When middle managers aren’t adept at resolving conflict, it can result in higher staff turnover and an inability to retain your best new hires. As a senior manager, you have to teach those middle managers how to start resolving conflict in your office. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be as tricky as it might seem.
Teaching Your Leaders to Give Proper Feedback
Feedback is crucial in the workplace. When feedback isn’t given, teams stagnate. If your senior or middle managers aren’t providing proper feedback to their team members, it’s a real detriment to the entire organisation.
Ask your managers to give their teams feedback regularly, but then also ask them to ensure they do the following:
- Celebrate Achievements: Encourage your managers to celebrate team members for specific things they’ve done well. Recognising and celebrating the achievements of team members is a powerful way to motivate and inspire them.When managers acknowledge their team member’s hard work and accomplishments, it fosters a sense of appreciation and boosts morale.
- Provide Value: Make sure the feedback provided is valuable for the recipient. Managers should clearly communicate how the feedback will help team members achieve their goals and improve their performance.Effective feedback is not just about pointing out mistakes; it provides actionable insights that help individuals grow and improve.
- Timeliness and Precision: Emphasise the importance of timely and precise feedback. Waiting too long to address issues or provide recognition can diminish its effectiveness.Encourage managers to deliver feedback promptly and with clarity.
- Comprehensive Feedback: Feedback should address not only areas for improvement but also strengths and successes.A well-rounded assessment helps individuals understand their overall performance and areas where they excel.Ensure all feedback covers what’s working well, what’s not, and what needs to happen in the future.
Feedback is essential for growth and development.
How can your manager ensure they deliver it effectively? Here’s a concise guide:
- Understand Feedback: It’s more than just criticism or praise. It’s about providing specific, timely, and actionable information to help individuals improve their performance and achieve their goals.
- Choose a Model: To structure feedback effectively, utilise frameworks like SBI, STAR, or COIN. These models help describe the situation, behaviour, impact, and next steps for improvement.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Feedback skills are learned and honed over time. Leaders should practice giving and receiving feedback in a safe environment, seeking it from others to improve their delivery.
- Foster a Feedback Culture: Cultivate an environment of openness and respect where feedback is encouraged and valued. Set clear expectations, provide regular feedback, and model receptive behaviours.
- Utilise Feedback Tools: Employ resources like online surveys, feedback software, and templates to streamline the feedback process and enhance efficiency.
- Evaluate and Adapt: Measure the feedback outcomes by tracking changes in performance and behaviour. Follow up with support and recognition, and adjust feedback strategies as needed based on outcomes.
Mastering feedback isn’t just about giving and receiving—it’s about continuous improvement and fostering a culture of growth and development within your team or organisation.
By implementing these strategies, your managers can effectively provide feedback that fosters growth and development within their teams and retain top talent within your organisation. Also, teams will begin improving consistently, and your rising talent will continue to thrive.
Effective feedback delivery hinges on strong leadership skills
Leadership is a skill that can be developed, starting with understanding the fundamentals of leading. Explore how to train your manager in leadership techniques Teaching Your Managers How to Lead to enhance their effectiveness in providing feedback.
Additionally, I invite you to explore this week’s free chapter download from my Amazon best-selling book, ENGAGE, ‘Giving the Gift of Feedback’. This chapter offers valuable insights and practical tips on cultivating an influential feedback culture within your organisation.
If you can guarantee your managers are providing feedback to their teams in this way, then teams will begin improving on a consistent basis and your rising talent will continue to rise. As a leader yourself, ask feedback on your own performance, read here on ‘How to Ask Your Employees for Feedback’.
This week’s free chapter download from my Amazon best selling book, ENGAGE, is called ‘Giving the gift of feedback’. You can download it by clicking this link.