Feedback can often feel like a spoonful of cod liver oil – you know it’s meant to be good for you, but we don’t relish it. And it can be hard to hear when you mainly hear about the things that are going wrong. You might wish someone also made time to tell you what’s going right? You’re doing your best after all….
And how often are you giving feedback to others? Research tells us that receiving regular (weekly), useful, feedback is one of the key factors for working at our best. Yet I often find people receive far less than this.
Giving useful feedback is a key responsibility of all managers and an important skill for those of us who work with others. Below I’ve outlined a few principles about what good feedback looks like from research into productivity and staff performance. I hope these are useful whether you’re wanting more useful feedback for yourself or wanting to improve the feedback you offer others.
Let’s focus on useful feedback: rather than ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ feedback
Feedback should be useful and constructive – whether it concerns what is working well or what is not working well. ‘Feedback’ is simply information which enables a system or process to adapt. If ‘feedback’ doesn’t enable learning and improvement then it isn’t feedback – it’s criticism (generalised negative comments) or praise (generalised positive comments). Criticism has no place in the respectful and productive workplace. Praise is less useful than feedback, and arguably also has its downsides.
But we need to get the ratio right: we need to hear five times as much about what works than what doesn’t. Feedback about what works is the fertiliser prepares the ground to receive the tougher-to-hear feedback about problems. So don’t neglect the fertiliser!
Ensure it’s useful
How can you know what feedback is useful? Simply ask – would you value some feedback? What would you like feedback on? What format works best for you – written, a chat after the event etc?
Providing useful feedback takes time: make sure you’re using your time well by focussing on the areas where feedback is most helpful. If someone already knows there’s a problem with X, it’s pointless or maybe even demotivating to be told it again. If they’ve asked for you to look at Y, they are more likely to be receptive to what you have to say about that.
BOOST performance with feedback
There are a few similar models around, but I really like this BOOST model from Andi Roberts (which I’ve slightly adapted) not least as it starts with balanced: reminding us of the ratio in favour of what works. The other aspect of balanced is that we invite feedback as well as offering it. If you’re in a position of power then others might take some encouragement to offer feedback. You can help by avoiding being defensive and showing you’re listening by acting on what you hear.
Ownership is important too – we might avoid speaking directly for fear of offending but being clear is critical. And this cuts both ways – we need to feel feedback is sincere, so that’s going to require us to take time to observe and notice what others are doing well so we can let them know directly.
Providing useful feedback is an essential skill for any manager, and we cover feedback skills and practice on a number of the courses I run in-house for organisations and as open online courses. Get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more about training. And let me know how you get on with the BOOST model.
Seasoned runners know that whilst sometimes it can be hard to motivate yourself to get out of the door, you never regret making the effort.
I think the same applies to making time to reflect and review how things are going. It often feels like THERE IS TOO MUCH TO DO and not enough time. When I’ve been brought in as a facilitator to help a team reflect or review I often encounter resistance, irritation and impatience about stopping doing things to step back and think about how they are going. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, after we’ve done a review, that it hasn’t been a good use of their time.
Maybe those who don’t find it useful are being polite and keeping quiet. But research has consistently shown that regular 15 min a day reflection on performance increases productivity by around 20%. So the real question I find myself asking is how can we afford not to make time for review?
I can be as guilty of this as everyone else. I rush around doing, doing, doing – not making enough time to sit still and really look and reflect. I run up and down mountains (literally, sometimes) but it’s sitting by the lakeside in the valley (like Wasdale above) or next to a summit tarn, like this cracker (below) on Haystacks, that we can find the calm and beauty we’re really looking for.
So assuming you’re not already regularly reflecting on your work (and if you are then please get in touch and share your tips – I’d love to hear them) you might be thinking – but how can I do it? And when can I fit it in?
There are three times when I’ve found it’s helpful to reflect, both for myself and with the individuals and teams I coach:
1) Post-event: the positive post-mortem held soon after significant events/ incidents when it is important to learn from experience – this might be when something went wrong or after an important new project.
2) Weekly – personally I try and find at least 30-45 mins each week to jot down notes on what I’ve discovered and might do as a result.
3) Termly – I plan my work in three terms each year and at the end of each, before I take a break, I spend around half a day undertaking a more thorough review of the past 3-4 months.
Below I’ve shared some of the tools and techniques I like to use in each of those scenarios…
1. The positive post-mortem
I regularly use two sets of reflective questions: both work for individuals or groups.
The longer version takes approx. 10-15 mins and comes from an RD1st exercise. I regularly use these questions when coaching, as well as for myself. They are beautifully simple:
It is important when doing this exercise to do two things:
Focus on action the focus on what you did rather than what happened, or what someone else did. That’s because we can only control our actions so we are only responsible for what we did or chose not to do.
Focus on the positive – many of us tend to focus on what went wrong but don’t overlook what you did that worked well. We can learn just as much from what was successful as what was less successful and yet we repeatedly focus on learning (only) from mistakes. This framework encourages you to consider both aspects: what worked well, and less so. We start with successes because then we are often more resourceful and honest about the failures.
If you’re short on time, the first-aid or 2 min version of this is Here, There, Everywhere:
1) What is my key learning here?
2) How can I apply this learning in the near future?
3) Where else could I use that learning more widely in future?
The added benefit of doing a positive post-mortem is that I have always felt better after completing it, even when what I’m reviewing went seriously tits-up.
2. The weekly Learning Log
Over a decade ago now I was fortunate to benefit from the brilliant development opportunity that is the Clore Leadership Fellowship. During my first two-week residential course I felt like I was learning so much useful stuff I didn’t know how to retain and use it – and so I created a ‘learning log’.
This began life as a simple table with two columns: observation and action. Each nugget of learning I entered into the log had to have an implication or action. Rather than take copious notes from talks or books I read which I never re-read, I started capturing the key learning points instead.
I create one document per month and save them – sometimes re-reading the logs on a quarterly or annual basis to check if there’s anything I’ve forgotten to action.
That I have been doing this fairly religiously for over a decade now probably tells you how useful I find this (here’s the proof – look at all those folders full of learning!).
Being a bit of a geek – as you can probably tell from these folders – I’ve since moved this simple table online to a Toodledo list which means I can add to it from my smart phone anytime, without needing to access my laptop to write up a learning point.
3. The termly review
I plan on a termly and annual basis, usually April-March. Three-four months is a good horizon for coaching goals – and being a coach I create goals as the backbone of this planning. This gives me direction, and also something against which to evaluate progress.
I like to set aside a whole day at the end of each ‘term’ for this kind of review. I often start by looking at the data – including financial data (have I achieved my target income, what has been my average day-rate, how many days have I worked, how many new leads did I get etc), before moving onto more reflective questions.
Sometimes I’ll use the positive post-mortem questions for that review, other times I might use the 4 Fs model. Both of these are frameworks I use when facilitating team reviews for clients – they can work even better then colleagues discuss and compare their perspectives on these questions. Sometimes I might draw my responses to the questions too, rather than just write them.
There are many other tools and frameworks you can use – I like these ones because they are simple and quick to use. Using them well by being honest, making time to collect data and using them regularly is what is most important. Doing little, but often – that’s why it’s called reflective practice.
Recently I was asked to participate in a research interview for a project the British Council has commissioned around peer-learning, and the consultant sent me over some interesting questions she wants to discuss, that led me to ask my own questions about this topic…
So firstly, what is peer-peer learning?
In my experience, it can be informal, like for example the conversations I’ve had with lots of fellow facilitators of the past few months about their experience of working online, or formal, like the Action Learning set I’ve been part of for many years where we meet approx. 6 times a year for a day to learn together. Reg Revans, the founder of Action Learning, described it in terms of ‘comrades in adversity’ who come together to support one another and learn from each other’s failures and challenges, rather than from ‘experts’.
Peer-peer learning is often part of training too, whether that’s a simple as inviting explore and idea together in small groups, or practice a skill or technique in pairs during a session. Sometimes participants are ‘buddied’ during longer training programmes, and recently I was part of a learning ‘pod’; a group of 5 of us doing the same course who met for 45 mins a week to support one another’s learning.
So who’s a ‘peer’?
I think this is a really interesting question – in the (distant) past I’ve certainly been guilty of being a bit reluctant to participate in peer-peer learning as I wondered whether people had enough in common that we could learn from one another. But I’ve realised from my own experience that I’ve often learned most from people whose experience or perspective is very different to my own. Some of the most important insights I’ve had came from hearing from people with a very different experience to me – for example as a Clore Fellow, it was talking to a theatre professional, Chris Stafford, that I realised what I wanted to do/be in the visual arts sector – as the Executive Director role didn’t (yet) exist.
As a trainer who includes peer-peer learning as a tool within the courses I design and deliver, I often read in the feedback forms that participants highly value these opportunities to work with others on the course. However, as a participant I’ve also had less than brilliant experiences of this kind of learning when it’s felt that maybe the experience level in the group has been too unequal, particularly when that’s been about practising a skill or technique together or the other participants haven’t been as committed to the group.
What are the benefits of peer-peer learning?
Cost – maybe it’s because I’m a Yorkshire woman, as we’re known for being natural frugal, but one thing that appeals to me about peer-peer learning is that it’s very cheap! For the Action Learning set I’ve been part of for nearly a decade, we met (pre CV19) in one another’s homes, bringing our own ‘pot luck’ lunch so the only cost was our time, and local travel.
Relevance – peers’ experiences are likely to be similar to yours, so they can offer examples that resonate to you. If you’re asking ‘how do I…’ and the person offering advice has a much bigger budget or set of values to you, then their suggestions are less likely to be appropriate.
Safety – the founder of Action Learning, Reg Revans, described this approach to peer-peer learning as ‘comrades in adversity coming together to support one another, and learn in the process’. Peers can be supportive, and understand the challenges you face so it can be easier to share your doubts and concerns with them.
We can also embed our own learning though teaching others. A primary school teacher friend of mine explained that it is current practice to encourage pupils at different levels of skill to work together, with the ‘stronger’ pupil supporting their classmate. I asked her, wasn’t this unfair on the more able pupil? But she explained that explaining a concept to someone else helps your own learning. Whether that’s through embedding via repetition or how the brain processes information when explaining it, I’m not sure. But what she said rang true with my own experience of training coaches for several years; I would find my own understanding improved by explaining the principles, techniques and skills to others.
What kind of learning works well on a peer-peer basis?
We know from cognitive psychology that there are many different ways to learn, and we learn information or concepts differently from how we learn self-awareness or a skill. I’ve not (yet) read anything that suggests what types of learning are best-served by peer-peer models, but I have some hunches from my own experiences as a trainer and learner.
I think peer-peer learning is particularly useful in developing emotional intelligence and specifically self-awareness. A supportive peer-peer environment can be a safe space to notice and ‘un-learn’ our limiting beliefs or recognise behaviours and attitudes which might not be serving us well.
Peer-peer learning is also incredibly useful when it comes to applying concepts or techniques to real-life situations. Because peers are often able to offer their experience, this means examples are more likely to ‘fit’ our world and resonate. This is incredibly useful in training when having understood a concept, to be able to convert that learning into action there is a step of processing ‘how can I use this information’.
Most recently, as part of a learning ‘pod’ on an online course I was doing, I also experienced the benefits of accountability via peer-peer learning – we each had to read a chapter of the training book and talk about it together the next week. Not wanting to let down the others, helped motivate me to do my individual ‘homework’.
As a trainer, I’d add peer-peer learning can be useful when the participants are sceptical about the content or the learning opportunity. When ‘conscripted’ onto in-house training courses, I find participants are less resistant to learning from one another than an external ‘expert’ who has been foisted on them!
However, I wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to learn foundation skills or concepts through peer-peer learning. To me, it feels like a follow-on from core training, rather than a replacement for it.
What makes for great peer-peer learning?
A clear agenda – even if I’m having a 60 min informal check-in with another professional, then it can be helpful to clarify what we want to get from one another and agree the best way to do it. It’s not just a chat, it’s important to have mutually agreed aims!
Structure – can be helpful. I’ve mentioned Action Learning which can be an incredibly powerful model over time, but it takes a certain degree of skill and familiarity with the process (and/or a very experienced facilitator). I often used the Troika Consulting model as a simpler peer-peer format on courses I run – as it takes less time to set up or practice and participants can easily continue to use this format after the course finishes if they enjoy it.
Equality – I don’t get hung up on titles and some variety of experience on the group is helpful, but it’s important we can see one another as peers and all learn ourselves as well as support one another. If the experience levels are too diverse then I find this can tip into more peer-mentoring than peer-peer learning, and that can impact commitment too if some people ‘gain’ more than others – especially when time is unpaid.
Diversity – different perspectives are often where biggest learning happens, so opportunities to learn from other sectors, other countries, people with a very different ‘style’ to me – all of these are valuable – so long as we have shared interests or values (there has to be some commonality).
Ground rules – confidentiality is often important, to be able to share openly, especially those things that are not going well. I value being able to be really open with my peers and I’m willing to share information widely, if we’re clear about the boundaries. Personally I like to ‘contract’ that we balance support with challenge – it’s a learning space, not a support group!
So, I’m a big fan of peer-peer learning and intend to keep doing it, formally and informally, and including it as part of my work as an Action Learning facilitator and trainer. Peer-peer learning isn’t a panacea though: I see it as one type of learning, but not the only one I deploy as a trainer or seek as a learner. It’s suited to some types and stages of learning, and requires a bit of support or structure to be effective.
I would love to hear other experiences and views on these question though – as well as find out more about research in these areas… so get in touch!
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