How to Get More Honest Feedback on a Project

Welcome back to Working Better with Charter, a weekly newsletter featuring our best advice for managing yourself and your team.?

Here are four things to try this week:

• Check confidence levels for deadlines. Get honest feedback on the progress of a shared project by asking all team members to rate their confidence level that the project will be completed on time, whether green, yellow, or red. Ask them to show their responses at the same time—on paper if you’re meeting in person, or in the chat if you’re meeting virtually.?

• Ask for three words. Managers can solicit fast feedback from reports by asking all team members to answer one question: “What three words would you use to describe me at my best?” The answers can help you understand how your team perceives your leadership and quickly gauge whether your intent is matching your impact.?

• Write handwritten messages. Cut through the noise of digital communication by handwriting and delivering physical notes to colleagues and partners to add a human element to correspondence, creating new opportunities to strengthen relationships.

• Highlight skills in job postings. Get specific about the skills required to succeed in a position when recruiting for a role. New LinkedIn data suggests that listing skills increases the number of prospective applicants who view the posting and apply for the job compared to postings without skills information.?

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