Feedback

Feedback

After playing the New York Times Wordle, I open the Wordle Bot to gain insights into my results. The bot generates screens, including metrics and feedback on my guesses as I attempt to solve the puzzle. It is quick and easy to access.

After a consulting engagement, I will ask the client for feedback on what went well, what could have gone better, and areas for improvement. It is typically productive and allows for improvements and a better understanding of what was overlooked. This type of feedback can feel much more vulnerable and create areas of misunderstanding.

Because the bot is AI-generated, the feedback feels less emotional and somehow data-driven. Feedback from a client is human-to-human and not only assesses the work produced but also engages the human relationship.

How might we find the right balance when seeking feedback? How might we recognize that the environment we work in may impact how feedback is delivered? In an emergency room, feedback is often brief, definitive, and directive because interventions must be adjusted or corrected immediately. Working with preschool children often dictates a more passive and empathetic approach.

How might we support and engage our teams with evaluations that foster engagement?

Feedback Folly

When it comes to obtaining customer input, executives often think a multiple-choice survey will be the most cost-effective option. They have their place, of course, such as if you want to know the percentage of people who liked or disliked something. But these instruments are shallow and derivative at best, and at their worst they can be annoying and counterproductive. So don’t let them become an excuse for not talking to the customer.

Graham Kenny is CEO of Strategic Factors and author of the book Strategy Discovery.

Net Promoter surveys, pre-retreat questionnaires, automated phone calls, and ring the bell if you received good service; each is a tactical way of generating feedback. On balance, they hinder strategic insights from conversations with clients (those receiving your services). A fundamental case for performing focus group sessions or design-thinking workshops is the ability of one real-time participant to build on the idea of another attendee. This process of idea generation does not translate to the opening list of feedback tools. If you run a single proprietor business and the store is only open when you are present, then you have the chance to engage every customer in some type of generative question about why they chose to do business with you. As the number of team members interacting with customers expands, these conversations are harder to generate, and the ideas are rarely collected in a single repository and reviewed. Therefore, it is convenient (for the business) to send out surveys and seek quantitative feedback. This is the detour from human-centered design. If you were asked to select the ‘type of person,’ you are based on one of six choices that applied to all humanity; how accurate of a representation would the data reveal.

What if we prioritized gathering feedback that focused on genuine interactions with our clients? Where possible, gather a cross-section and create an opportunity for generative feedback (free pizza and beverages are well received). This is a key activity that highlights an organization that embraces a culture of curiosity and invests in a remarkable strategic planning process.

How might we select genuine input that does not populate into a dashboard report? How might we gain more clarity about our super fans and why they trust the work that we have deemed essential?

Feedback Tutorial in Four Points

  1. Micro-yes: Start with a point of agreement.
  2. Data point: highlight the specific and avoid blur words that may be misinterpreted.  Be specific about what actions we want to see increased or diminished.
  3. Impact statement: what is the purpose connecting the data points?
  4. Question: what is the essential question to create commitment instead of a monologue?
  5.  (Bonus) Ask for feedback regularly: “pulling feedback” allows for continuous learning.