A little while back, I wrote a post about feedback. The post was titled Have You Discovered The Value Of Constructive Feedback? In that post, I mentioned different people from which you should request feedback. All those people fell within the following four groups.
- Your leaders
- Your followers
- Your co-leaders (leaders on your same level)
- Your customers
Each group provides a different angle of feedback because they have different perspectives on how you act as a leader towards them. Once you get feedback from one of the groups mentioned, it is very important to act on it so you can improve your leadership skills.
How To Ask For Feedback
While that post addressed many aspects of the “Who?” behind feedback, it didn’t address the “How?” Knowing how to ask for feedback is just as important as knowing who to ask. In response to my previous post I was asked in a response comment, “Do you recommend a one-on-one discussion or is a team discussion setting as a more effective setting for getting feedback?”
Methods to Request Feedback
This is a great question because there are many methods you can use to get feedback. As the question states, you can ask for feedback in a group or one-on-one setting. In addition, there are also many other methods for requesting feedback. You can send out anonymous surveys, hold a feedback workshop, send an email requesting feedback, and/or request feedback by some other form. In today’s social media climate you can even get feedback on social websites if you are connected to others within those groups. With each type of feedback, you will gain a different perspective.
So how do you know what type of feedback setting is best for you? First, you must know what your desired outcome is from the beginning. If you want general feedback, you would take a different approach than if you wanted very specific personal feedback.
Identify the best approach
Just over a year ago I was given a new set of responsibilities at my job. Part of those responsibilities included leading a group of employees that are very experienced in my company. The employee with the least experience had approximately 5 years with the company and the rest had anywhere from 10 to 35 years. For the most part, they had all worked within the same department. They had seen many leaders come and go through that time. With each new leader they saw changes and learned how to adapt and evolve effectively. At the same time, they had seen what did and didn’t work with different approaches to leadership. They had a wealth of knowledge from their experience.
Coming in as their new leader, I saw many strengths within the group, as well as, some areas for improvement. I began holding department meetings to discuss the project loads, changes occurring, how to effectively adapt, opportunities for growth, etc. At the end of each meeting we would hold a round table discussion to get feedback on the new processes and how well the implementation was going. In the group setting, I found that certain people were quick to speak up and state everything that was on their mind while others would just sit back and watch the scenario unfold. Those who would sit back would generally not say much through the course of the meeting. They would, however, have certain facial expressions or body language that would show that they were either on board with the change or didn’t like something. The group setting allowed for some to be passive while others took an active role to participate.
See tomorrow’s post for the rest of the story!
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