Continuous Feedback: The Unsung Hero of Workplace Trust and Productivity

No one can deny that continuous feedback is critical in creating a more trusting business environment. However, instead of focusing solely on feedback when things go awry, we need to harness it as a regular health check with our team members. We can create a thriving, connected workforce by regularly providing encouragement, checking in on mental health, building relationships, and offering recognition. This aspect of feedback is often overlooked, yet it holds immense power.

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"Continuous feedback is like a pulse check for your team, ensuring they're healthy, happy, and performing their best."

The principle behind continuous feedback revolves around a few key benefits. Let's examine these:

• Building Trust:?Regular, open conversations help enhance transparency and reinforce trust among your team. When feedback flows freely, there are no surprises, and everyone knows where they stand.
• Maintaining A Healthy Mental State:?Regular check-ins are a form of mental health support that reflects your commitment to your employees' well-being. It's not just about work; it's about them as individuals.
• Enhancing Relationships:?Continuous dialogue fosters better understanding, rapport, and eventually stronger relationships within your team.
• Recognizing and Encouraging Efforts:?When good work is recognized, it motivates employees to continue performing well. Recognition also helps identify and replicate successful behaviors, leading to improved results.

Oddly enough, over time, those in positions of authority - leaders, managers, supervisors - have been trained to predominantly use feedback as a remedy, a tool for correction when something has already gone amiss. Seeing these individuals utilizing feedback as a catalyst to enhance engagement and foster positive connections within the manager-employee dynamic is a rarity.

Not convinced as yet about the significance of employing a routine feedback process within your team? That's alright! Perhaps the following statistics might illuminate its importance:

• 65% of employees said they wanted more feedback than they currently get.
• 14.9% lower turnover rates in companies that implement regular employee feedback.
• 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week compared to only 18% of employees with low engagement.

Building Trust One Feedback Session at a Time

Imagine this: you're part of a workplace where feedback isn't something to dread. Instead, you anticipate it positively, looking forward to the affirmation it brings, the learning opportunities it uncaps, and the chance to stay connected with peers and superiors. This is not a workplace utopia; continuous feedback can make it the norm.?

The paradigm shift starts when we reframe 'feedback.' Reserve the concept of feedback not just for pointing out flaws but to act as a pulse check. Make it a trusted mechanism to monitor progress, enhance job satisfaction, and foster?personal growth.?

Weaving a blanket of trust within your organization may seem daunting. The continuous feedback model, however, can make the task more manageable.?

Imagine you're a leader in your company. Before we move along, let's clarify: a 'leader' is not just a title or a designation. You become an authentic leader when you have a team that trusts you, learns from you, grows with you, and triumphs because of you. How would you earn such trust? You got it! The answer, yet again, is continuous constructive feedback.?

Continuous feedback is akin to regularly taking your team's emotional and mental pulse. It's about ensuring everyone's emotional health is prioritized while maintaining efficiency. It's the vehicle for delivering support, recognition, and guidance whenever needed, not just when things go wrong.?

This approach manifests trust in several ways. On the one hand, it's about showing trust in your employees, giving them freedom within accountability, space within boundaries, and power within limits. Conversely, it's about making your team feel comfortable, knowing their work isn't going unnoticed, knowing their efforts carry great weight, and knowing you have their back.?

Weaving feedback into your daily or weekly routines also creates a learning culture that encourages your team to take risks, knowing they will receive guidance, not just criticism when they make mistakes.?

But that's not all; continuous feedback also fosters a rewarding culture. People feel boosted when their efforts are recognized and rewarded promptly. Fostering such a culture through timely appreciation can significantly improve job satisfaction and morale.?

This transformative shift does not happen overnight, but it could be your key to fostering a nurturing and trusting work environment where feedback is continuous, positive, and empowering.

Your Guide to Mastering the Art of Continuous Feedback

Believe me, as a proactive professional, the thought of squeezing more meetings into an already jam-packed schedule might seem daunting. But hey, the beauty of continuous feedback is in its simplicity. It's about sparking casual conversations over a coffee break, initiating brisk check-ins before meetings, or earmarking mini-meetings several times a month. Quite manageable, isn't it?

Don't see continuous feedback as another task; instead, it's your secret weapon, your secret sauce to a harmonious and transparent work environment. It's all about connecting genuinely more frequently with your team members.?

Imagine you're a gardener, nurturing a flourishing garden. In essence, consider your team variants of unique flowers and plants. Each one needs a different level of care, water, and sunlight to thrive. Now, if you were to care for them once a year, some would not survive the harsh conditions.?

Continuous feedback is much like tending to your garden continuously, offering the right amount of nurture, care, and guidance at the correct times. This constant attention helps to promote growth while identifying potential issues early when they are easier to address.?

Turn to casual coffee chats or a light-hearted check-in before a meeting and use them wisely. Use them as opportunities to communicate how someone can improve and express sincere appreciation for a job well done. Let your team know you value their input and expertise.?

Encourage them to lean into their strengths and continuously seek improvements in areas they are less confident in. Assess their mental well-being and offer support where necessary. These will build trust and promote a sense of shared purpose and mutual respect among the team, setting everyone up for success.?

Trust me, this might seem like a lot to handle, but you'll see that this practice woven seamlessly into your everyday interactions can establish a culture of resilience and openness in your teams, strengthening the relationships and boosting overall performance.?

So, let's start making feedback a natural and routine part of our communication with our colleagues; let's turn feedback into a powerful tool for relationship-building rather than an intimidating obstacle to be feared.

Embarking on the Journey of Continuous Feedback

As you venture on this often neglected but incredibly rewarding path of continuous feedback, you might find yourself wrestling with the question, 'Where should you begin?' One process I find incredibly helpful is embracing the coach approach. The coach approach revolves around regular, constructive coaching sessions that actively engage both parties. Rather than being a spectator, your employees become participants in their own improvement and development through these sessions.?

Co-creating a Feedback-Driven Culture Through Navigational Conversations?

Imagine replacing the once-a-year feedback with an ongoing conversation; wouldn't that make a remarkable difference? Instead of an anxiety-inducing appraisal day, feedback becomes a part of your daily routine, a regular exchange of views centered on growth and development.?

In my intensive two-day course,?Navigational Conversations, I equip leaders with crucial coaching skills. It's all about assisting your team to chart their course through murky times towards shared goals, enhancing their ability to solve problems, and fostering trust within the team framework.

Let's look at some key factors that are taught in the program and are crucial when intertwining a coaching vibe into the feedback you provide:

Mastering the Art of Telling

It's a common misconception that most leaders are adept at giving positive feedback.?The reality is that there's plenty to learn about the fundamental principles of delivering effective, uplifting feedback. You must grasp a format for framing the feedback that encourages growth and develops skills.?

Conversations centered around corrective feedback can metamorphose into profound coaching dialogues.?You'll learn about a potent five-step feedback blueprint that ensures the message lands smoothly, making it easier for the recipient to comprehend and appreciate. You'll discover how to transform a feedback discussion into the springboard for an enriching coaching dialogue by utilizing film illustrations and active involvement.?

There are moments when the coach needs to disseminate ideas, data, viewpoints, advice, and experiences.?The expertise lies in understanding the right timing and methodology. This is the ultimate step in mastering the Art of Telling. You'll explore three ways of imparting perspective: educating, divulging personal experiences or guidance, and asking for changes.

Mastering the Art of Asking Better Questions

We often excel at instructing others, yet genuinely helping others grow involves sparking their thinking and encouraging them to find solutions.?Not only does this method ignite thought processes, but it also fosters a committed nature and dedication towards their actions. This can be achieved remarkably through purposeful and thoughtful questioning. This hands-on workshop engages participants in lively exercises highlighting the finesse required to craft such questions.?

The essence of the process lies in fully comprehending the three primary intentions behind coaching-style questions.?By developing a deeper understanding of the purpose driving a question, attendees are guided to hone their questioning skills and improve their accuracy in the coaching trajectory. Also, the workshop helps uncover another integral piece of a coaching conversation - the evolution of the types of intentions as you navigate through the stages of the model.

Mastering the Art of Conscious Listening

Outstanding coaching hinges on "mindful presence" during listening.?This implies dedicating ourselves fully to the other individual. We don't formulate our responses or counter-arguments in our minds. We simply maintain silence and focus. We eliminate any inner chatter, focusing solely on the other person. With such attentiveness, we capture many details that might otherwise slip away. Our replies come spontaneously when the timing is right rather than concocted beforehand. This caliber of listening brings a wealth of depth to the coaching process.

Ultimately, fostering an environment that emphasizes the importance of routine check-ins, pulse checks, and feedback under any circumstance, not merely when things go awry, will guarantee a team that's not only content but also profoundly invested!

Terri-Ann Richards

Terri-Ann Richards is the founder of Lighthouse Leaders Group a boutique leadership development coaching and workplace happiness training company, and is a highly sought after professional speaker.

With over two decades of diverse industry experience, Terri-Ann's unyielding commitment to understanding audiences is reflected in her personalized approach to every training session and keynote speech. She helps leaders and their teams develop the human-skills required to both grow and navigate in our ever changing environment.