1.
Positive Feedback Mechanisms:
Promoting Better Communication
Environments in Research Groups
Jailza Pauly, PhD
February 7, 2015
Copyright © 2015, Jailza Pauly

2.
Today’s Objectives
Provide an experiential format in which to:
Explore how to foster a climate of feedback
in the lab
Highlight individual and group processes
that impact effective feedback
Introduce a set of tools to facilitate giving
and receiving effective feedback

3.
Feedback
Feedback is information about past
performance or behavior, delivered in the
present, with the goal of influencing future
behavior.
Seashore, Seashore, and Weinberg (2003)

4.
Feedback is NOT
 Hindsight – telling people what they
SHOULD HAVE DONE
 Criticism – telling others that what they did
was BAD
 Direction – telling people what they
SHOULD DO
Miller, 2010

5.
Perfectly Reasonable
People
Perfectly Unreasonable
People
The Rest of Us!
Gallagher, 2010

6.
Potential Areas for Group Feedback
 How well roles are being executed
 How well core work procedures are being
deployed
 Prioritization
 Pace of work
 Delegation
 Information sharing
 Decision making
 Quality of meetings
 How well relationships are being maintained

7.
Cultivating a Positive Feedback Environment in the Lab
 Which activities and practices have the potential to promote
an environment of feedback in the lab?
 What can I do to facilitate feedback in the lab?

8.
Effective Feedback and its Challenges
Effective Feedback Challenges

9.
Cognitive Dynamics Impacting Feedback
Feedback
Self-Serving
Bias
Actor/Observe
r Bias
Positive Self-
Perceptions
False-
consensus
Bias
Overconfidence
Bias
Cannon & Witherspoon, 2005

10.
Emotional Dynamics Impacting Feedback
Feedback
Threats to
Self-esteem
Threats to
Self-efficacy
Threats to
Identity
Stress
Flight or Fight
Response
Cannon & Witherspoon, 2005

11.
Hierarchical Dynamics Impacting Feedback
PI
Post Doc Grad Student
Undergraduate
Student
Lab Manager
PI
Post Doc
Grad Student
Undergraduate
Student
PI
Senior Post
Doc
Junior Post
Doc
Graduate Student
Grad Student
Undergraduate
Student

12.
Cultural and Professional Norms + Individual
Values Impacting Feedback
FeedbackIndividualism
vs. Collectivism
Hierarchy vs.
Equity
Task vs.
Relationship
Orientation
Competition
vs.
Cooperation
Internal vs.
External
Locus of
Control
Academia vs.
Industry
Grove & Hallowell , 2004; Stringer & Guy, 1998

13.
The Ladder of Inference
Argyres & Schön , 1974

14.
Getting Down the Ladder of Inference
 How did I arrive at this conclusion?
 What illustrations, examples, etc. would I need to
share with the other person in order for him or her to
understand why I see it this way?
 Under what conditions have I observed this
behavior?
 What do I see as the specific, undesirable
consequences of this behavior?
 What would be the most constructive way to help
this person achieve better results?
 How might my emotions be affecting my evaluation
and intentions?
Cannon & Witherspoon, 2005

15.
Working with Assumptions
Assumptions Either/Or Perspective Relational Perspective
ABOUT SUBSTANTIVE
DISAGREEMENTS
• Assume only one person can
be right, and so the other
must be wrong
• Assume each person sees things
the other misses and misses
things the other sees
• Assume the rightness of one
view is a matter of obvious
fact, not opinion or
interpretation
• Assume people’s different beliefs
and interests lead them to see the
same thing differently
ABOUT
RELATIONSHIP
TROUBLES
• Assume one or another
person is causing the
difficulty: “He is making the
other feel this or do that”,
“She gave the other no
choice”
• Assume each person is
contributing to the difficulties;
“They are each making it hard for
the other to be at their best”
• Assume that one or the other
is mad or bad – that is crazy,
stupid, incompetent or
immoral
• Assume they are each doing their
best they can do and could use
your help
Smith, 2008

16.
Making Feedback Effective for Groups
What How Example
CULTIVATE A
FEEDBACK CLIMATE
Foster a collaborative team environment in
which feedback is intended to aid in
learning, growth, and adaptation.
Feedback orientations of punishment, fear,
judgment, or critique will not promote
effective group feedback.
• Feedback is ongoing and frequent
• The lab environment is safe for people to give
and receive feedback collectively as well as
individually
• Failure and challenges are perceived as an
opportunity for learning
SPECIFY BEHAVIOR
Clearly and directly express what you’ve
experienced that the person has or hasn’t
done without judgment. Start with “I”
statements.
• “I noticed you did not bring the literature
review and results from the other
experiments, even though you agreed to do
so in our last meeting.”
DESCRIBE IMPACT
Clarify how the behavior impacts the
work being done in the team or how it
affects you personally.
• “This is making difficult for us to to go
beyond description of the data to generate
high quality insights.”
INQUIRE, EMPATHIZE,
UNDERSTAND
Be aware that we often make assumptions
and misattributions about behavior.
Consider feedback as a way to directly
articulate your experience and to better
understand the experience and perspectives
of the others.
• “Are there competing priorities we need to
consider?”
• “Is there a way we could make changes that
would make it easier for all us to prepare for the
meeting?”
ACTIVELY LISTEN
&
ESTABLISH A
DIALOGUE
Actively listen to the others perspective
without interruption. Establish a dialogue
about the feedback to help arrive at a joint
solution.
• “It seems we have different ways of prioritizing
tasks related to this project. Should we go
around and quickly share where this project fits
into our goals for the semester?”
IDENTIFY PREFERRED
FUTURE BEHAVIOR
(S)
Identify the preferred future behavior(s).
Clearly state the outcome that is expected.
Agree on next steps.
• “Before we agree on any task for the next
meetings, we will take a moment to review
other commitments we have made. We will
only say yes to tasks we can complete at
least 24hrs in advance of the meetings.“
Adapted from Berkeley-Haas MBA Team Survival Kit, 2010 & Pearce, 2014

17.
Feedback Delivery Modes
Negative Positive
IndirectDirect
Asmuß, 2008

18.
Ineffective Feedback
 You’re really an enthusiastic person!
 Jane is just not a team player.
 It was great that you had a lot of details in your
report.
 Lane is unprofessional.
 You were looking out the window during the lab
meeting. You looked really bored, like you were
thinking about things unrelated to what was
being discussed.

19.
Ineffective Feedback
 Attacks the person rather than the person’s
behavior
 Vague or abstract assertions
 Without illustrations
 Ill-defined range of application
 Unclear impact and implications for action
Cannon & Witherspoon, 2005

20.
Making Feedback Effective
 Observable Behavior
 When I see/ When I hear…
 Effect of Behavior
 I notice that…
 I feel…
 Preferred Future Behavior/Alternative
 I would appreciate it if you…
 The team would benefit from…

21.
BET Feedback Method
B (behavior) Specific, detailed observations
E (effect) On the individual and/or team
T (thank you!) Demonstrate appreciation
Harms & Roebuck, 2009

22.
BET Example
Behavior
“Your willingness to teach us the
techniques you learned at the
conference helped our group develop
better ways to analyze our samples.”
Effect
“Our success completing the
experiments for the paper was due in
large part to the insights we gained
based on what you taught us. “
Thank you! “Thank you!”

23.
5:1 Rule

24.
BEAR Feedback Method
B (behavior) Specific, detailed observations
E (effect) On the individual and/or team
A (alternative) Suggestion
Impact of
alternative on
individual and/or
team
Timeframe
for change
R (result) Broader results/consequences
Harms & Roebuck, 2009

25.
BEAR Example
Behavior “I have noticed that you were late 5 out
of 6 of our team meetings.”
Effect
“When you are not on time for our
meetings our group has to wait until
you arrive, which either causes the
meeting to run late or we don’t cover
all topics. “
Alternative
“I would like to see you arrive on time
for next meetings. If you need us to
change the start time, we could do
that.”
Result “If you arrive on time, our team will be
better able to accomplish our targets.”

26.
BEAR Example
Behavior
“During this morning’s presentation, I
observed that you held a side conversation
with Jim for the first 10 minutes. After that,
you chatted with Mary on and off for the rest
of the talk.”
Effect
“I was frustrated because I could not hear what
the presenter was saying. Several people also
asked you to be quiet. “
Alternative
“What are some ways you can focus your
attention during the meeting and you get to
connect with your colleagues?”
Result
“If you agree to hold your side bar
conversations at another time, that will
improve the atmosphere in our meetings.”

27.
Receiving Feedback
 First, listen!
 Try to see the “big picture” and do not get stuck on
details.
 The feedback you receive from colleagues,
instructors, your PI will likely differ. After all, they
interact with you and see you from different
perspectives.
 Given these differences, it is not appropriate to
invalidate/disregard one set of feedback because
they are not similar to the others.
 Do not automatically reject any feedback.

28.
A Healthier Way to Receive Feedback
 Could you give me an example of the behavior that
concerns you?
 Can you help me understand how you came to that
conclusion?
 Can you help me understand the situations in which
you have seen the behavior and what you see as the
impact?
 Can you clarify what you would like to see me do
differently?

29.
Reducing your Blind Spots
My Blind
Spots
The
Arena
The
Unknown
The
facade
What others
see
What I see
Not seen
clearly
Seen very
clearly
Seen very
clearly

30.
Reducing your Blind Spots
My Blind
Spots The
Arena
The
Unknown
The
facade
What others
see
What I see
Not seen
clearly
Seen very
clearly
Seen very
clearly

31.
Actively Seeking
Feedback for Professional Development
 Identify the area of interest for feedback
 Choose the people who will provide you
feedback
 Hold the conversations
 Ask open-ended questions
 Take notes
 Thank the feedback providers
 Integrate the data
 Take action

32.
Feedforward
Goldsmith, 2007
Pick the one behavior you would
like to change
Describe this objective
Ask for two suggestions for the
future
Listen. Say thank you!