Feed with... FEEDBACK

Daily we deal with countless types of relationships, such as selling, buying, exchanging, rewarding.

Each one, in their individuality, have a life experience which enrich their respective knowledge and enable the amplification of their most diverse abilities.

As in a game, we are 'evolving our character' as we break new ground.

But how can we evaluate or measure our progress? By 'statistical metrics'? I don't know if this is the ideal standard. I believe one of the most consistent ways is feedback!

When walking my dog a few days ago, I remembered the day my wife rescued him and I started his "educational training." This was an arduous journey, which required a lot of dedication. But how did he learn all the lessons I taught him?

Continuous Feedback!

Aiming at guide him to success in every challenge - because, for my dog, each task was a barrier to be broken -, I worked out a process of reward which consisted of showing him the positivity of his correctly executed activities in our relationship.

And even if you are not a dog trainer, this is related to your daily life.

At some point in our lives, we all work as a team and, regardless of our roles, we collaborate to support it. When in a group, we need to establish methods beyond the financial ones, in order to reward, accompany, inspire and motivate people to persevere toward a common goal. This is when we begin the journey of continuous feedback and, to exemplify it, I'm going to mention some of my adventures with my dog.

Here are three situations that have a strong relationship with the business environment, especially in the field of teamwork.

Do not misunderstand

When I decided to teach my dog how to behave in an 'interesting' way for both of us, I initially searched the internet for content related to training. I found a lot of information and most of it was based on bridging stimulus, meaning it was necessary to have some tidbit or beeper that indicated to him that he was doing it correctly.

I thought: "I'm going to spend a lot of money, the dog will become chubby and there is the risk that he will not obey if I do not have my 'bargaining chip' in my hand whenever I give a command."

Then I decided to change my strategy. I began to use my voice and my touch as the positive reinforcements that we would use as feedback. The result turned out to be very good. We strengthened our relationship of trust while feedbacking one to another, in a growing cycle of interaction.

From the business scenario perspective, some professionals insist on relying on stimuli - often unsustainable ones -, that do not favor the development of a bond nor encourage them to give their best for the company. For example, financial stimulus, in my experience, is no longer the dominant motivator. So establishing new ways of captivating people is essential to the continuity of many businesses.

Frequent and 360-degree feedback is one of the strongest engagement tools that can also combat purely monetary interest. It is no "guesswork", since I have been putting it into practice for 5 years and it made me realize how much this attitude changes the business climate.

But what is frequent feedback and 360 degrees?

Frequent: You should not wait for a specific day to give someone feedback on their action, even if it's your boss. If the action or result was positive, speak to the one (s) involved who did it. If it had a negative impact, feedback as well. Be sure to signal your perception of an event as soon as possible.

Not everyone accepts feedback gracefully, but do not fail to expose it. Choose the appropriate words according to your audience.

360 degrees: Feedback should be given to all people who relate to you, regardless of the layer to which you belong to in the company. It can favours and strengthen relationships, creates opportunities for discussion of ideas and avoids repeating the same mistakes. If you have access to a someone and relate to him/her in some way, try to feedback openly with one another. People usually create 'invisible barriers' that lead to loss of ideas, knowledge, synergy, money and time. Try to break them to avoid damage.

Keep up the pace

Achieving a high level is a heavy work, but keeping up on it is a challenge.

After establishing the process of continuous feedback with my dog, I had to create ways to reinforce everything we had advanced so far without being dull and repetitive.

What did I do then? The fact is that I still do it!

My dog is almost 6 years old now, and when we are laxly playing or walking, I frequenly ask him to 'perform a task'. According to the 'energy' that I present the 'mission', he identifies it as something advantageous and pleasant. So the reward is more fun, affection, companionship and partnership!

Targeting this situation to the professional environment, I can say that there are situations that do not generate positive experiences to employees, stimulating the feeling of punishment - like the famous: "If you do not do X, you will suffer Y!"

This kind of argument discourages and leads to brain drain in the company. It seems simple and obvious; however, I realized that a large number of professionals still insist on behaving this way.

I propose the adoption of a transparecy policy and positive feedback, with everyone who is connected to you in some way, in an organized way.

If something was done incorrectly, evaluate it and try to take action along with whoever is involved in. It is important to analyze the causes of the event, set a strategy and generate the right energy, focused on solving problems, and also make sure that this experience can be passed on to others. It is always worth it to identify something positive about the situation and strengthen the positivity.

If something was done correctly, it is time to celebrate it! Make a brief study of what triggered the hit, devise a way to pass it on and ensure that others also achieve success.

Doing this on a daily basis can generate a very positive feedback loop and leverage opportunities in companies, teams and customers. It may seem like a simple thing to do, but putting it into practice requires dedication and resilience!

Encourage autonomy

You know that situation when you think: "Would he do it if I was not around?"

Demonstrating to my dog that everything I taught him was for his own sake, and not only to please me, was a difficult assignment. I spent hours, days, months adding value to every action.

My strategy was based on: whenever my dog did something for himself, I would reinforce with a smile and a say a big "well done!". The idea was to point out that even if I was not involved in it it would be nice for him. It worked out!

And how can we translate this situation to the business environment?

Each person have particular skills and behavioral profile, what requires a personalized interaction. This is the critical point of success.

No matter your position or function in the company, we are humans and need to establish bonds of trust to take steps forward in a relationship (professional or personal). Therefore, understanding people, maintaining transparency and relating to them in a 'personalized way' can contribute to autonomy.

This is a reflection of respect, trust and synergy that are built, which works well. It is similar to the Three Musketeers's motto: "One for all and all for one".

There is a lot more to be explored when it comes to feedback, but I believe I instigated you positively on the subject.

Now, I'd like your feedback. Comment on your experience and impressions! It will be great to exchange ideas!