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This week we talk about the keys to achieving a feedback-based culture with Jane Rodriguez del Tronco, CEO of The Bold Choice, co-author of Smart Feedback and expert in leadership, communication and personal branding.
Welcome, Jane. To begin, please tell us what it means to have a feedback-based culture.
A culture based on feedback, also known as feedback, is one that occurs informally, away from meetings or conversations established by the organization and that are usually linked primarily to performance evaluation and/or the definition of objectives for the following year. In other words, it is given on a day-to-day basis, as things happen and the occasion calls for it.
Likewise, there are organizations or teams where feedback is given at a 360º level. Instead of being limited to the typical feedback from "boss" to "collaborator", it is a practice that occurs among all professionals working in the organization, including from "collaborator" to "boss", among peers, and even involving people outside the organization (customers or suppliers).
Finally, a culture based on feedback necessarily contemplates both negative feedback, which is given to correct or improve a behavior, and positive or recognition feedback, sometimes also known as "positive reinforcement"; in this way we achieve a true balance between the two.
What are the advantages of having a feedback culture?
Having a feedback culture has countless advantages, without a doubt. Among them, we can highlight:
- There is a better development of professionals, who are more aware of their strengths as well as their areas of development.
- Their motivation increases, and they are also favorably oriented towards learning, change and continuous improvement.
- Improved communication and procedures, collaborative work.
- There is greater satisfaction and well-being of the professionals in the organization, thus ensuring that talent remains.
- The context is conducive to innovation, as everyone is willing to analyze on a regular basis what is being done well, what can be improved and/or should be changed.
- As a consequence of all of the above, the results of the organization are enhanced, all working towards excellence.
"A culture based on feedback necessarily contemplates both negative feedback, which is given to correct or improve a behavior, and positive or recognition feedback, sometimes also known as "positive reinforcement"; thus we achieve a true balance between the two."
And what do we need to develop a feedback culture? What would be the key premises?
The foundation of a feedback culture is undoubtedly trust, that professionals feel "psychologically safe" to share with others what they are seeing that can be changed or improved, as well as recognizing what is being done well.
Teams in which there is real trust are better prepared to face discrepancies and conflicts. And good conflict management predisposes them to greater commitment, true co-responsibility and better performance.
Likewise, we need to integrate feedback into our day-to-day work, and not leave it for specific moments in the year reserved formally for this purpose.
And since it is a communication tool, we must make room in our agendas for this, for conversation! This means giving it the priority it deserves, reserving time in the hustle and bustle of everyday life to ask ourselves how we are doing, to openly share what we see in others that needs to be recognized, improved or changed, and to help us design action plans that will guide us to excellence.
Last but not least, a culture based on feedback understands error as a source of learning. Far from censoring or penalizing it, it accepts it and works on it.
It seems essential for professionals to be good receivers of feedback, so that there really is a culture of feedback. In this sense, what characterizes someone who knows how to receive feedback well?
Becoming good receivers of feedback is not an easy task, but it is very necessary for our personal and professional development. It implies, among many other things, having a healthy self-confidence, understanding that we are not perfect and that we all have something to improve, and a clear spirit of self-improvement. This will also help us to be more open to learning and continuous improvement, and even to be more proactive in requesting feedback from the people we work with, live with or interact with on a regular basis.
It is also key to be able to question our paradigms and our way of seeing reality, to have a high emotional intelligence, and to know how to clearly differentiate what we are from what we do.
On the other hand, a good receiver of feedback, of course, also shows a high capacity for resilience, fundamental to overcome the impact of negative feedback, that which opens our eyes and allows us to see that, despite our good intentions, on many occasions, the impact of what we do is far from what we had anticipated.
And finally, thank! A competent person in terms of receiving feedback knows how to thank and appreciates whoever is giving it to him/her for doing so, acknowledging his/her courage and effort to do so, whether it is positive or not, whether he/she has done it better or worse.
Now, focusing on the person who gives feedback to another or others, what skills should he or she have?
Lots of them! And a large part of our book is dedicated to this. It has to be, above all, an excellent communicator, as well as starting from the basis of wanting to give it and to do it with the purpose of making the other person grow. That is to say, that it is more of a feedforward, a "feed to grow"; framed in a conversation designed with the intention that the person who receives it comes out of it reinforced, empowered and prepared to continue working on their own development.
Among the communication skills, empathy, active listening, assertiveness and knowing how to ask questions should be emphasized.
"We need to integrate feedback into our day-to-day lives, and not leave it for one-off moments in the year formally set aside for it."
Finally, any techniques or tools for having a good feedback conversation?
In our book Smart Feedback (LID Editorial), you can find rules, techniques and tools of communication, emotional intelligence and coaching, keys to a good feedback conversation.
- (B) EHAVIOR (behavior): to share objectively what happened, based on facts and leaving aside any judgment or opinion.
- (E) NQUIRY (question): to ask the other for his or her view of what happened.
- (F) EELINGS (feelings): create a space to share how the other person's behavior has made us feel, and for the other person to share his or her feelings.
- (O) UTCOME (impact): communicate to the other person the impact of their behavior, what specifically it has caused and what consequences it has had or may have in the future.
- (R) EQUEST (request): ask the other person to reflect on what he/she could have done differently, knowing now what he/she knows; to think about what he/she can do now and in the future. In case he/she needs our help or guidance, give it to him/her and propose possible alternatives.
- (E) NGAGEMENT (commitment): the conversation must end by seeking the commitment of the other to change; although this, of course, will always be at their discretion, at their will.
And, of course, you will also find the model we developed, largely based on coaching and NVC (Nonviolent Communication), known as the B.E.F.O.R.E. or 6-step model, which is valid for both negative and positive feedback or acknowledgement. Today it has become a guide for development conversations, for the conversations we like to call... powerful!
We talked to Jane Rodriguez about the keys to achieving a feedback-based culture in an interview that you can watch via our YouTube channel channel or on LinkedIn.
