Feedback is a crucial source of information and learning for any IT manager, but it can also be challenging to receive and act on it. How can you use feedback to build resilience as an IT manager, and why is it important to do so? In this article, we will explore some strategies and benefits of using feedback to enhance your resilience in the IT field.
Resilience is the ability to cope with stress, adversity, and change, and to bounce back from setbacks and failures. Resilience is not a fixed trait that you either have or don't have, but a skill that you can develop and improve over time. Resilience is especially important for IT managers, who face constant demands, challenges, and uncertainties in their work environment.
In IT, change is constant. Setbacks are a part of life. Projects fail, key employees quit, and your budget gets unexpectedly cut at the worst possible time. Resilience is important so you can bounce back. Antifragility is even better. Antifragile systems will benefit, strengthen, and grow during times of uncertainty and disorder. Lean into the chaos. Leaders who can not only navigate stormy waters, but seize the opportunity to grow and improve will find continued success.
Feedback is any information that you receive from others about your performance, behavior, or impact. It can be positive, negative, or neutral and come from customers, colleagues, superiors, or subordinates. Feedback helps resilience by enabling you to identify strengths and weaknesses, align expectations and goals with stakeholders, learn from mistakes and failures, recognize achievements and successes, build trust with feedback givers, and foster a culture of openness and collaboration. Ultimately, it helps you improve your skills and knowledge, adjust actions and strategies accordingly, adopt a growth mindset that values effort and progress over perfection, boost confidence and motivation, and appreciate successes.
Candid feedback is extremely important as a leader and feedback is a continuous process that positively reinforces actions, processes, encouragement, inquiry, results, relationships, competition, vigilance and accountability. It is a tool that keeps alive the whole process at work and brings the right balance of Results and Relationships that fundamentally builds the strategy for success
eedback is a valuable tool for building resilience if it helps you to make some kind of valuable conclusions for yourself - to adapt and/or learn, and/or grow. What is the purpose of feedback (even the one that is a little harder to take on at the beginning) if no personal value is gained. To make it work in my benefit, I've always tried to stick to these points: -Embrace Constructive Feedback:keep mind open, viewing it as an opportunity for growth. -Set Improvement Goals:Establish measurable goals and work steadily toward them. -Adapt and Learn:Use feedback to make necessary adjustments. -Support and Self-Care:Be open and honest with yourself if something is to be done, but don't loose yourself in every feedback coming your way.
Receiving feedback can be difficult, particularly if it is negative or unexpected. You may feel defensive, angry, hurt, or discouraged. However, you can use certain techniques to receive feedback effectively and use it to build your resilience. For instance, listen actively and attentively to the feedback without interrupting or arguing with the feedback giver. Additionally, ask clarifying questions and seek specific examples to understand the feedback better instead of making assumptions or jumping to conclusions. Express appreciation and gratitude for the feedback, recognizing the feedback giver's perspective and intention. Reflect on the feedback and evaluate its validity, relevance, and usefulness for your situation and goals. Finally, decide on the actions and steps that you will take based on the feedback, communicating them to the feedback giver and other relevant parties.
Giving feedback is an important skill to build resilience and help others do the same. To give feedback effectively, you should provide constructive, timely, and respectful information that helps the feedback receiver improve their performance, behavior, or impact. Guidelines such as focusing on facts and observations rather than judgments and opinions, using the sandwich method to start and end with positive feedback, using the SMART criteria to make your feedback specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely, using I-statements to express your feedback from your own perspective without blaming or accusing the feedback receiver, and inviting feedback from the receiver can help you give effective feedback.
Creating a feedback culture involves establishing a shared understanding and practice of giving and receiving feedback among your team and organization. This type of culture can help increase resilience and performance, as well as foster innovation, collaboration, and learning. To create a feedback culture, you should set clear expectations and goals for feedback and communicate them to your team and organization. Additionally, you should seek feedback regularly and proactively, provide feedback frequently and consistently, encourage and reward feedback, and create a safe environment for feedback exchange. Finally, you should monitor the impact of feedback and make adjustments as needed.