What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘feedback?’
Whether we’re on the giving or receiving end of feedback, most of us get a pit of dread in our stomachs, with a million butterflies threatening to fly up our throats and suffocate us.
Or maybe you’re saying to yourself that you don’t give feedback very often. I beg to differ.
If you’re human, if you’re part of a team, you give feedback. If you’re a colleague, partner, parent, and/or friend, you guessed it; you give feedback.
Feedback includes sharing your opinions, thoughts, comments, constructive (or not!) criticism, and/or input.
Knowing we’re about to receive feedback:
And when it’s our turn to give feedback, research shows, we have a nasty habit of believing that we’re good at giving feedback and that our feedback makes a difference (insert self-congratulatory pat on the back here).
I’m about to pop that bubble.
Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, in their excellent book “Thanks for the Feedback” say we have it all wrong. We’re so used to focusing on giving feedback that we don’t understand the real key is learning how to receive feedback.
In my thirty-plus year career in Learning and Development I put their book among my top five learnings in my life. Seriously. That’s how great this book and its valuable insights are.
Thankfully, given how incredibly important both giving and receiving feedback is, there are some simple tips and techniques we can use to open up whole new worlds of being able to do both of those things (giving and receiving feedback) effectively. I’ve designed a brand-new workshop to share them with you.
Please note the dates and times alternate each month so as to reach more people in various time zones at their request.
Click here to convert to your timezone if it’s not listed above and to double-check the times, as they can sometimes change due to daylight savings times. Use 5 – 6:30 pm EAT (Nairobi) to compare your timezone to.
If you’ve just realized with dread that the time is untenable for you this month, don’t worry; as long as you’re a Learning and Development Roundtable member (membership is free), you’ll get access to the audio and (timestamped) video recordings, workbook and more.