Angela Dugan, a delivery director at 3Cloud Solutions, emphasizes the importance of constructive feedback in her session, critiquing the commonly accepted 'Midwest nice' culture that stifles honest communication. She introduces the COIN model for effective feedback, advocating for specific, behavior-focused discussions to foster team improvement and connection. The document encourages participants to challenge vague compliments and seek mentorship to enhance their feedback skills.

1. Angela Dugan
Consulting Director
3Cloud Solutions
Level: All Levels Welcome!
Supercharged Feedback
Techniques in 20 minutes

2. Angela Dugan Delivery Director, Agile Practice Manager,
Organizational Coach
Values = Connection | Generosity | Trust
Passion = Helping humans be the best they can be
Location = Chicago
Quirks = Obsessed with Halloween, raises chickens!
Email = adugan@3CloudSolutions.com
URL = https://3cloudsolutions.com
Twitter = @OakParkGirl

3. Angela@PolarisSolutions.com Twitter: @OakParkGirl URL: http://www.polarissolutions.com

4. © Polaris LLC. All rights reserved. Disclosure is subject to the restriction on the title page of this document.
MIDWEST NICE IS A LIE
“If you don’t have anything nice to say…”

5. How Lack of Feedback Often Looks
Fear of Challenging Ideas
A Fear of challenging ideas or
questioning strategy, leading
to stressful rework, wasted
effort working on the wrong
things, unexpected overtime,
maybe even burnout
Not Admitting You Need Help
No one admitting to being
blocked or needing help and
no one challenging repeatedly
missed commitments, leading
to unmanaged expectations,
missed deadlines, and
unhappy customers
No Criticism or Praise
A lack of constructive criticism
or praise amongst team
members, leading to
unproductive conflict, loss of
morale, anxiety about
performance, lack of trust, and
disconnection

7. At BEST
, Midwest Nice is here
At WORST
, Midwest Nice is here

8. A coworker has implemented some pretty terrible logic in the
code that you are reviewing for an upcoming sprint review
1. Tell them it is fine because it is too much work to explain how to do it
right. You plan to fix it later yourself
2. Tell them it’s fine since it will still compile as is and you don’t want to
embarrass them. Fix it and can email them later so they know why.
3. Call it out as an example of poor code logic in the next public code
review. They should have known better. Everyone will do better next
time
4. Talk them through why their code was not optimal 1:1, offer an
alternative suggestion for them to implement so they can resubmit
the pull request before the sprint review
What would YOU do?

9. © Polaris LLC. All rights reserved. Disclosure is subject to the restriction on the title page of this document.
VAGUE and “MIDWEST NICE”
COMPLEMENTS ALSO SUCK

10. C
O
I
N
Create CONNECTION. Then explain
the CONTEXT of the feedback you
are about to give. What does it
relate to (the when and where of
the situation)?
Explain the behaviors you
OBSERVED that you want your
colleague to start., stop, or change
using specific and concrete
examples.
Explain the IMPACT that your
colleague’s behavior has had on
others or on the outcome and its
importance.
Discuss next steps and agree what
actions your colleague will take
and the time frame for their doing
so. Set expectations for the future.
“Hey John, I wanted to give you some input on the
meeting that you ran earlier today”
“I noticed you were talking super fast so that you could hit
all of the points in the agenda without us running over the
45-minute timebox”
“I noticed a few people starting to raise their hands to
comment, and then lowering them to let you continue
through the material”
“I can see respecting people’s time is important to you,
and I appreciate that! I was thinking, next time why don’t
you block a little more time for these kinds of discussions
and make sure to build in scheduled time for Q&A so no
one feels rushed?”

11. Things that Everyone Can Start Doing Today
Recognizing
“Midwest Nice” in
yourself and
others
Challenge
yourself and
others to get
specific when
feedback feels
“fluffy” or
insincere
Practice the
COIN model for
feedback, BOTH
with praise and
criticism
Seek the advice
of a coach or
mentor who can
help you and
your team build
up feedback
muscles!

12. Session Survey
• Your feedback is very important to us
• Please take a moment to complete the session survey
found in the mobile app
• Use the QR code or search for “Converge360 Events” in
your app store
• Find this session on the Agenda tab
• Click “Session Evaluation”
• Thank you!

13. Connect with me on LinkedIn!

14. August 11, 2022
Thank you!
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