Teach me to give feedback
Yesterday's programmer Ivan became the head of the group. It doesn’t matter whether he desired it or asked for it, but his duties have changed a lot. Now Ivan is responsible not only for himself, but also for his team. Like any other manager, first of all, he should learn to give subordinates constructive feedback so that in case of undesirable behavior and subsequent debriefing, the employee would work on the errors and not quit with the words: “My manager is a bad person (censorship ) ".
This article is written, first of all, for novice executives. I hope their more experienced colleagues will also find something interesting for themselves. Repetition is the mother of learning!
So, let's imagine the situation: in the team of Ivan there is a programmer Sasha, who prepared the patch and, without code review and tests, applied the change to the common branch. The next day, the build met with a critical error in the functionality that Sasha developed. Ivan needs to give his subordinate feedback on the problem.
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Following the rules below will help Ivan to prepare himself to meet Sasha as much as possible and at the same time achieve good results.
1. Feedback should be sent immediately.
As soon as this negative situation occurred, Ivan should react quickly, not wait for time. To explain it is simple:
In this case, Sasha will simply not be ready to accept Ivan’s remarks and take a defensive position.
2. You should think in advance about the place of the conversation
Do not parse employee errors publicly! This is the worst that can come to Ivan. Criticism in the presence of the whole team will only create a barrier between him and his subordinate.
There is a general rule: scold in person, praise in public. Ivan is going to give the employee negative feedback, so you should look for a lonely place to talk in a relaxed atmosphere. It is better that this was not the head's office, since the employee can close from the very beginning.
3. Consider the content of the conversation.
This is surprising to many, but Ivan needs to prepare for such conversations. One wrong word or action, and Sasha can be lost for him, as an employee, forever.
It is necessary to consider the structure of the conversation itself, who, what, in what sequence will speak. Sometimes it is reasonable to write down a short conversation plan on paper or on the telephone, so as not to miss some important details and not deviate from the originally intended conversation plan.
4. Be Friendly
If you first met a man for the first time, be sure to say hello to him, let your expression be natural. If you have already met, ask (not to distract from current affairs, I recommend to ask in the chat) if the person is not busy and ask permission to move 15-20 minutes to talk. Such a respectful attitude of the manager usually bribes and gives Ivan an added bonus on adequate perception of criticism from Sasha.
Feedback is perceived better if the conversation takes place in a calm and friendly atmosphere. Ivan’s task is not to offend or scold Sasha, saying that he “did not live up to expectations”. Ivan’s task is to point out to Sasha the problem, help him with the work on the mistakes and prevent the occurrence of such situations in the future.
Contact an employee by name, show your interest in the next time he did a better job.
5. First praise a little
At the beginning of the conversation, say a few words about the good qualities of the interlocutor or about his work that he performed recently. It rarely happens that everything is very bad. Such an introduction will help Ivan adjust Sasha to a friendly wave, relieve a little tension in this not quite standard situation for him.
There is no need to immediately start from the minuses, because the goal of the conversation is not to discourage the desire to work, but to stimulate the improvement of work and the achievement of better results.
6. Go to the main content of the conversation.
Here you should smoothly proceed to the problem issue, which was the main purpose of the conversation. Ivan should, in a relaxed manner, convey to Sasha his comments on his work. It is always unpleasant to listen to a critic in his address, so Ivan should keep the conversation in an even tone, without becoming personal. Imperative or disparaging expressions, command phrases and malevolent remarks are not allowed. Otherwise, Sasha can at any moment close in a defensive position and deny all the arguments of Ivan, which were not reasonable and objective.
7. Clearly state your comments.
If Ivan speaks with common phrases, without explaining what exactly is wrong, the employee is unlikely to be able to make any necessary changes to his work. Sasha should clearly and clearly understand what his leader is talking about. Otherwise, Sasha is likely to think: “Ivan is a bad person (censored) , he doesn’t know what he wants!”
Be sure to clearly say what unpleasant consequences led the current problem situation. Explain how this situation affected the rest of the team. For example, the team could be forced to stay at work the next day and eliminate errors for a successful release release.
8. Find out the position of the subordinate.
Immediately after the problem point was reported to the employee, do not rush to offer your solution. Give the opportunity to the subordinate to express their point of view. Perhaps you do not know something, your data may not be complete, and you can scold a person from scratch.
For Ivan, it is important that a dialogue is obtained, then it will be easier to understand each other and come to an agreement. It is necessary to find out the causes of the incident from the position of Sasha.
In the case specified by us, there could be a deadline, everyone worked hard to keep up with him. Sasha was reviewed by someone from the team, but, for example, in a hurry, the traces of this review did not remain in JIRA. He could also perform design testing, but five minutes after Sasha another programmer made a commit and his patch broke Sasha's functionality. (Autotest decide, yes, but not everywhere they are).
9. State your position
If there are no “mitigating” circumstances, the feedback from Ivan must be rigid and clear.
If there are “mitigating” circumstances, it is an opportunity to jointly solve with Sasha the problems that have arisen while performing the task and avoid their occurrence in the future.
Ivan should remember that he gives feedback to improve Sasha’s work results in the future. People erroneous, you need to be able to give them a second chance. The main thing, I repeat, should not become personal! No one is inclined to listen to opinions about their mental and professional abilities. If a person is offended by some phrase, it will be very difficult to make peace with him. Therefore, Sasha should hear from Ivan that this is not “he is bad”, but “his work is not done well”.
Sasha can propose solutions to this problem himself, and this will be the best option, since he immediately takes responsibility for the situation and its elimination. However, it happens that an employee may not understand how to solve a problem and avoid it in the future. Here the head should come to the rescue and state his point of view.
10. Control your feelings and emotions.
The leader should be respected, not afraid. Emotions, cry, mate, etc. - It is always a sign of powerlessness of the head. Ivan needs to be calm, restrained and confident. You should not demonstrate superiority, the employee himself should feel it.
11. Watch your non-verbal cues.
90% - this is how a person speaks, not what he says. Therefore, Ivan should pay attention to his intonation, facial expressions, gestures.
Ivan and each manager should be interested in the topic of non-verbal signals and try to follow simple tips. For example, you should avoid closed poses with arms crossed or twisted fingers. About sincerity will speak open palms, the general unconstrained behavior.
12. Take into account the individual characteristics of employees.
Each employee needs an individual approach and it is important to think about it at the stage of preparing for the conversation. You can joke with someone, and he will normally accept the claims, and someone will touch your ironic tone. Unsure beginners should be encouraged, and to deliberately non-performing work to impose strict requirements.
13. Ask the employee to sum up the meeting
This way you increase the likelihood that you understand each other correctly, corrective actions are clear and a promise is received that such a situation will not happen in the future. If Sasha sums it up correctly, he thereby assumes responsibility for jointly made decisions. Ivan can correct Sasha if he misunderstands something.
14. At the end of the conversation, thank the employee and leave on a positive note.
Ivan should thank Sasha for taking the time to listen to him. Ivan must report that he believes in Sasha, that he will take note of the comments. You should not be very persistent (especially if this is the first “miss” of the employee). Let him know that he is fully responsible for himself, that you do not doubt his prudence, and you just want to help him.
Successful constructive feedback to all managers!
This article is written, first of all, for novice executives. I hope their more experienced colleagues will also find something interesting for themselves. Repetition is the mother of learning!
So, let's imagine the situation: in the team of Ivan there is a programmer Sasha, who prepared the patch and, without code review and tests, applied the change to the common branch. The next day, the build met with a critical error in the functionality that Sasha developed. Ivan needs to give his subordinate feedback on the problem.
')
Following the rules below will help Ivan to prepare himself to meet Sasha as much as possible and at the same time achieve good results.
1. Feedback should be sent immediately.
As soon as this negative situation occurred, Ivan should react quickly, not wait for time. To explain it is simple:
- Sasha will switch to other tasks, it will be difficult for him to remember what he did wrong several weeks ago.
- then Sasha may have the opinion that Ivan is biased towards him and just finds fault, wants to “squeeze” him out of the team
In this case, Sasha will simply not be ready to accept Ivan’s remarks and take a defensive position.
2. You should think in advance about the place of the conversation
Do not parse employee errors publicly! This is the worst that can come to Ivan. Criticism in the presence of the whole team will only create a barrier between him and his subordinate.
There is a general rule: scold in person, praise in public. Ivan is going to give the employee negative feedback, so you should look for a lonely place to talk in a relaxed atmosphere. It is better that this was not the head's office, since the employee can close from the very beginning.
3. Consider the content of the conversation.
This is surprising to many, but Ivan needs to prepare for such conversations. One wrong word or action, and Sasha can be lost for him, as an employee, forever.
It is necessary to consider the structure of the conversation itself, who, what, in what sequence will speak. Sometimes it is reasonable to write down a short conversation plan on paper or on the telephone, so as not to miss some important details and not deviate from the originally intended conversation plan.
4. Be Friendly
If you first met a man for the first time, be sure to say hello to him, let your expression be natural. If you have already met, ask (not to distract from current affairs, I recommend to ask in the chat) if the person is not busy and ask permission to move 15-20 minutes to talk. Such a respectful attitude of the manager usually bribes and gives Ivan an added bonus on adequate perception of criticism from Sasha.
Feedback is perceived better if the conversation takes place in a calm and friendly atmosphere. Ivan’s task is not to offend or scold Sasha, saying that he “did not live up to expectations”. Ivan’s task is to point out to Sasha the problem, help him with the work on the mistakes and prevent the occurrence of such situations in the future.
Contact an employee by name, show your interest in the next time he did a better job.
5. First praise a little
At the beginning of the conversation, say a few words about the good qualities of the interlocutor or about his work that he performed recently. It rarely happens that everything is very bad. Such an introduction will help Ivan adjust Sasha to a friendly wave, relieve a little tension in this not quite standard situation for him.
There is no need to immediately start from the minuses, because the goal of the conversation is not to discourage the desire to work, but to stimulate the improvement of work and the achievement of better results.
6. Go to the main content of the conversation.
Here you should smoothly proceed to the problem issue, which was the main purpose of the conversation. Ivan should, in a relaxed manner, convey to Sasha his comments on his work. It is always unpleasant to listen to a critic in his address, so Ivan should keep the conversation in an even tone, without becoming personal. Imperative or disparaging expressions, command phrases and malevolent remarks are not allowed. Otherwise, Sasha can at any moment close in a defensive position and deny all the arguments of Ivan, which were not reasonable and objective.
7. Clearly state your comments.
If Ivan speaks with common phrases, without explaining what exactly is wrong, the employee is unlikely to be able to make any necessary changes to his work. Sasha should clearly and clearly understand what his leader is talking about. Otherwise, Sasha is likely to think: “Ivan is a bad person (censored) , he doesn’t know what he wants!”
Be sure to clearly say what unpleasant consequences led the current problem situation. Explain how this situation affected the rest of the team. For example, the team could be forced to stay at work the next day and eliminate errors for a successful release release.
8. Find out the position of the subordinate.
Immediately after the problem point was reported to the employee, do not rush to offer your solution. Give the opportunity to the subordinate to express their point of view. Perhaps you do not know something, your data may not be complete, and you can scold a person from scratch.
For Ivan, it is important that a dialogue is obtained, then it will be easier to understand each other and come to an agreement. It is necessary to find out the causes of the incident from the position of Sasha.
In the case specified by us, there could be a deadline, everyone worked hard to keep up with him. Sasha was reviewed by someone from the team, but, for example, in a hurry, the traces of this review did not remain in JIRA. He could also perform design testing, but five minutes after Sasha another programmer made a commit and his patch broke Sasha's functionality. (Autotest decide, yes, but not everywhere they are).
9. State your position
If there are no “mitigating” circumstances, the feedback from Ivan must be rigid and clear.
If there are “mitigating” circumstances, it is an opportunity to jointly solve with Sasha the problems that have arisen while performing the task and avoid their occurrence in the future.
Ivan should remember that he gives feedback to improve Sasha’s work results in the future. People erroneous, you need to be able to give them a second chance. The main thing, I repeat, should not become personal! No one is inclined to listen to opinions about their mental and professional abilities. If a person is offended by some phrase, it will be very difficult to make peace with him. Therefore, Sasha should hear from Ivan that this is not “he is bad”, but “his work is not done well”.
Sasha can propose solutions to this problem himself, and this will be the best option, since he immediately takes responsibility for the situation and its elimination. However, it happens that an employee may not understand how to solve a problem and avoid it in the future. Here the head should come to the rescue and state his point of view.
10. Control your feelings and emotions.
The leader should be respected, not afraid. Emotions, cry, mate, etc. - It is always a sign of powerlessness of the head. Ivan needs to be calm, restrained and confident. You should not demonstrate superiority, the employee himself should feel it.
11. Watch your non-verbal cues.
90% - this is how a person speaks, not what he says. Therefore, Ivan should pay attention to his intonation, facial expressions, gestures.
Ivan and each manager should be interested in the topic of non-verbal signals and try to follow simple tips. For example, you should avoid closed poses with arms crossed or twisted fingers. About sincerity will speak open palms, the general unconstrained behavior.
12. Take into account the individual characteristics of employees.
Each employee needs an individual approach and it is important to think about it at the stage of preparing for the conversation. You can joke with someone, and he will normally accept the claims, and someone will touch your ironic tone. Unsure beginners should be encouraged, and to deliberately non-performing work to impose strict requirements.
13. Ask the employee to sum up the meeting
This way you increase the likelihood that you understand each other correctly, corrective actions are clear and a promise is received that such a situation will not happen in the future. If Sasha sums it up correctly, he thereby assumes responsibility for jointly made decisions. Ivan can correct Sasha if he misunderstands something.
14. At the end of the conversation, thank the employee and leave on a positive note.
Ivan should thank Sasha for taking the time to listen to him. Ivan must report that he believes in Sasha, that he will take note of the comments. You should not be very persistent (especially if this is the first “miss” of the employee). Let him know that he is fully responsible for himself, that you do not doubt his prudence, and you just want to help him.
Successful constructive feedback to all managers!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/430728/
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