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The monthly e mail newsletter for business professionals who want growth from Energise Brand Communications Ltd and Rachel Brushfield.

The purpose of this newsletter is to share simple tips and tools to make your life and work easier and help you to market yourself and your business as a unique brand.

This month’s theme is about…………… Giving feedback well..

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Do you ever want to say something difficult but not say it? Do you ever say something and wish that you had said it in a different way because the impact it had on the person was different to what you intended?

Giving feedback to others is an important life and business skill. People’s effort, attitude and contribution are affected by the effect of feedback and these are the key differentiators for performance in business. Giving feedback is a key skill that many managers find difficult and often avoid, missing a trick. Whether you work for a large corporation, small business or are self-employed, giving feedback cannot be escaped, because the consequences of avoiding it will only come back and bite you!

Giving feedback well is a life skill applicable to good parenting, getting fair and good customer service and maximising the potential from humans, and yet in the majority of cases, people have had no training in how to do it.

In this newsletter:

• Why giving feedback can be a problem
• Benefits of giving feedback well
• Top 10 tips to give feedback well

Why giving feedback can be a problem

Avoidance

• We avoid conflict assuming the problem will go away
• We convince ourselves it's not that bad really or worry that it will get worse if we say anything
• We don't give praise because we didn't get it when young, don't get it ourselves or feel that people getting a salary for work is enough or we believe that giving positive feedback will undermine any negative feedback we might need to give that individual in the future

Avoidance can make the problem grow worse because low standards are seen to be acceptable, team members become demotivated, productivity and performance is not maximised and the manager’s reputation suffers

Inappropriate communication

Because feedback feels personal, affects self-esteem and creates emotion, in us and in the person receiving the feedback, we can either be too strong in the feedback, with emotion created about fear of giving the feedback becoming ‘turbo fuel’ for the feedback which alienates the person receiving the feedback. Or we dilute the feedback and don’t say what we really want to say so that the recipient doesn’t realise the importance/significance of the feedback. We then store inwardly our frustration, annoyance and resentment which can come out inappropriately in completely unrelated situations and to unwitting recipients

Unclear communication

• We confuse matters by not making the most of the opportunity to be clear in our feedback, creating a less than ideal experience for both parties, so reinforce our fears and concerns about giving feedback next time
• We use vague or subjective terms rather than specific feedback so the recipient isn’t clear about exactly what the issue is or what they need to do about it
• We imply criticism so the recipient takes it personally

Benefits of giving feedback well

Once mastered and practised, the skill of giving feedback well will reap rewards:

• Better working relationships because of excellent interpersonal skills delivering the feedback
• Improved team performance - staff develops naturally because good quality feedback has a better effect on performance than poor quality feedback
• Credibility as leaders - this is improved as a result of good relationships at work and greater productivity from the staff
• Feel good factor - tackling something difficult and doing it well is very empowering and provides impetus for tackling other challenges
• Continual development - individuals learn, improve and grow continually
• Improved team culture – a positive feedback culture is created which enables continual improvement
• Proactive seeking out of feedback/learning - staff realise that it's ok not to be perfect and seek out feedback to improve themselves
• More time - less staff steal our time to get attention because they are already receiving the feedback and acknowledgement they seek so don't resort to eliciting feedback by attention seeking behaviour

Top 10 tips to give feedback well

1. Think about your desired outcome before giving feedback. Imagine you have had a successful conversation, what is the result?
2. Remember that the meaning of communication is the response it elicits (your desired outcome) so adjust what you say/how you say it accordingly
3. Practise what you are going to say and how you plan to say it. Prepare notes and role play beforehand if necessary
4. Make sure that the conditions are right; choose the right moment in a suitable environment
5. Maintain honour, don't criticise them as a person. Ensure that you comment on their specific behaviour and its impact on you and how you feel. Don't criticise who they are, just what it is they are doing/not doing
6. Be as specific about the feedback as possible giving examples that help the person to understand. Help them see what you need and expect instead
7. Remember that your body language and tone of voice communicates much, only 7% is the words you use
8. Notice people who give feedback well and what it is that enables them to do this e.g. humour, compassion, empathy etc
9. Remember to give positive feedback as well as feedback about improving performance, people are hungry for it and there's not enough positive feedback in the world!
10. Give yourself feedback regularly and seek out feedback yourself from others to continually improve what you do and how you do it. What did you do well, what could have been done differently, what's the learning? How would you do it differently next time?

It is easy to avoid giving feedback and natural to put off things that feel difficult. Many lost hours and energy having internal dialogue or ‘internal rant’ as I call it about something unsatisfactory can be saved by biting the bullet and giving feedback. Mastering how to give feedback well can be used in many situations; at work with peers, colleagues and suppliers, at home with partners, children, relatives and in-laws and friends.

It can be hard to see a way forward or how to do things differently when you are so close to yourself which is why having a coach is like holding up a mirror helping you to see new approaches.

Why not give us a call to find out more?

Cheers

Rachel Brushfield ©
Director, coach and marketing mentor
Energise – Insight & Clarity for Growth

Previous newsletter topics include: coaching style of management; giving feedback; purpose-full living; the danger of making assumptions; follow up; making BIG decisions; managing yourself; being specific; rewarding relationships; career crossroads; 2005 stock take; becoming unstuck; self-promotion; safe risk; optimism; more health, wealth and happiness; how to handle ‘difficult’ people; maximising your potential; how to stop wasting and save time; how to do absolutely nothing; listening; career choice and change; stress; focus for results; procrastination; reflection; fear; rapport; productivity; self-branding; beliefs; time management and S.M.A.R.T. goals.

If you’d like to receive a back copy of any of these, please e mail us to mail@energisingconnector.co.uk putting the Energise Tips & Tools newsletter of interest in the subject box.

Contact

Rachel Brushfield
Energise Brand Communications Ltd.
t +44 (0) 845 22 55 010
m +44 (0) 7973 911137
mail@energisingconnector.co.uk
www.energisingconnector.co.uk/
Offices in WC2 and Chiswick W6

Helping business professionals make leap ups.

Energise - Insight & Clarity for Growth

Our services are:
C areer coaching, CV design & personalised outplacement
A ction learning sets
M arketing & brand mentoring
E xecutive coaching
L ife coaching

More tips and tools

Our web site has a ‘Tips and tools’ section, which is regularly updated, sharing free tips and tools to help make life easy. Why not check it out? Visit www.energisingconnector.co.uk and click on the Tips & Tools button

Why Energise?

There are lots of coaching companies, so why choose us? Here’s some facts about Energise:

WHY:

We feel strongly about helping people to help themselves and are passionate about addressing low self-esteem & lack of self-belief in society that so often acts as a brake to people maximising their potential. Often people don’t recognise their own talents and potential, so with our background in marketing and brand communications, we help our clients to market themselves as a unique brand so they maximise their potential

HOW:

We personalise our service to the individual and get to the heart of the matter fast, so are time and cost effective. We are down to earth, focused and focusing, practical, human and energising. Unlike many coaching companies, we do not insist on a contract, so coaching is flexible from as little as 1 hour a month.

WHO:

We work with: big companies including Diageo, Sony Ericsson, Cranfield University, AWAS and Clifford Chance, small businesses and many individuals. We also do pro-bono work for selected charities e.g. working with disaffected young people and prisoners.

WHERE:

Our central London office is on Denmark Street, WC2 - the Energise ThinkSpace which is also available for hire, we coach from our West London home office in W6 and on the telephone

WHEN:

Energise was set up in 1997 so we have an established track record of 8 years plus 10 years full time experience before that. We coach our clients from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday – Friday. We work with people at a crossroads/point of transition in their lives and jobs, helping them to define their goals and realise and maximise their potential.

WHAT:

Our services are:
C areer coaching, CV design & personalised outplacement
A ction learning sets
M arketing & brand mentoring
E xecutive coaching
L ife coaching

Memberships

Energise have professional memberships with:
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
The International Coaching Federation (ICF)
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD)
Business Network International (BNI).

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