Build Your People with Regular Feedback
ONE OF THE famous one-liners in management comes from Ken Blanchard, who said, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions!”
Regular feedback is a key motivator in the world of work. If people don’t receive regular feedback on their activities and progress, they soon become demoralized and may even lose interest in the work. They may begin to conclude that the job they are doing, or the job that they’ve been delegated, is not very important.
Regular feedback is a key form of communication between you and your staff members. Just as you communicate regularly with your spouse and children, you have to communicate regularly with each person who reports to you.
The key to giving successful feedback is to make your feedback nonjudgmental. Instead of becoming angry or impatient when something is not done to your satisfaction, simply present the facts of the situation as objective information on performance. Don’t imply a mistake or say anything that causes a person to feel defensive.
For example, someone fails to complete a task on schedule. You simply drop that person an e-mail or speak to the staff member directly and say, “This job was supposed to be done by noon on Friday. How is everything going?”
Your ability to give feedback in a positive or neutral way will dramatically increase the openness of your staff members to your ideas and opinions.
Many people think that when they are giving feedback about how the job is going, or about how staff members are doing their work, they have to say that it is either bad or good. But in most cases, all you have to do is give neutral feedback that describes the situation the way it is, without being negative.
Be Like a Referee
Practice what’s called the “timekeeper” model of management. Just as in the world of sports, where the timekeeper simply tells the players and the audience the time and score, just tell your people the results in sales, productivity, and performance. If they are “behind on points,” they will quickly pick up the pace to get the job done on time.
Tell people how they are doing on a regular basis. Especially if people are doing well, let them know by telling them directly. People tend to be very concerned with their jobs, equating their personal value to their performance. They want and need to know if they are doing well, especially in comparison with their coworkers.
Give Positive Comparisons
Previously, in Chapter Six, we talked about “social comparison theory,” which says that we only judge ourselves in comparison with other people who we feel are similar to us, both inside and outside our companies. If your company is doing as well or better than other competing companies, tell your people about it. People like to know that they are working in a successful company, especially in contrast to competitors in the marketplace.
A powerful form of feedback is to practice “management by wandering around” (described in the last chapter) and catch people doing something right. Find opportunities to walk around and praise and reinforce performance and behavior. Whenever you tell employees that they are doing a great job, they will be more motivated to do the job even better in the future.
Give Immediate Rewards
Thomas J. Watson Sr., the founder of IBM, was famous for walking around his plants, factories, and offices carrying a checkbook. Whenever he saw someone doing a good job, he stopped and wrote out a check to that person. It may have been a $5 or $10 check, or more, but the impact of that small act of generosity was tremendous.
People would frame their checks from Thomas J. Watson, the “big boss,” and hang them on their walls. They would tell their friends and family about them. They would brag about the checks to people in their social circles.
The habit of giving regular positive feedback to your staff has a tremendous impact on motivation. It causes your team members to feel that you care about them and that you are aware of the work they are doing, especially if it is hard or difficult work.
Allow Honest Mistakes
The final point of giving regular feedback is to bite your lip and allow people to make mistakes. It has been said that parents criticize their children more often than they praise them. This is true in many companies as well. People are continually being criticized, and only occasionally does the manager give them praise and positive reinforcement for a job well done.
There are studies on what makes a company “a great place to work.” Perhaps the most important finding on these excellent companies is that people say they felt that they could make mistakes and neither be criticized nor fired for those mistakes. The best companies create an environment where people feel free to try new things, even though they will probably make lots of mistakes along the way.
Encourage Them to Do Their Best
Mary Lou Retton, the Olympic gymnastic champion, once told of something her mother said that shaped her entire career. After a competition where Mary Lou had not done very well and was disappointed with her own performance, her mother said, “Mary Lou, it is not as important that you be the best as that you do your best.”
In the same way, your goal is to encourage people to do their best. Give them a steady stream of praise and recognition that lets them know how important and valuable they are to the company. Feedback is indeed the breakfast of champions.