No news is not good news in the world of giving feedback. It is just no news.
“I read your report. Thank you. I appreciate the time you put into it,” Mabel says, stopping at Mary’s and John’s desks, and continuing on her way back to her office. Mary and John just spent a week analyzing target market demographics, and submitted this report to Mabel, their supervisor, yesterday. Mary and John exchange perplexed looks.
Mary, ever the optimist, concludes “The report must be what she wanted, or she would have told us it isn’t.” John, a pessimist, remarks “The report must not be what she wanted, or she would have told us it is.” Thanking Mary and John was polite and gracious. It made them feel valued. They have no feedback, though, on what to keep, stop or start when they do their next analysis. Mary might be inclined to approach it exactly the same way. John might want to change their approach entirely.
Businesses cannot afford to have employees spending their time and energy trying to figure out if their work is effective or not. These three simple steps will take the guesswork out of performance feedback for your employees. Mary and John would be much clearer on the quality of their work if Mabel had given details.
|
