Feedback has acquired a terrible reputation. When someone says, “I’d like to give you some feedback,” what follows is more likely to be blameful criticism than constructive information you could actually use. Performance reviews are so frequently counterproductive that many experts recommend eliminating them entirely. However, when feedback conversations are handled effectively, they provide rich opportunities for learning, growth, and positive change. This training will give you the tools and skills you need to harness the full positive potential of feedback. The modules we cover include:
- Testing your assumptions: Start to challenge your assumptions about the other person’s thoughts, feelings, intentions, and abilities with concrete data gathering and planning. (1½ hrs)
- Getting the facts straight: Practice using skillful questioning and reflection to separate facts from opinions and arrive at a mutual understanding. (1½ hrs)
- Giving a balanced perspective: Gain tools and strategies for delivering both positive and negative feedback, without “sandwiching” them together in an inauthentic way. (1 hr)
- Clarifying your requests: Transform a general sense of dissatisfaction or awareness of what you don’t like into clear, specific requests for change. (1½ hrs)
- Taking the edge off: Build awareness of any frustration or irritation leaking out in your words or voice tone, and work through your internal dialogue so you can express your thoughts in a more neutral way. (1½ hrs)
- Putting it all together: Integrate all the insights from the previous modules to create a detailed plan for an upcoming feedback conversation, including practice and refinement in small groups. (1 hr)
Choose a format that works for you: Build a comprehensive feedback management skill set with our full 8-hour training, or mix-and-match individual modules to fit your schedule. Depending on your group’s goals, you may also choose to include any of the conflict resolution modules.