Feedback as a means of driving high performance

Engendering a strong feedback culture where employees and teams can absorb and act upon feedback, critical and positive, is a useful means of maximizing performance and productivity.

As Greg Smith writes for Fast Company, the ability to onboard critical feedback gives entrepreneurs, leaders and anyone seeking to get ahead a critical competitive edge. He quotes a recent Gallup poll which found managers who receive consistent feedback show 8.9 per cent greater profitability.

For organizations, he continues, learning how to rewire failure at a company-wide level can be the difference between thriving and flailing.

But employees being able to receive feedback requires the organization to have a strong feedback culture. Companies, Smith writes, need to be a safe space for feedback and failure.

In the most recent edition of The Loop, we discuss how to encourage a sense of psychological safety, where teams and individuals know they will not be punished for putting forward new ideas. That is an integral part of a strong feedback culture, as is encouraging a growth mindset where individuals feel they can develop their skills through feedback from others.

Deborah Grayson Riegel writes for Harvard Business Review that leaders should tell their reportees that not only are they open to feedback, but that they want and expect it. Reportees must know they will not be disadvantaged – in terms of promotion for instance – if they give feedback. This again reinforces the importance of a feeling of psychological safety.

Giving feedback

While the act of giving feedback is important, how that feedback is given is equally crucial.

If it’s given poorly, it can damage relationships with the receiver, leading to potentially dire consequences. British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab was forced to stand down earlier this year after an inquiry found he had “undermined or humiliated” staff. This included Raab criticizing the work of staff members as “utterly useless” and “woeful”.

Writing in Harvard Business Review, Hanna Hart states that feedback says as much about the giver as the receiver. Meaning that, through the feedback they give, they reveal their own priorities, preferences, and experiences. To help create a positive, neutral environment to provide feedback, Michael Koopman in Forbes recommends managers use their demeanor and conversation to create the right environment for feedback.

Once feedback is given, managers ought to monitor the individual’s performance over time and if change is not made to their performance, the manager should sit the individual down again and explain how the result could be damaging to the person, the company, or clients.

Smith writes that he often asks for 360-degree feedback from all levels of the organization that he works with, including the C-suite and front-line customer service staff.

Team to Team Cooperation and Avoiding Silos

But, feedback should not be constrained to individuals. Forbes recently explored the crucial topic of team to team cooperation and the prevention of operational silos emerging with an organisation. Their article features the views of 18 tech leaders on how to prevent team silos emerging within an organisation.

Among these are Praerit Garg from Smartsheet who recommends weekly check ins with other teams. These sessions include discussing what the different teams are learning and what needs to be prioritized.

Meanwhile, Neelima Mangal from Spectrum North advises encouraging a sense of shared ownership where everyone feels free to voice concerns, offer suggestions and question presumptions.

Ultimately, critical feedback has to be well-informed, productive, and given sensitively for receivers to feel empowered to improve their own performance and that of their team and organization. The importance of effective inter team feedback is a core component to The Cooperation Mindset.