Best Time for Feedback

There is always a debate about when to give constructive criticism: immediately following your observation or later at some calm moment when a feedback session is planned. And I’ve always been on the no-secrets, soon-as-possible side of that debate because it’s the best way to build a climate in which feedback is OK, happening all the time between everyone, and not a feared thing. That being said, there is one great time for feedback, at least for feedback that is pertinent to a particular kind of activity. And that is to hold the feedback until just before the activity will be performed again. For instance projects. You may have a person who led a project that fell behind because of inadequate communication from her to the group and this leader will be in charge of another one in a month. An ideal time to discuss the problems and potential corrective actions is just before the start of the new project. Think of yourself--just before kicking off a new thing is when you are most open to new ideas for how to improve. As a manager yourself, it may seem frustrating to wait—and that’s why a good note keeping system is great—so that you can refer to specifics and gain super receptivity to your feedback.


Date posted: Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Strategy is What You’re Not Doing, Too

We sit down at regular intervals to come up with strategies that bring about our visions and goals for the future. This is a good thing, because those who don’t are without the transportation to get there. There’s only one problem---we tend to turn the job of strategy into a time to make an even longer laundry list of things we need to be or do, without taking anything off our plate as something to de-emphasize. And we are fooling ourselves about what can actually get done. Even worse, the whole team can end up paying lip service to the new list of to-do’s for the year, knowing full well that half or more will not happen. (this is a start)

Date posted: Monday, January 20, 2003