Giving Feedback

I was recently asked to deliver a workshop for a large leadership team on giving and asking for feedback. It dawned on me that I had not captured the essence of what has turned out to be a popular offering in a newsletter.

Breakfast

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions” is a quote by Ken Blanchard, author, consultant, and speaker.

I love this quote because, as we all know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As the name suggests, it breaks the overnight fasting period. It replenishes your supply of glucose to boost your energy levels and alertness.

The same applies to your organisation. Without feedback, it will starve. It cannot learn, change, improve, adapt or evolve.

Feedback is not an option – it is a necessity – at every level of the organisation. It is how you build great people, great teams, and a great business.

What is it? 

Feedback is questioning and critiquing a piece of work objectively and constructively, whether it be a concept, idea, or performance. It supports development and growth and builds confidence.

It can be done upwards, sideways and downwards. It can come from internal and external sources, e.g., customer feedback, peer-to-peer feedback, manager feedback, and employee feedback.

It should flow freely, and everyone should be skilled at giving and receiving it. It can be done on an ad-hoc basis and a regular formal schedule.

You should not only give feedback but also ask for it. Leaders must lead by example. You must show that you need to know how you are performing to develop and grow as a colleague and a leader.

CEDAR model

I like to use the CEDAR feedback model to help leaders give feedback more effectively. It was created in 2003 by Anna Wildman and is based on real-life conversations between managers and their people.

She also based it on what each feedback receiver needs for that feedback to be successful. This came down to five things, as shown in this image.

Copyright Anna Wildman 2003

Groundwork needs to be undertaken before embarking on the CEDAR model. This is like preparing the ground for a fruitful conversation.

Prepare

You must prepare for your feedback conversation. Make sure you have all the facts about something you plan to give feedback on.

You must have specific examples to share with the recipient.

Decide where and when you are going to deliver the feedback.

Where?

Will this be an in-person or a virtual meeting? If in-person, is there a quiet and private space you can use? If virtual, what is the best platform to use? Ensure that cameras are on so you can read the non-verbal and verbal clues about how the feedback is received.

When?

Is this a situation that cannot wait for the next scheduled one-on-one meeting? For example, there has been a serious breach of policy or procedure, unacceptable behaviour has been reported, or an outstanding achievement that merits immediate recognition.

Remember that all feedback must be timely. You must deliver it as soon as you observe the behaviour (good or bad) so that it is fresh in everyone’s minds.

Don’t accumulate feedback and deliver it all at once. Doing so will overwhelm the recipient, which is not good leadership practice.

The other thing you should always do is build an environment of psychological safety. Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.

Without this, there would not be an open and honest discussion if there is fear of repercussion or reprisal that will not take place.

Once the preparation has been done, you can commence with the CEDAR feedback model.

Context

Disclaimer: Some content sourced from https://worldofwork.io/2019/07/the-cedar-feedback-model/

The first stage of the model is to open the conversation and set the context.

The recipient must be aware of the area of feedback and its importance. This is the time to explain the importance of feedback and how it helps everyone develop and grow.

Explain the level of impact, how big it is, who is affected and the outcome.

EXAMPLE: Anwar, I know you have been trying to improve your communication skills in team meetings. I have some feedback I would like to share that might help you achieve your goals. Are you comfortable receiving feedback to help you?

Examples

So, having provided the context, you must give some examples.

Provide specific, factual, and preferably directly observed examples of actions or behaviours on which you want to provide feedback.

Provide enough examples to bring the point to life, but don’t overwhelm the recipient.

In many cases, your team members will identify examples for themselves; it’s especially useful to encourage them to lead the conversation as much as possible when things have not gone to plan.  

However, in areas of achievement, it’s more powerful to lead and emphasise behaviours that add value in areas of strength. 

“Anwar, I have noticed a pattern over the past few weeks in some of the meetings we’ve been in. When Pedro is there and starts to speak, you frequently interrupt or speak over him, and he stops contributing. It happened this week when he was talking about his project progress and forecast and the previous week.

Give feedback from your perspective. This way, you avoid labelling the person. For example, you could say, “I was concerned when you interrupted James yesterday.” rather than, “You were insensitive in the team meeting yesterday.”

Diagnosis

So, having given some examples, you can start the diagnosis.

Anwar now understands the specific areas that have been identified, and the next step is to diagnose the situation with him.

This process follows a coaching approach. In this model, you ask the feedback recipient what they think happened and why.

This is a two-stage process in which the recipient has the chance to speak, and you actively listen to what they have to say.

Understanding what’s behind their performance is essential to learning, whether the feedback concerns an area of strength or a gap. Insight can sometimes be buried in the subconscious, and the more you use a deliberate and reflective approach, the more it will help them to make connections and create valuable ‘aha’ moments.   

In areas of strength, help them to recognise how their capabilities and activities add value.  

With gaps, explore what’s behind any shortfall; this will usually be learning or motivation needs, but may sometimes result from outside distraction, a shortfall in capacity, or - in extreme cases - deep-rooted alienation.  Until the cause is clear, any action plan will only be guesswork.  

To facilitate insight, ask open questions such as: What led up to where you are now? What reasons might be behind this?  

By the end of this discussion, you should both understand what caused the situation to occur.

“Anwar – Have you noticed this going on at all? Why do you think this might be happening? When else might this be happening? What do you think the impact of this might be?”

Actions

Having worked to understand some of the root causes that led to the situation, you can now move on to determining what actions can be taken to ensure the situation is resolved or does not happen again. This could involve building on positive behaviours that have been observed.

Up to this point, the conversation has built awareness; the next step is for your team member to apply that understanding and decide what actions will be important going forward.

Unless they are inexperienced in their role, always encourage them to lead this step; your purpose is to facilitate, not solve, and people are far more likely to implement actions they have chosen for themselves.

Encourage them to be as concrete as possible. The more they can visualize the difference between where they are now and where they are aiming, the easier it will be to see how to achieve it.   

Ask questions like: What outcome are you aiming to achieve? What actions will it take to get there? What support might you need from others or me?

In some instances, however, the person might not know what to do, or you may need to be more directive. When this happens, add your suggestions; just don’t do this too early.  Your approval is a powerful motivator, and people will stay silent if you offer your ideas too soon. Avoid the inclination to provide solutions. 

“Anwar – Thanks for sharing that. It’s great to hear what you think is happening in this situation. What do you think you could do to prevent this from happening again? What could you do in that situation again? How do you think you could help resolve the current situation?

Get the recipient to OWN the solution and the actions.

Review 

This is the last stage of the CEDAR Feedback Model.

It is critical to follow up to support and embed any new behaviours. Lasting change only happens if those behaviours move from deliberate actions to unconscious habits, so provide positive and timely prompts to encourage people.

Ask your recipient when you should check back in together. If you need to suggest an alternative date, explain why. Keep checking in and providing reinforcing feedback on an informal and formal basis.

Provide opportunities for them to practice skills in their day-to-day work.

Recognise progress and troubleshoot any outstanding issues.  Emphasise where effort has led to results to encourage a growth mindset.
This is where the conversation concludes, but the feedback process does not.

“Anwar, we have a good plan – thank you. How should I check in with you to help you deliver on that plan? When should we meet again? How should I let you know if I see you doing a good job? If I notice areas for improvement, how should I let you know?”

Next

In a future newsletter, I will explore how to ask for feedback.