One of the foundations of creating a high-performance team is establishing a strong culture of feedback. Feedback should flow freely and effectively from Manager to Team Member, from Team Member to Manager and from Team Member to Team Member.
Unfortunately, I see all too often people delivering feedback ineffectively, often opting for the ineffective "Feedback Sandwich" method. This usually leads to the message being muddled and often this form of feedback lacks authenticity. If feedback is not given and received effectively within a team, very quickly the team will stop giving feedback, trust will erode and performance will deteriorate.
Below is a much more effective template that you can use to deliver feedback at work. The "FIT Feedback" approach acknowledges that people respond best to feedback when they understand the "WHY" and feel valued when they walk away having been coached to identify tactics and strategies.
FIT is an acronym for Facts, Impact, Tactics. Try it out and see how it works for you.
STEP 1 – START
Where appropriate, start the conversation by asking for an invitation to give feedback. If you have permission to give feedback or are invited to give feedback, the person will be more receptive. Ask questions like:
Would you mind if I gave you some feedback about……..?
I have some feedback on ………..that might help, do you mind if I share it?
STEP 2 - FACTS
Explain what happened in as much detail as possible. Be as objective and specific as you can - preparing in advance can help you make sure you are being objective and have all of the facts.
Focus on the problem, not the person - focus your language on the outcome instead of the action - avoid using "You" Statements. E.g say " The restaurant was open 30 mins late this morning" instead of "You were late and you did not get the restaurant open in time"
STEP 3 - IMPACT
Explain who was impacted (e.g. customers, colleagues, the business etc) and how they were impacted. Explain the impact on the bigger picture. Was the impact to revenue? time? customer satisfaction? compliance? etc
When explaining the impact on you individually, try to use “I” Statements” e.g. When this happens, I feel…………." or "When this happens I am impacted because....."
STEP 4 - TACTICS
Discuss how the situation can be avoided in the future. Pose questions like:
How can we ensure this doesn’t continue/happen again?
How can I support you to make this change?
Important - Before offering solutions yourself, try and elicit solutions from the person – this will drive greater buy-in