The 3 commandments of delivering feedback

In partnership with

Ahoy,

I wrote about this a long time ago now and haven’t really bought it up again since…

Which is weird, because I’m extremely bullish on ensuring leaders have strong coaching skills.

Yet I haven’t even covered how to deliver feedback in a really long time.

The ability to coach your team is a hugely overlooked skill.

It helps bring the skill level of your team up, creates a more welcoming culture and ultimately ends up with your team performing better and delivering more results.

And a huge part of coaching comes down to delivering feedback.

I’ve broken down my approach to delivering feedback, an approach I put together during my time training submarine teams on weapon engagements.

A highly stressful and fast paced evolution - I would train these teams, always providing feedback, right up to the point of their assessments.

So lets dive into the three commandments of delivering feedback.

Ask questions

The baseline of any coaching practice.

Asking questions is the foundation for coaching and mentoring.

Why?

Because you end up being able to guide the “coachee” to come up with their own solutions.

And as I usually talk about when it comes to developing plans, a person is going to be far more invested in the solution they come up with as opposed to the solution pushed upon them.

By asking questions we can get them to uncover what the problem might be, and for them to uncover what the solution might be!

That’s extremely powerful and shouldn’t be underestimated.

As a general rule, try to ensure the other person is speaking more than you.

This takes practise but is so worth it!

Be specific. Be actionable

There is nothing more frustrating than receiving feedback that is along the lines of:

“I didn’t like that thing you did…”

WHAT THING?!

WHAT DIDN’T YOU LIKE ABOUT IT?!

HOW AM I MEANT TO IMPROVE FROM THAT FEEDBACK?!

we need to be specific with our guidance. What was the specific thing that went wrong and how specifically can they do better next time?

Not just “be better…”

We want “Next time I need you to do X, Y, Z instead of A, B, C…”

See how this is both specific and actionable.

The person can walk away from this conversation knowing exactly what they need to do.

Use an example

How often have you been told something, you’ve nodded your head, then 5 minutes later you’ve not been able to remember a thing…

I’ll hold my hand up and admit, probably way more than I should!

Talking through an example together is a great way to cement the understanding.

What does this look like?

Generate a scenario that requires the use of the feedback just uncovered to solve.

For example, having just delivered feedback to a salesman, run through a role play scenario where they're forced to use what you've just discussed to close a new client.

Applying feedback in practice is the easiest way to solidify ideas.

Ask questions, get specific, be actionable and use an example.

Sounds simple, but delivering feedback actually requires practise.

No doubt you wont hit all of these points your first run through, or you’ll finish up only to realise it wasn’t a coaching session but more a lecture.

That’s fine, it’s in the recognition that you start to improve.

It’s like having your own coaching session with yourself about your coaching…

Anyway, I hope you found this one practical and applicable!

As always, have a great day.

Reece