05/09/2022
Giving motivational feedback – a few of our top tips…
1. Framing – How are you framing your feedback messages? What’s the context? What’s the underlying driver? For example, if you’re talking about behaviour that is somehow undesirable or needs improvement, are you delivering a telling off, a threat, a suggestion, a clear statement of what’s needed in future…? And whose interests does your message serve? Does the phrasing, tone and timing suggest that you’re solely looking after the organisation or are you trying to help the individual as well?
2. Keep a growth mindset – A growth mindset is ideal for learning organisations. It believes that intelligence can be developed, that people want to learn, that challenges are opportunities, that obstacles are to be surmounted, that criticism is useful, and that getting things wrong is okay because it’s all part of learning ‘mastery’. A growth mindset brings a positive and supportive attitude to giving feedback.
3. A coaching approach – When giving feedback, are you there as a boss or as a coach? While there are numerous approaches to coaching (humanist, cognitive, goal-oriented…) the basic elements are the same: you’re focused on the individual and their specific situation/needs, it’s a conversation not a ‘lecture’, you offer a combination of support and challenge, and the emphasis is on the present and the future, not the past.
We hope these tips help you give effective feedback to motivate your team.