Posts in the ‘Feedback’ Category Blog Index

In a recent HBR blog post, John Baldoni wrote a great post about how to Defend Your Idea Without Being Defensive. I strongly agree with what he says and believe it is a good trait to portray in a business environment.

I am sure almost everyone can relate to being so enamored in our own ideas that we want to protect them. Baldoni says: “Just think of the common phrase: This project is my baby.” We can become caught up in the moment when presenting the idea to co-workers, thinking that this is a brilliant plan, and then be disappointed to hear the negative criticism from all around. A great quality to have when passionate about something personal, is to be able to listen to others. That is, be passionate but not too passionate that you can’t hear what others say.

Separate personality from ideology

Everyone has different motives. People may not like your idea, there may be jealousy involved and few, if any, will embrace your idea as much as you have. I think we all need to remember that if our idea isn’t loved by all, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, it may not be right for the timing or for the framework it’s based on.

The three main points Baldoni expresses on how to not overreact:

• Be prepared. Prepare yourself for objections. Develop comeback arguments to address concerns – even use such arguments preemptively.
• Be generous. Consider compliments other for the constructive feedback they offer. It shows that you are someone who is above pettiness. Take the high road!
• Be patient. Patience also requires you to keep your cool. Know that it may take time and effort to persuade other to adopt your ideas.

Remember…

You are not in control of how others react, but you are in control of yourself, which is essential to demonstrating leadership in the face of opposition. Keep your cool even if others don’t. That is the best thing you can do in the moment. You are allowed to go yell to your therapist after, but in work environment try to stay calm and listen to what others say in the moment.

Check out the HBR blog today.

Tags: Defend without being defensive, defend you idea without being defensive, defensive, HBR, john baldoni, personality

65160 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/defend-without-being-defensive/Defend+without+being+Defensive2010-07-14+14%3A22%3A06Alanah+Throop

The other night, while everyone in the office was at The Roots concert, I was busy with my new puppy, Buddha. We had puppy class! The first few classes were introductions and simple lessons, but last night we got down to the hard stuff: sit, stay, wait, come, lie down. Turns out Buddha can’t lie down, so we’ll just have to forget about roll over for now! All in all the class was great. The main message vocalized by the instructor? Dogs need constant feedback.

I started thinking about feedback and everything I’ve learned working here at Rypple – it all relates to dogs as well. Here’s what I learned from an hour and a half of puppy class:

• Feedback, feedback, feedback. I need to give my puppy constant feedback if I want to teach her new tricks. If I want Buddha to do something better, I need to give her constant feedback. It is the same for humans! If a manager wants his employees to do something differently or improve, he or she should give them feedback.
• Treats = kudos. Giving a dog treats lets them know that they are doing something well. Giving a person public recognition with something like kudos lets them know that they are doing something right. Dogs always want treats so they will continue to try and impress you to get more. Give people public recognition and hopefully they will want more!
• Coaching 1:1 is effective. Letting dogs play together is always good, but my dog needs to know who her master  is. If I want her to keep improving, I need to spend some 1:1 time with her outside the class room. It’s easier for her to give me her undivided attention when 6 other dogs aren’t barking and peeing on the floor beside her! Coaching and mentoring is a huge part of the business world as well. People can learn in big groups, but 1:1 meeting are always more effective.

It’s funny how I can learn so much about the business world from puppy class! It just proves the point even more strongly: people (and dogs!) need feedback constantly if you want them to learn new tricks and listen to you.

Tags: Coaching, coaching and mentoring, constant feedback, dogs, Feedback, Kudos, teaching new dogs old tricks

63200 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/teaching-new-dogs-old-tricks/Teaching+new+dogs+old+tricks2010-07-01+14%3A18%3A34Alanah+Throop

I attended The WorldBlu Conference + Awards 2010 in Las Vegas this past week and had the opportunity to deliver the presentation below. The conference brings together this year’s WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces awardees to share their powerful ideas, best practices, tips and strategies with business leaders from around the world. Since 2007, WorldBlu has been identifying the leading “blu” companies that operate using the principles of openness and transparency, collaboration, and a power-to-the-people ethic to build highly innovative, democratic, and profitable organizations worldwide. We’re proud to be on the list for the second year straight!

Learning Workplaces

Learning workplaces are highly motivational. In order to learn you need fast feedback loops. My talk focused on 4 key ideas about learning workplaces:

1. Democratic workplaces must be learning workplaces
2. Learning organizations are inherently lean
3. Traditional performance reviews don’t help us motivate or learn
4. A better way to learn @work

Introducing The Agile People Manifesto

We also took this as an opportunity to launch the Agile People Manifesto, a project to define the key principles behind the agile management movement. We are the facilitators and hosts of the conversation, but we need your voice to make it successful. Join the conversation and help create the manifesto!

Daniel Debow is a co-CEO of Rypple. Daniel was one of the founders and the VP of Corporate Development and Marketing for Workbrain, an enterprise software company. He holds a JD and an MBA from the University of Toronto and an LLM in Law, Science & Technology from Stanford University. He's a huge music fan, plays the bass (badly), and spends far too much time online. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

59191 commenthttp://rypple.com/blog/worldblu-learning-democratic-workplaces/WorldBlu%3A+Learning+and+Democratic+Workplaces2010-06-23+18%3A10%3A00Daniel+Debow

Roger Martin is one of our favorite business thinkers, and not just because he’s ranked in the world’s Top 50 or because he’s a Rypple investor. It’s because he writes really insightful content like The Secret to Meaningful Customer Relationships on HBR Blogs. You should really go read the whole thing because it’s got some strong and very useful things to say about the value of qualitative performance assessment feedback over quantitative, something we all wrestle with. Here’s the cheat sheet if you haven’t got time.

His post was inspired by economist and agency theorist Michael Jensen, who made some observations about qual vs. quant:

…subordinates generally object to receiving qualitative performance feedback from their superior, especially if it is at all negative. They typically are dismissive of the qualitative feedback and ask for the feedback to be on a quantitative basis only.

This strikes right to the heart of why we built Rypple. Jensen’s advice to managers is to tell the subordinate that if he could actually be evaluated using purely quantitative measures, his job should be outsourced. That’s brilliant really — and very true. If I could measure your job entirely based on widget throughput or whatsits analyzed per hour, I could hire a robot or an outsourcing company far more cheaply.

There’s also much less value in quantative feedback from a future-looking perspective. Knowing that you managed to write 183 bug-free lines of code an hour for the last three months is interesting, but it’s not a predictor of future performance or a particularly useful piece of feedback for your manager to give you (unless it earns you a gold star — everyone loves gold stars). Marshall Goldsmith talks about this in his seminal Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback article. The real value in sharing feedforward is to improve the future, not focus on things that happened in the past and can’t be changed.

This isn’t limited to performance assessment data. Roger very insightfully relates it to customer relationships (I told you he was insightful!), making the point that:

If our understanding of customers is based entirely on quantitative analysis, we will have a shallow rather than deep relationship with them.

We see this all the time in our business. We try to be a very lean startup and base as much of our decision making on data as we possibly can. That’s a good practice — maybe even a great one — but can have serious ‘data blindness’ consequences. If you limit yourself to making decisions based on what you’re tracking, how do you ever discover the hidden value that doesn’t turn up in your analytics?

Case in point: we spend a lot of time optimizing our registration funnel to remove friction and make sure all of the people who want to sign up for Rypple can easily do so. We’ve got data up the wazoo about where they go on our site, what they click on, how long they spend there, etc. This is pretty standard stuff, and we mostly get it out of Google Analytics and a few custom tweaks we’ve built. It’s great for finding friction and knowing where to apply some grease, but it doesn’t answer the very fundamental question of motivation. We know that x% of people who hit our registration page don’t complete the form, but for everyone who doesn’t encounter an error (which we track), we have no idea why they didn’t. Maybe they decided not to provide their work email address. Could be that a colleague stopped by their desk to chat and they got distracted. Maybe they remembered they had a roast in the oven. It’s even possible that they were spontaneously abducted by aliens as their finger hovered over the mouse button, ready to submit. Looking at quantitative data will never tell us the answer.

Alien abduction photo by Thorsten Thees. Licensed under CC.

Tags: customer, data driven, Feedback, feedforward, funnel, lean, marshall goldsmith, qualitative, quantitative, relationship, roger martin, startup

Jay has been providing a human side to technology for over ten years, as a technologist, user experience specialist, and visual designer. Jay is the author of The Facebook Cookbook for O’Reilly Media.

57730 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/the-secret-to-meaningful-customer-relationships/The+Secret+to+Meaningful+Customer+Relationships2010-06-11+15%3A41%3A25Jay+Goldman

Worried about your upcoming performance review? Here are some tips we have pulled together to help you have a successful performance review.

Before your review

1.  Prepare beforehand!

• Review your own work of the past year; identifying any obstacles faced, your job description familiarity and how well you are meeting the criteria set for you, responsibilities and any expectations established with the manager.
• Note: if you keep track of your work throughout the year, you can cite your accomplishments easily when it comes time for your review.

2.  Fill out the given performance evaluation sheet before the meeting.

If your manager doesn’t have a set template for you to use, create your own:

• Write a short one or two page document of: your work over the year, goals for the new year, your needs to reach those goals and your personal view on your strengths and areas for improvement.
• Rypple’s coaching and mentoring tools are a great way to speed this process up. Have regular 1:1 coaching sessions and track your actions, goals, and notes throughout the year.

3.  Evaluate yourself honestly.

Talk about your strengths but also your weaknesses and areas for improvement. Giving a balanced review about your performance shows maturity and that you are flexible enough to take help from others.

4.  Become familiar with the company’s review process well in advance of your meeting.

The fear of the unknown can sometimes create anxiety for you prior to the meeting. This should be a learning opportunity and hopefully you will take away useful information. Get to know your boss and try to grasp an idea of whether or not they are receptive to suggestions.

5.  Understand the rating system.

• Some organizations do their performance reviews with a rating system, however these systems and numbers can vary from one company to the next. Ask someone in Human Resources if you’re unsure of how your performance is translated into a rating system.

During your review

6.  Communicate in a mature and professional manner.

Try not to be defensive and emotional when talking with your boss.

• It can be hard to hear constructive criticism – let alone negative criticism – from your manager. If you’re going into the meeting with a defensive attitude, your mind will not be open to change.
• Try to be calm and open to feedback: it will only be destructive to you if you don’t want to learn and improve from what your manager has to say.

7.  Managers can’t read minds, so speak up.

• Don’t let your manager do all of the talking. This should be a two sided conversation, not a confrontation; both positions and ideas should be shared.
• This is your chance to make any suggestions or comments for them to consider.

8.  Express career goals

• Towards the end of your meeting is the time to express your career ambitions with the company. Show initiative and motivation! Bring up your goals for next year.

After your evaluation

9.  Have regular “check ins” with your manager

• Instead of seeing him or her once a year, request a meeting with your manager much more frequently to see how you are doing and what you can do to improve before your yearly performance appraisal when it is too late to improve your work. We recommend having coaching and mentoring sessions on a bi-weekly basis.

10.  Amp up your effort a few months in advance of the next evaluation.

• Although you should be consistent and hard working all year round, you should increase your efforts two months or more before the review.

11. Bonus tip! Try Rypple to have more frequent and effective feedback discussions with your fellow employees and managers. It’s free to get started, so try it today!

Tags: after your review, before your review, during your review, great performance review, performance review, Tips

55570 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/10-tips-for-a-great-performance-review/10+Tips+for+a+Great+Performance+Review2010-06-01+22%3A24%3A03Alanah+Throop

Do you know what your team really thinks? Get feedback today!

Effective leaders ask questions, discover blind spots, and learn continuously. Start by asking your team a quick question: “What’s one thing I can do to be more effective in my role?”

In today’s video you’ll learn how to:

1. Ask a focused question in 15 seconds
2. Get ongoing, honest feedback from your team
3. Clarify feedback with anonymous conversations

Engage your team by asking for their feedback. You’ll learn and succeed together.

Get feedback today!

Daniel Debow is a co-CEO of Rypple. Daniel was one of the founders and the VP of Corporate Development and Marketing for Workbrain, an enterprise software company. He holds a JD and an MBA from the University of Toronto and an LLM in Law, Science & Technology from Stanford University. He's a huge music fan, plays the bass (badly), and spends far too much time online. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

54880 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/get-insight/Success+with+Rypple+Tip+%232%3A+Get+feedback%212010-05-17+22%3A32%3A49Daniel+Debow

Public recognition will motivate your team to do great work. Give kudos today!

Quick kudos are motivating: “I’m totally addicted to sending kudos. I get back comments like ‘this made my day’ or ‘I didn’t think anyone noticed.’ Great idea, great program.” – Mike Beltzner, Director of Firefox, Mozilla

What you’ll see in today’s video:

1. How to give motivating kudos in 15 seconds
2. How to personalize kudos
3. How to share kudos with everyone on your team

Recognize a job well done. You’ll get results.

Give kudos today!

Daniel Debow is a co-CEO of Rypple. Daniel was one of the founders and the VP of Corporate Development and Marketing for Workbrain, an enterprise software company. He holds a JD and an MBA from the University of Toronto and an LLM in Law, Science & Technology from Stanford University. He's a huge music fan, plays the bass (badly), and spends far too much time online. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

54840 commentshttp://rypple.com/blog/give-kudos/Success+with+Rypple+Tip%231%3A+Give+Kudos2010-05-17+22%3A26%3A31Daniel+Debow

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

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/what-all-great-leaders-know/What+all+great+leaders+know2010-02-05+19%3A00%3A33David+Stein

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

Business Development

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

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

Product & Community

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