The Art of Developmental Feedback

The Art of
Developmental Feedback
Lisa Cooney

Explain “Impact Feedback” and “The Story I Tell Myself” feedback
Learning Objectives
Here’s what you will learn during this workshop:
What makes for healthy and unhealthy feedback
Psychological safety and why it matters
Definition of developmental feedback and the principles behind it
Apply the concept of shared sensemaking to your feedback conversations
Common types of feedback
2

Specific Feedback
For a work product.
Tracked changes; email;
focus group; detailed
comments or requests
for changes
Performance Feedback
Feedback following annual
Performance Review;
promotions and compensation
Positive Feedback
Praise; what we think or
feel about another
person or their work
Goal is help another person
learn and grow; includes
impact and “the story I tell
myself” feedback
3

Specific Feedback
For a work product.
Tracked changes; email;
focus group; detailed
comments or requests
for changes
Performance Feedback
Feedback following annual
Performance Review;
promotions and compensation
Positive Feedback
Praise; what we think or
feel about another
person or their work
Goal is help another person
learn and grow; includes
impact and “the story I tell
myself” feedback
4

UNHEALTHYFEEDBACK HEALTHYFEEDBACK
5

Psychological Safety
Shared Sensemaking
Works at Growth Edges
Conditions for Developmental Feedback
Uses Impact feedback or
“the story I tell myself” feedback
6

Shared Sensemaking
7

Shared Sensemaking
8

The story I
tell myself
My past
experiences
My beliefs
and opinions
My
knowledge
The story I
tell myself
My past
experiences
My beliefs
and opinions
My
knowledge
My current
perceptions
My current
perceptions
What’s
Happening
Out There
A Shared Sensemaking Conversation
Shared
Sensemaking
Conversation
9

Shared Sensemaking
10

My comfort
zone
My comfort
zone
Growth Edge
11

Medium is the Message
1) Face-to-face
2) Video conference
3) Phone call
4) E-mail (one-on-one)
5) Slack (one-on-one)
6) Text message
Effectiveness
12

Principles Supporting Developmental Feedback
Obtain permission from the receiver before giving feedback
“I want to give you some feedback.”
BETTER: “Is this is a good time for me to give you impact feedback on the meeting this morning?”
Give the feedback immediately if possible, or as close in time as possible
“Hey, remember that presentation you gave two weeks ago? I’ve been meaning to tell you…..”
BETTER: “If you are open to it, I would like to share my thoughts about the presentation you gave this
afternoon.”
Start with a positive, sincere, and very specific statement
“I don’t mean to knock your hard work, but I have to say….”
BETTER: “I really liked the branding on the slide deck, the colors popped and the deck was crisp and
professional.”
Let the receiver come up with a solution, action to take, or path forward
“I would like you to rewrite those five pages we talked about.”
BETTER: ”Now that you have heard my feedback on the document, what would you like to do next?”
13

Shared Sensemaking
14

[what happened] + [my experience] + [silence]
Impact Feedback
What happened…. My experience – the impact on me
When you stopped me mid-sentence… I found myself feeling embarrassed and confused.
When you kept hopping around in your slide deck
during your presentation…
I got worried that you might have been lost, and I
started to lose confidence in what you were doing.
When you keep arriving late to our regularly
scheduled meeting…
I get frustrated and start to feel like this isn’t very
important to you.
Give your feedback as a short phrase and then shut up.
16

I need to talk to you.
Ah, okay. What’s up?
No no, not at all. It’s just
that, well, from now on,
don’t submit your work to
the client without showing it
to me first.
Impact FeedbackCommon Feedback
Hey, is this a good time for me to share some feedback with you?
Sure, this works.
When you submitted the spreadsheet to the client before I had a
chance to review it, the impact on me was that, during our
meeting, the client held me responsible for work that I wasn’t
familiar with, and I felt embarrassed. I had to explain the
inaccuracies in your sheet, and this doesn’t reflect well on the
company.
Oh gee, that’s bad. I’m very sorry. (pause) Tell you what, from
now on I’ll be sure to go over the spreadsheets with you ahead of
that meeting, ok?
Alrighty then. Will do.
17

“The Story I Tell Myself”
Feedback

[what I observed] + [the story I tell myself about it] + [my assumptions ] + [how do you see it?]
“The Story I Tell Myself” Feedback
What I observed My Story What I assumed ?
When you stopped me at
mid-sentence
the story I tell myself is
that you think I talk too
much, in general.
This feeds into a kind of
self-criticism I have
about being too talkative
and that’s what you were
addressing.
What do you think about
what I’m saying?
When you delivered the
report two days late
the story I tell myself is
that you don’t care about
due dates.
I assumed that you knew
the due date, and the
consequences of turning
the report late.
What are you thoughts
about this?
Always finish your comments with an open-ended question
18

I need to talk to you.
“The Story I Tell Myself” FeedbackCommon Feedback
Hey, is this a good time for me to share some feedback with you?
Sure, this works.
When you submitted the spreadsheet to the client before I had a
chance to review it, the story I tell myself is that you think you are
better at Excel than I am. I assumed that you knew I have been
studying up on Excel, but still didn’t think I was up for the task of
reviewing this. What are your thoughts about what I just said?
Alrighty then. Will do. I had no idea you were studying up on Excel! That’s great! Last
time we spoke about spreadsheets, you said you hated making
them, so I assumed that you would not want to review this one.
Now that I know you’ve been working on learning Excel, I am
happy to go over them with you ahead of the meeting. Maybe
you’ll have some new ideas!
No no, not at all. It’s just
that, well, from now on,
don’t submit your work to
the client without showing it
to me first.
Ah, okay. What’s up?
19

Combined Feedback
What I observed My story What I assumed The impact on me ?
When you kept
hopping around in
your slide deck
during your
presentation
what I
made up
was that
you were
lost.
My assumption is that
one should follow
slides in an orderly
manner, and here you
were jumping around.
I got so preoccupied
with how wrong you
were doing things, that I
stopped paying attention
for a while. Now, looking
back, I realize that I
might have completely
missed the point of what
you were saying.
What do you think?
When you
contradicted me in
front of our client
I imagined
that you
think you
know more
than I do.
I assumed that you
were aware of the
research I had done
informing my
statements to the
client.
I felt embarrassed and I
am worried that I cannot
trust you to “have my
back” during future client
meetings.
How do you see
this?
20

COMMON FEEDBACK DEVELOPMENTALFEEDBACK
Takes less time Takes more time
Is directive in nature Is open-ended in nature
Tends to be one-way Is an exchange of information
Makes the recipient “wrong” or “less than”
Points out the impact on the giver of
something the receiver said or did
Provides solutions
Invites the other person to dream up ways to
prevent future problems
More likely to engender defensiveness
Keeps the focus on what actually happened
and how the speaker feels about it; is
respectful of the receiver’s ego and feelings
More likely to shut down communication Creates space for a two-way conversation
Less likely to generate permanent change
Opens up growth pathways for sustainable
change
21

For More on Developmental Feedback:
Evolvagility: Growing an Agile
Leadership Culture from the Inside
Out
by Michael Hamman
22

The Art of Developmental Feedback

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Similar to The Art of Developmental Feedback

Similar to The Art of Developmental Feedback (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Art of Developmental Feedback