It's that time...full of good intentions, we set resolutions for the year ahead. We join a gym, tell our friends we're going 'to write that book', tell the scales we'll lose that weight and resolve to save a fortune. Great idea - in principle. In practice, most gym memberships lapse unused, most books remain [...]
This issue has cropped up in those ‘Can I just ask you something…’ moments at the end of workshops a fair bit lately. Usually the questioners are in the early stage of their careers, don’t know who to turn to and what to say. It’s a tricky one for us trainers and facilitators [...]
Hello. Welcome to Feedback – and welcome to your job. If you manage people, giving feedback is almost certainly part of your job. Feedback can be positive – let’s use plain language and call it praise. And yes, some feedback can be negative, about behaviour that needs to be improved. I like to call this [...]
The notion that ‘Appraisals are over’ has been around for a couple of years now. They were ‘axed’, ‘scrapped’ (even ‘killed’), and employees would be ‘free’ thanks to Accenture’s announcement of their overhaul of performance reviews. After Accenture ditched appraisals, countless others followed and continue to do so. Very radical. The wonderfully acerbic response by [...]
As a recovering perfectionist (I’ll keep trying until I’ve perfected it), I can honestly say I’ve been on both sides of this experience. As the employee, I’ve felt the dejection when something I’ve worked hard at gets the ‘red pen treatment’, i.e. nothing but fault-finding and criticism; ‘must try harder’. Yet as a manager, I’ve also felt [...]
When you’re giving feedback to colleagues and team members, it’s a good idea to check your biases at the door. That’s easier said than done though, as most of our biases are so well-worn and wired in, we’re completely unaware of them. Are all biases bad? Read some sources and you’d be forgiven for thinking [...]
Image: @SergeyNivens/DepositPhotos You’ve delegated a task to a colleague. They’ve been working on it without needing any help from you – or so it seemed. Finally, the time comes for you to review what they’ve done. Frankly, the work isn’t up to the standard required. What can you do? First of all, well [...]
This question often comes up in workshops, particularly if the topic is about managing someone’s performance. Work meets a fundamental human need we have to be with other people. We can make lifelong friends at work, meet our flatmates, our future partners. Everyone’s working long hours and the atmosphere’s sociable. But you’ve noticed your [...]
Old-fashioned elementary school report cardImage: @jentara/DepositPhotos Did you ever get this comment in your school reports, “Must try harder.”? I certainly did. With the passing of time and the benefit of hindsight I appreciate the intent and feel less of a sting from the barb, but it can still bring back memories… I [...]
A question that often comes up when I facilitate workshops on effective feedback is that people seem to think there’s no-one to ask. After all, feedback isn’t just about giving other people constructive comments on their performance; we need feedback on our own. And the way of the world - or at least this part [...]