: it helps you accept all feedback objectively to be able to identify the feedback you can USE.

An Example

Your boss asks you to go into his office. You expect rave reviews on your latest report. You worked hard and your colleagues commented on how great your work was. You were not prepared for what happened next. Your manager lists all the things you could have done better. He even says he doesn’t understand why these things weren’t done to begin with and that you should have known better.

When you don’t put on your rubber suit first, here’s what could happen:

You respect your boss’s opinion and accept that your work was unacceptable.

• You feel completely demoralized and unappreciated.
• You think you may need to find a different job because you can’t possibly put in more hours to produce the perfect results your boss expects.
• You have no idea where to start to make things right.

With your rubber suit on, things happen differently:
You respect your boss’s opinion and can objectively see the gaps he is sharing with you.

• You take notes on what he feels you should have done and listen to his feedback.
• With the rubber suit on, you are able to keep the discussion professional and not personal.
• Your boss has taken time out of his busy day to share his thoughts so it must mean that he cares.
• You share the things that you feel you did right and ask him if he agrees. Starting a dialogue here will strengthen your relationship.
• When he is done, you review his feedback and identify the 1 or 2 items that you feel you can work on.
• Communicating this shows that you respect his time. It also shows that you can identify the actions that you can impact the most and how you will proceed.

Join the Discussion

• As a manager, would it be helpful to encourage your people to invest in quality rubber suits?
• What experiences have you had in receiving difficult feedback? How did you feel afterwards?
• How can putting on a rubber suit help you going forward?
• How have you transformed a difficult conversation into positive outcomes?

Tags: Feedback, how to deal with negative feedback, negative feedback, Readytofeedback, Rypple, Sonia Di Maulo

Michael Jackson, MASH, and Feedback

Posted by Alan Rottenberg, Alan is a highly respected veteran of the enterprise software industry and a business intelligence pioneer. At Cognos, he served in several senior roles, including Senior Vice President Marketing and Senior Vice-President of Business Intelligence. It was during the latter responsibility that the company became a world-wide leader in Business Intelligence and achieved significant revenue growth. Alan is also Chairman of the Board of the world-renowned University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation.

50061 commenthttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/02/18/michael-jackson-mash-and-feedback/Michael+Jackson%2C+MASH%2C+and+Feedback2010-02-18+19%3A00%3A59Alan+Rottenberg

In THIS IS IT, Michael Jackson sings the wonderful song Man in the Mirror. It’s all about change starting with ourselves; looking in the mirror and seeing who we are, what we are, and working to improve ourselves. To get the most out of feedback from our colleagues or our friends, we first have to look in the mirror and try to see ourselves as we really are. To assess ourselves with clarity.

Some important areas for quick self assessment: time management communication anticipating your boss’ needs. Today we will focus on the work skill of anticipating your boss.

Ask yourself:

• Do you take time at the end of every day to review what your boss will need from you to do his/her job tomorrow or this week?
• Do you check what regular meetings will need your input, what regular reports are coming due your boss needs?
• Do you schedule time in your day for your bosses priorities? Do you worry about how to make the bosses job easier?

This may seem old fashion and not necessary in a connected/casual world. I can assure you it’s not. Be Radar from MASH! Radar did his job with diligence and consistency, with two very different men as his CO: Colonel Blake and Colonel Potter. He did not judge them, he accepted and respected them and organized his job around their strengths, priorities and foibles.

So ask yourself and your colleagues:

• Do I make my boss’ day easier?
• Do I offer to take on part or all of one his tasks?
• Do I come with problems not briefings and actions?
• Do I deliver ahead of schedule?
• Is the boss always waiting on me for my deliverables? (Yikes!)

Look in the Mirror, assess yourself with clarity, and then go get that feedback.

Tags: Alan Rottenberg, Feedback, MASH, Michael Jackson, self-assesment

What all great leaders know

Posted by David Stein, David Stein is a co-CEO of Rypple. David was one of the founders and the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Workbrain. He is a recognized HCM strategist and has helped some of the biggest companies in the world to get the most out of their people.

49020 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/02/05/what-all-great-leaders-know/What+all+great+leaders+know2010-02-05+19%3A00%3A33David+Stein

I often read books, articles, and posts from companies that I admire; companies like Apple, Google, BMW, IDEO. My goal is understand what makes them succeed, so I can apply some of these strategies at our company, Rypple. Some of the reasons for their success are more obvious: a great product line, great marketing, great people. The question is, “why do these companies have great people, products, and marketing, leading to outstanding results?” The answer, the root of their success, may shock you: Their employee’s find meaning in their work.

The leaders of these companies make this happen through three key actions:

Clarity of vision and purpose:
Every employee in the company understands the mission and vision of the business, and how their weekly activities will impact company goals. The DNA of the company then guides day to day activities.

Ongoing coaching:
The leaders (managers) of these companies provide continuous coaching and mentoring to their teams. As opposed to providing their teams with guidance only once or twice a year through a formalized process, they meet regularly. These quick conversations ensure their teams are focused on the right actions, get feedback they can put into action immediately, and are learning all the time. This constant communication fosters a collaborative and inspiring environment.

Recognition for achievement:
Leaders of great organizations understand that their people aren’t solely motivated by money, but instead, derive a lot of meaning from recognition. Whether publicly or privately, being recognized for a job well done makes us all feel validated, appreciated, and more engaged in our work. We all like to receive Kudos, and great companies ensure that accomplishments are recognized. We believe that meaning leads to engagement, and engagement leads to amazing results!

With these answers in hand, I’m working hard to ensure that our team finds meaning in the work they do everyday.

What are you doing at your organization to find meaning and achieve extraordinary results?

Tags: achievement, Coaching, david stein, engagement, Feedback, Leadership, motivation, recognition, Rypple

The Power of Feedback in Coaching

Posted by Sonia Di Maulo, Throughout her 15+ years in Communications, Media, and Adult Education, Sonia is able to confirm that inspiring feedback increases confidence, trust, and performance. Are you ready to feedback? Sonia is the author of the inspiring Ready to Feedback

48682 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/02/04/the-power-of-feedback-in-coaching/The+Power+of+Feedback+in+Coaching2010-02-04+19%3A04%3A49Sonia+Di+Maulo

Peggy helps me focus and believes in me. I feel motivated to do outstanding work to keep getting praise, recognition and results.

Which ideas describe Peggy’s coaching ability? Which ideas show her ability to offer powerful, inspiring feedback? It’s difficult to identify where coaching ends and feedback begins, because coaching and feedback are at their best when they work together.  You cannot be an effective coach without offering and asking for feedback, and you cannot effectively feedback without the use of a solid coaching model.

Coaching without feedback is like baking without an oven. The end result is less than desirable.

The Debate on Coaching versus Feedback

The debate on the differences between coaching and feedback rage on when in fact I believe you can’t have one without the other.  Feedback, done right, is an essential part of the coaching process. David Cerasuolo, Assistant Technical Director of C.S. Monteuil:

1. Set clear goals, objectives, and priorities.
2. Observe behaviour and performance.
3. Provide immediate feedback.
4. Recognize winning performance.”

From “Coaching through Effective Feedback” by Paul J. Jerome, 1999

Watching my son’s soccer practice provided a beautiful example of how effective coaches use feedback to motivate and engage.  Here’s the process my son’s coach used:

1. The coach explained how to perform the drill and in what situation.
2. He showed the kids how to do it (at least three times).
3. He encouraged them to try.
4. As they practiced, he walked around, observed their behavior, and provided individual feedback to improve their skills. (He stopped the practice when he realized they needed additional instruction.)
5. He demonstrated the skill again.
6. He provided details and highlighted the areas of difficulty that he observed.
7. He observed again as they resumed practice and provided additional individual feedback (both praise and improvement tips).

What did I learn from this?  Coaching is the framework for providing feedback.  Feedback has the biggest impact on getting your people on the right track and focused on the key goals. Is this still considered effective coaching, if we remove feedback from the example (steps 4, 6 and 7)?

Those steps provide the individual connection that motivates and shows that you care.  Johnny Mastrandrea coach for the Monteuil soccer association for 5 years had this to say, “By coaching you are not only teaching the kids but connecting with them. This way they can see you as someone they can trust.”

Conversely, without the coaching process, feedback alone will not be effective. Steps 1, 2, 3 and 5 help to set expectations and provide direction.

The Power of Feedback in Coaching: Let’s Make Time

The business environment borrowed “coaching” from sports but the authentic use of the coaching model seems harder to do with the demands on time. Motivating teams comes from observing and providing feedback and details about what was done well and what could be done better and this means more one-on-one time. “One-on-one time with players before, during and after team activities helps to motivate players” explains Don Di Maulo baseball coach for 5 years.  Don goes on to explain that, “Eye contact, a tap on the back and a reassuring word helps increase the player’s confidence and general attitude, usually resulting in a more focused performance.”

Coaching and feedback creates a magical combination that helps you increase confidence, gain respect, build credibility and instill trust. Is that powerful or what?

Tags: Coaching, Coaching vs. Feedback, Feedback, Ready to Feedback, Rypple, Sonia Di Maulo

Corporate Cultures Must Encourage Productive Feedback

Posted by Jamie Resker, Founder and President: Employee Performance Solutions. Jamie is recognized as an established thought leader and innovator in the area of performance management. She is the originator of the Performance Continuum Feedback Method®, a tool for systematically diagnosing employee performance issues and development opportunities and crafting messages about even the most sensitive behavior based issues.

47421 commenthttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/02/01/corporate-cultures-must-encourage-productive-feedback/Corporate+Cultures+Must+Encourage+Productive+Feedback2010-02-01+15%3A58%3A20Jamie+Resker

People are really good at making excuses for not giving feedback. “We’re really nice at XYZ organization” or “we avoid conflict and causing people to feel badly about themselves” are the justifications we most commonly hear. Translation: it’s just easier to let the under performance continue as is; I’ll just focus on my A and B level players.

There are many reasons for not having performance conversations:

• He’s only got another two years before retirement.
• She can’t change.
• That’s the way he’s always been.
• What if I make things worse?
• It’s a personality issue and it’s not my job to deal with that type of thing.
• We can’t afford to lose her.
• The most contradictory of all: “We’re a gentle, nice type of place to work and we avoid conflict”.

A Human Resources Director of a Boston based technology company had a manager ask for assistance to move an under performing employee out of the company. When the HR Director asked the manager when he had a conversation with the employee about the issue, he admitted he hadn’t brought it up with them. She then asked point blank: “So you’d rather fire this person than try to have a conversation about changing the behavior? (See my paper How to Address Employee Behavior Issues) Sadly the manager answered, “Yes, I’d rather just get rid of the person”.

This is an unfortunately common story in many organizations. So, if the organization was really the nice place it claimed to be wouldn’t it make more sense to provide early-on and actionable feedback that would help the employee get back on track?

Good and kind organizations promote these conversations early on before the issue has reached the point of no return. From the employee’s perspective it’s particularly unfair when the issue is in their blind spot. They have no idea their performance is problematic, not because the leader who should be having a conversation is unaware of the issue, but unsure of how to go about the conversation. On the surface this appears to be the “we’re a nice organization who doesn’t engage in conflict”.

What can you do?

What if you work for an organization that is kind and shies away from giving feedback for fear of “upsetting people”? Don’t wait for someone to wave their magic wand and give you the feedback. You could be waiting a very long time. I hate to say it, but assume that there’s information that people are aware of but just aren’t going to tell you about. We all have blind spots; do you know about yours? Be the initiator of gathering important developmental information. Tap into your network of trusted advisors and ask the one thing questions:

1. Tell me one thing I’m doing well that I should continue with (after all it’s just as important to know what we’re doing well and should continue with).
2. Tell me one thing that would help me be more effective? (notice I’m not asking for a commentary on a weakness; I want the person I’m asking to think forward about something I can take action on in the future)

Being a kind organization means giving people the opportunity to improve, even when it might mean initiating an uncomfortable conversation. The goal should always be to “help the employee out” before “helping them out of the organization”.

Tags: Corporate Culture, Feedback, Performance Management, productive feedback

Go Social, Get Results

Posted by Jesse Goldman, Business Development

46460 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/01/21/go-social-get-results/Go+Social%2C+Get+Results2010-01-21+19%3A04%3A22Jesse+Goldman

We’re thrilled to be featured on the Dachis Group blog. Here’s a little excerpt from my post:

Top performers need to learn quickly to advance their careers. It’s no longer acceptable to wait for our next performance review, often months away, to get critical insights on how we can improve. Managers often forget about important advice and it’s usually too late to do anything concrete about what we do hear!

We need constructive feedback and coaching much more frequently to excel in today’s fast-paced business environments. A quick comment or simple kudo, such as Nice job!, can be just as valuable as more thorough advice on what we can do to improve.

Read the rest of Go Social, Get Results on the Dachis Group blog.

Tags: Dachis Group, Feedback, managers, Performance Management, performance review

Open Feedback Movement

Posted by Beth Steinberg, Beth Steinberg has more than 17 years of human resources experience helping leaders and companies (emerging to Fortune 500) with complex organizational and growth issues. She is currently an Organization Development Consultant living in Silicon Valley.

43080 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/01/15/open-feedback-movement/Open+Feedback+Movement2010-01-15+20%3A34%3A33Beth+Steinberg

Photo by rightee

After many years of watching employees and managers struggle with performance reviews, I finally started re-thinking the process and trying to change it.

It was hard for employees at my then-employer to take the process seriously. Senior leaders dismissed the feedback and performance reviews completely. Many VPs and above had not received a review or feedback in years. They had no idea how they were viewed by the organization or what they could do to improve (their only success metric: making their financial targets). The process ended up making people feel anxious instead of helping them understand their performance and feel motivated to do great work.

Thank goodness the Open Feedback Movement is gaining traction. Thanks to Rypple, there is now an alternative for employees and employers. Management gurus including Jeffery Pfeffer, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, are bringing this topic to light. In his Business Week article, Low Grades for Performance Reviews, Mr. Pfeffer says what many have been thinking for a long time.

Open feedback has to become a part of the company culture. If employee have been “punished” for giving feedback, or leaders think it’s a joke, it’s nearly impossible for open feedback to happen. The cultural shift needs to start at the top, but will quickly permeate the organization if encouraged and supported. It will also help improve individual, team and company performance.

Things to think about:

1. Open feedback needs to be modeled by Senior Leaders and ingrained into the culture.
2. Regular and productive 1:1s are essential in managing performance and establishing a trusting relationship with your team.
3. No one comes to work to sabotage the company. If you’re not doing something well, you usually don’t know or understand the implications. You’ll never improve if you don’t know what you need to work on.
4. It’s all in the delivery. Giving feedback for improvement is hard. You need to deliver the message in a supportive way and make sure you have data to back it up. Focus on how the behavior or competency deficit is impacting the organization?
5. Don’t make performance management a “check off the box”. Your employees are your most important resource. They deserve to understand what they are doing well and where they can improve.
6. Don’t over engineer things. Formula’s, ranking, etc are not the point of feedback. It is about the conversation.
7. Let employees “own” the process by using Rypple. This will empower them to get feedback, to learn, and to improve. It will help to increase engagement, satisfaction and productivity.

Tags: 1:1, beth steinberg, Coaching, jeffrey pfeffer, open feedback, Performance Reviews

Engagement: why you should care

Posted by David Priemer, Product & Community

41361 commenthttp://rypple.com/blog/2010/01/06/engagement-why-you-should-care/Engagement%3A+why+you+should+care+2010-01-06+15%3A29%3A48David+Priemer

A couple weeks ago I was speaking to Mike Portell, a consultant at one of the worlds largest consulting firms.

Mike is spearheading a program to help the people in his business unit collect more feedback. The objective is simple; help individuals & teams enhance their performance and execution by getting continuous insights from the people they work with.

With one of the key success criteria for a program like this being executive support, I asked Mike how his management team felt about the initiative.

“They’re very supportive,” he said. “The more feedback people get the more engaged they’ll be, and engagement is something our executives are very keen on.“

“Engagement?” I asked. “And why is engagement important?“

After taking a short, organic pause to contemplate the answer, Mike continued:

“Our clients entrust the success of their businesses to us every day. They call on us to craft new and innovative approaches to help solve their toughest problems. If our people aren’t engaged and looking for ways to improve themselves and their teams, how can we deliver on our promise to our clients?“

Even though I asked the question I was still taken aback by the elegance and simplicity of Mike’s response. He was also totally bang on!

Not surprisingly, employee engagement is not a new concept. However, people are now increasingly recognizing the importance of engagement in the new “Enterprise 2.0″ workplace, in particular within management ranks.

I think Gary Hamel’s Wall Street Journal Management 2.0 post: Management’s Dirty Little Secret sums it up perfectly:

in a world where customers wake up every morning asking, “what’s new, what’s different and what’s amazing?” success depends on a company’s ability to unleash the initiative, imagination and passion of employees at all levels

The moral of the story: engagement is not simply the goal, but the means by which people and organizations are able to innovate, differentiate, and ultimately serve their clients.

Tags: clients, engagement, Feedback, insights

Marshall Goldsmith: FeedForward

Posted by Nathaniel Rottenberg, Community Marketing

39660 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2009/12/17/marshall-goldsmith-feedforward/Marshall+Goldsmith%3A+FeedForward2009-12-17+19%3A19%3A29Nathaniel+Rottenberg

In my previous post, Evaluative and Developmental Feedback, I mentioned Marshall Goldsmith’s philosophy of FeedForward. The FeedForward exercise has two goals, learn as much as you can, and help as much as you can. It’s about the future, not the past. Here’s a quick video of Marshall explaining the FeedForward exercise. Enjoy!

Tags: Coaching, Evaluative and Developmental feedback, feedforward, marshall goldsmith, Rypple

Now That You Know: What Do You Do With That Feeedback?

Posted by Mary Jo Asmus, A former executive in a Fortune 100 company, I own and operate a leadership solutions firm called Aspire Collaborative Services. We partner with great leaders to help them become even greater at developing, improving, and sustaining relationships with the people who are essential to their success.

39700 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/2009/12/16/now-that-you-know-what-do-you-do-with-that-feeedback/Now+That+You+Know%3A+What+Do+You+Do+With+That+Feeedback%3F+2009-12-16+19%3A03%3A59Mary+Jo+Asmus

In a previous post, How to Ask For and Receive Feedback, on my blog, Leadership Solutions, I walked you through how to ask for and receive feedback. You’ve asked for it, you’ve received it with grace, and now – what do you do with it?

You have two choices.

The first is to reject it. You may not agree with what you heard. Why act on something you disagree with? After all, it’s an opinion. However, tread lightly here. Give this feedback some time to settle – you may find some truth in it and decide differently later. Check out your tendency to reject the feedback with someone you trust.

The second is to decide to do something about it. What actions will you take? Some ideas:

• Gain clarity around the feedback you’ve received. You can return to the original feedback-giver and ask additional questions. Ask others you trust for their input, too.

• Consider actions you’ll take. For some, talking it with a mentor, advisor or coach helps. Thinking out loud and asking for advice on the actions to be taken can be helpful. For others, journaling and reflecting on what you heard and the actions you can take are preferable.
• Find a way to stay accountable as you take action. Although many are self-motivated, others of us may need the structure of “reporting in” to someone on a regular basis as we work our way through. Writing it down, in the form of an action plan, can help to solidify your intent (sharing the plan is even better!).
• Ask for help from your staff, manager, and peers. Let them know what you are working on, and request that they assist in some way: ask them to let you know when you have strayed from your path or when you are following it.
• Adjust as necessary. Continue asking for feedback, and adjust your action accordingly, until it fits just right for you.

As I look back on what I’ve written above, there seems to be a theme: the power of a support structure of trusted advisors cannot be underestimated! What have you found to be useful in taking action on feedback?

copyright 2009 by Aspire Collaborative Services LLC

Tags: action plan, Aspire Collaborative Services LLC, Feedback, how to ask for feedback, Mary Jo Asmus, Rypple