How to Give Someone Feedback in Five Minutes or Less

Too many organizations are lousy at giving feedback.  They wait until the end of the year to sit you down and give you a form which allocates a score to how the entire year went.  

Imagine if we applied this same concept to marriage or parenting or friendship?  I can just picture my wife saying one night over dinner, "Honey, here's your review for the month of May.  I've scored you a 7 out of 10 because you were late for dinner three times.  You can do better!"  

Not exactly a motivational speech.  Chris Farley would not approve.

The ultimate point of feedback is to improve future behavior.  You can't change the past so give that up immediately.  Feedback is future oriented.

The guys at Manager Tools are the best when it comes to training folks to give feedback.  The best part is that you can give people feedback in less than five minutes.  Here are some key points before we add on the practical tips for delivering feedback:

1. People crave feedback.
2. Feedback is a normal part of work and life.
3. Feedback is traditionally seen as negative.  It can just as easily be positive.
4. Both positive and negative feedback are important.
5. Feedback is great for the employee but even better for the supervisor.
6. Feedback is meant to be given over time rather than in one fell swoop.
7. Continual feedback can transform an organization.
8. Feedback is best given close to when the behavior occurred.
9. Feedback is best given face to face.

Now let's look at two forms of feedback.  First to positive feedback and how you can deliver it:

Supervisor: Hey Chip can I give you some feedback?

Chip: Sure.

Supervisor: When you started yesterday's meeting on time, it told the group that we were about to do something important. Thanks for that.

Chip: No problem, it turned out to be a good meeting.

This is doable right?  The best part is that it only takes a second.  You can also do this while walking down the hallway or in between conversations.

Now on to negative feedback which is just as important.

Supervisor: Hey Chip can I give you some feedback?

Chip: Sure.

Supervisor: When yesterday's meeting went an hour overtime, it really slowed everyone's productivity.  I know that Shelley had to reschedule an appointment as a result.  Can you do that differently next time?

Chip: I can do that.  Sorry I guess time got away from me.

In both positive and negative feedback, the interchange is brief and honest.  Both the supervisor and the team member accomplish what they need to get done.  Most importantly, future behavior is more likely to change for the better.  

When was the last time that you received helpful feedback? 

Photo courtesy of JE.

Why Your Next Meeting Doesn't Have to Stink (plus a bonus offer)

When was the last time you attended a really great meeting? If you're like me, you had to think hard about that. Now shift gears and think of the last time you had to attend a lousy meeting. I bet that the inventory of those kinds of meetings is much bigger.  Ouch!

Dittos here. Bad meetings are way more common than we'd like to admit.

A recent Wall Street Journal study of executives revealed that most of their days were tied up in meetings.  18 hours a week, on average, were spent in meetings.  That's a lot of time and the video below shows a discussion of the rest of the study.

The issue of meetings isn't limited to CEO's.  The other night my town had a meeting to discuss trees. They were going to be describing how to dig a hole, insert a new tree and then keep it alive. I skipped out on the meeting because I figured that I could just as easily look it up online and figure it out on my own. One quick search in Google for "planting new trees" and my bet is that the rest will follow.

There are probably three options for meetings that apply to regular folks like you and me:

1. You could skip meetings altogether. Seth Godin says that he does this and that's one way to free up time.
2. You could tolerate bad meetings just as you do now. Not my favorite solution so keep reading.
3. You could transform meetings into productive experiences. Now we're talking!

For option #3, you need some level of control on your schedule. If you're an attendee, there's only so much you can do to make a meeting more tolerable. For example, if the meeting moderator is disorganized and in a habit of starting late, you could be in trouble.

If you do have the opportunity to run the meeting, this is where the magic happens. You can control almost every aspect of the meeting and the end result will be a happier audience. Good meetings typically involve the following elements:

1. A published agenda.
2. A respect for time (starting and ending time).
3. A pace that keeps things moving.
4. A tone that makes everyone feel respected.
5. An ability to listen to everyone present.
6. A bias towards actionable results.

If you've experienced any of the above six elements of a meeting, chances are it was time well spent. I've created a new eBook titled "How to Run Effective Meetings: the Six Practices that will Turn Any Meeting Into a Success" and it's available for a limited time for only $1.99.

You can pick up a copy here.  In How to Run Effective Meetings, I outline the prerequisites for productive meetings and then I share the six practices that I use every week to make meetings not only tolerable but on some occasions,  terrific.  

Your next meeting doesn't have to stink.  It might even be delightful if you practice long enough.  

Question: What made a recent meeting productive for you?

Photo courtesy of MA

Why Vision Isn't Enough

We hear it time and time again- great leaders have vision.

They see where things are going and seem to be aware of trends that have yet to develop.  As a result, young leaders often lean heavily towards vision and think that it’s ok to neglect the nursemaid of vision- strategy.  

There are a ton of young executives who think they want to be the next Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos.  The problem isn't that Jobs or Bezos arent' great, they are.  The problem is that new leaders mistakenly think that both men found success all by themselves.  The magnitude of teamwork that goes into implementing Amazon or Apple's vision is beyond huge.  

I can honestly say that it wasn’t until a few years ago that I really appreciated strategy.  Let me explain.

A seminarian I know was asked to do some youth outreach at a nearby church.  He was a prayerful guy from another country and was spending time in Jersey during his pastoral year.  I think that his superiors, all much older, were just happy that this young seminarian wanted to do anything with young people.  They gave the support and this young man had the vision.

Unfortunately, his vision wasn’t enough.  After inviting some people and putting together what he thought was a solid program, things lagged for several months.  Attendance was low and eventually the program was shelved. The seminarian finished his pastoral year and then moved on to another assignment.  

He had the vision.  He lacked a strategy for reaching young people.  He wanted to play chess without studying how the game is actually won.

This is the mistake that a lot of young people make in church work: they have energy and ideas but haven’t been trained in the best practices for making it all work.  Maybe it’s a problem of the systems that organizations create.  Maybe we don’t mentor young leaders enough so that they can be successful for the long haul. 

In writing this, I’m thinking that we need a checklist for any initiative that has vision.  It might include something like this: 

• People around me who can implement vision ____
• A timetable for when this program will occur ____
• A budget ____
• A sense for how this idea will be branded/marketed ____

What can you do to include more strategy the next time you feel like casting vision?

Photo courtesy of MTM

A New Year's Resolution Worth Keeping

You could run three times a week.

You could eat more vegetables.

You could call Aunt Helen each Friday night to catch up.

You could donate all of your flannel shirts to the Salvation Army.

You could use Twitter on odd days of the week.

Or, you could do something really radical. You could carve out morning time as truly effective, meaningful d-o-i-n-g time. You could then give this gift to someone else by honoring their morning time. Have a listen to the Manager Tools podcast about taking control of your mornings as they make the case for a more productive (and fewer interruption-filled) morning.

Of all of the new year's resolutions worth keeping, this one might be the best.

Six Things We Know About Leadership

One of the great myths about leadership is that it is a forever kind of assignment. Part of this is because we have such a low measuring stick for how someone gets constructive criticism. In many circles, you have to do something super bad in order to get fired. That's not good.

Another myth is that it springs out of having a title. Manager. Director. Sir. Mam. Father. Reverend. Rabbi. Most titles exist to put distance between people and the leaders. You can often spot a humble leader when she/he is comfortable with other people using their first name. I often struggle with this as a school leader. I prefer my first name but also realize that there are some times when it's actually more effective to allow someone to use my last name.

The worst myth, by far is the myth that leadership is something to be protected at all costs. This comes from a scarcity model to be sure. It also reveals a mindset of fear- "if I lose my post, what will happen?" All of this is a very sad and we see it over and over again.

Look at the members of Congress. Many would rather be re-elected than be principled or courageous. They act as if the world will stop if they aren't re-elected. Many who have lost have become more effective at creating change than when they held the title of Senator or House Member.

Even in Christian circles, scandal after scandal has shown that leaders would rather prevent bad press than do the right thing. News flash: when you are more concerned with keeping something out of the paper than with doing the right thing, your leadership is in trouble.

So I'm thinking today about work and how one ought to be protective of it in a healthy sort of way. Cut through the myths as we've laid them out above and let's talk about what we know to be true about leadership:

1. Leadership is temporary.
2. Leadership takes guts.
3. Leadership isn't always popular.
4. Leadership ought to be aligned with the truth.
5. Leaders serve others.
6. Leadership looks for the good of the organization.

In order to wrap your arms around these six beliefs, great leaders have shown that a certain sheath is important to be built around their leadership role. This can also be seen as a scaffolding of sorts. Think of it as a support system to keep you fresh and healthy as a leader.

Six corresponding actions that we can take to match action to belief include:

1. Leadership is temporary. EMBRACE THIS BY PLANNING FOR YOUR NEXT LEADERSHIP ROLE.
2. Leadership takes guts. EMBRACE THIS BY ANTICIPATING PUSH-BACK ON YOUR NEXT BIG DECISION.
3. Leadership isn't always popular. EMBRACE THIS BY BEING OK WITH DISAGREEMENT.
4. Leadership ought to be aligned with the truth. EMBRACE THIS WITH AN INVENTORY OF HOW PEACEFUL YOU FEEL WITH A TOUGH DECISION.
5. Leaders serve others. EMBRACE THIS BY TAKING OUT THE TRASH, PAYING COMPLIMENTS AND DOING THE LITTLE THINGS.
6. Leadership looks for the good of the organization. EMBRACE THIS EACH TIME YOU MAKE A PERSONNEL DECISION.

Each of us is probably more of a leader than we give ourselves credit for. And less of one too if we're honest. By embracing action with belief, you'll maintain your leadership for the long haul and make one heck of a difference along the way.

Question: which of the six things we know resonates most with you?

Photo courtesy of FMM.